Lemonomics

Inspiration

Lemonomics was inspired by the classic Lemonade Stand game, created by Bob Jamison in 1973 and later adapted by Charlie Kellner for the Apple II in 1979.

What it Does

This project reimagines that timeless business sim for the Reddit era by using karma business boosts... and a unique Recipe Break between business days to add community lemon recipes using a custom Kiro Hook connected to ModMail. Rise up on the global leaderboard (powered by Redis) and make it to 30 days without going bankrupt, and be sure to add a recipe, then get it voted 5-stars by your community, to earn all possible Flair.

How I built it

Lemonomics started as a Three.js app, then evolved into a React build filled with complex mechanics and seasonal festivals. After untangling the chaos and down‑scoping, I pivoted to a video‑based experience just three days before the deadline. One day before the deadline, I nuked and changed it again. I smiled, I cried.. but what kept me motivated was Kiro’s dev environment: its integrations. When I found a girly theme and layered in hacker noises, then looking at Kiro's cute little face, it kept me going.

Challenges I ran into

My Kiro builds entangled with legacy code even in it's steering, corrupting outputs and breaking deploys. The spec mode felt so powerful, but over‑scoping haunted early versions with too many moving parts. In the end, my standards lowered. I begged the game to simply run.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Brought a retro concept into the Reddit ecosystem in a fresh way. Built a working overlay sim that ties Reddit karma directly to in-game economics. Designed a Flair-based reward system that encourages consistent play and laid the groundwork for future monetization: once Reddit Gold is enabled in WebView, players will be able to buy Flair directly for "sugar boosts" by tipping the stand. It's scalable and interactive.

What I learned

Every restart made it cleaner. Scope up, scope down, scope up! Just don't give up.

What's next for Lemonomics

Next, I want to bring back seasonal festivals, maybe custom booth designs, trading items to form new recipes, extend beyond 30 days to improve leaderboard ability, and maybe even integrate OpenAI API for generating dynamic news reports and quirky customer antics. I'm happy to keep going! :)

Built With

• canva
• devvit
• kiro
• react