NumBear

Use all of the numbers provided to create an equation that matches the day's number

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Inspiration

I love playing daily puzzles with the New York Times games app - there's something satisfying about that daily ritual of solving a fresh challenge. However, most daily puzzle games are word-based (Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee). I wanted to create something for people who love numbers and math puzzles too!

What it does

NumBear is a daily number puzzle game for Reddit. Each day, players are presented with a target number and 6 numbers. The challenge: arrange all 6 numbers with mathematical operators (+, −, ×, ÷) to create an equation that equals the target.

Key features:

  • New puzzle every day - automatically posted via scheduled jobs
  • Unique puzzles per post - each post has a deterministic puzzle generated from its ID
  • Progress tracking - the game remembers when you've completed a puzzle
  • "Admire your solution" - return to completed puzzles to see your winning answer
  • Cozy aesthetic - a warm, kawaii-inspired design with a friendly bear mascot

How we built it

  • Frontend: React with a custom drag-and-drop interface for placing numbers
  • Backend: Node.js & Express serverless backend
  • Data: Redis for storing user completions and puzzle metadata
  • Scheduling: Devvit's scheduler API for automatic daily posts
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS with a custom cozy/kawaii color palette

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was perfecting the drag-and-drop UX - making numbers feel intuitive to drag from the pool into slots, and allowing users to rearrange them freely. Getting mobile touch interactions to work smoothly alongside desktop drag-and-drop required careful handling of both event systems.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud that this is a game I genuinely want to play myself every day. That was my north star throughout development - if I wouldn't enjoy it, why would anyone else? The result is something that scratches that daily puzzle itch in a way that feels fresh and satisfying.

What we learned

Devvit is incredibly accessible once you get started. The ability to set up scheduled jobs with just a few lines of code was a pleasant surprise - it made the "daily puzzle" mechanic trivial to implement. The platform handles all the complexity of Reddit integration, letting me focus on the game itself.

What's next for NumBear

  • Custom bear mascot - a unique illustrated character to replace the emoji
  • Difficulty levels - easy/medium/hard modes with different number ranges
  • Statistics - track your streak, average solve time, and share results
  • Hints system - optional hints for when you're stuck
  • Leaderboards - see how your solve time compares to others
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