College Challenge

Inspiration

We observed that many students struggle to connect outside their immediate social circles despite sharing common interests. Gambling has always united people, so we created College Challenge to combine match-based social networking with the excitement of friendly competition using virtual tokens.

What it does

College Challenge allows students to: Match with peers through a swiping interface Chat in real-time with matches Challenge each other to games (Coin Flip, Dice Roll) Wager virtual tokens Climb leaderboards based on performance All users start with 100 tokens to wager in challenges, creating a competitive yet casual gambling ecosystem.

How we built it

Backend: Django with REST Framework Django Channels for WebSockets SQLite database Frontend: HTML/CSS/JavaScript Bootstrap 5 Hammer.js for swipe gestures Our architecture separates user management, game mechanics, and chat functionality into distinct components that communicate through well-defined interfaces.

Challenges we ran into

Implementing WebSockets for real-time chat Creating a smooth swiping interface Ensuring fair, random gaming mechanics Balancing the token economy Managing concurrent challenges

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Responsive real-time messaging Engaging game animations Cross-device compatibility Fair matchmaking algorithm Robust transaction ledger

What we learned

WebSocket architecture Game design psychology Intuitive UX design principles Virtual economy management Advanced Django features Effective team collaboration

What's next for College Challenge

Additional game types Tournament brackets Enhanced social features University partnerships Achievement system Mobile application Improved matchmaking algorithm

Built With

• bootstrap-5
• django
• django-channels
• django-rest-framework
• html/css
• javascript
• python
• redis
• sqlite
• websockets