niwagarden

Starting screen
The garden
Settings
Study session in progress

Inspiration

We used an app Forest on our phones to compete with one another for how much we studied. While the app was interesting, it lacked interactivity; having no way to make a forest you want. With niwagarden, we aimed to tackle what was missing in game-incentivized study applications.

What it does

Niwagarden has a built-in Pomodoro timer that allows you to change how long your study sessions are. Based on an exponential algorithm, we relate how much you study to the amount of coins you earn. These coins are used to purchase assets you can place in your garden, such as trees, rocks, paths, homes, and more.

How we built it

We decided on the web stack. We utilized node.js to streamline adding new frameworks and various features. Vite was extremely important with its hot-reloading, allowing us to work as fast as possible within the short deadline. We used three.js for the garden aspect to take websites to a higher dimension which we do not regularly see. To create smooth transitions and ease the tweening process, we used anime.js to make any transition we wished for to be as simple as possible to add. Holding it all together is GitHub, which helped keep track of our files and ensured we were all working with the same goal in mind.

Challenges we ran into

This was the first time we used GitHub. Version control software often has strong learning curves, so it took a long time for us to understand what meant what.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are extremely proud of our newly found skills using GitHub. Being such an important tool means it is even more important to know it well. It was a great start in the process of that.

What we learned

We learned that version control software is an absolute game changer. Our projects in high school were all locally shared; meaning it would take ages for the whole team to receive all new changes. GitHub completely gets rid of that struggle, making it far easier to collaborate as a team on software projects

What's next for niwagarden

Niwagarden is sure to see a release. We are extremely satisfied with the outcome after HackIllinois, and we have a plethora of ideas including data storage, study streaks, more garden assets, and more that we wish to add shortly.