Origami Master

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  Leaderboard

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  Folding Paper

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  Folding Line

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  Question

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  Start Screen

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Inspiration

We wanted to turn the calm, satisfying logic of origami into a quick daily puzzle made for Reddit. Origami Master combines spatial reasoning, symmetry, and the competitive appeal of daily games in an experience anyone can start with a single drag.

What it does

Origami Master gives everyone the same daily folding challenge. Players study a target pattern, draw fold lines across the paper, and try to reproduce every mark within three folds and 90 seconds.

Each fold reflects the existing marks across the chosen crease. Players can preview, confirm, undo, or redo their moves before receiving a score based on matched and extra marks. Their best result is then added to the daily Reddit leaderboard.

How we built it

We built Origami Master as a Devvit Web application running directly on Reddit.

Phaser powers the interactive paper, fold geometry, input handling, and animations. React handles the HUD, timer, controls, results, and leaderboard. Vite and TypeScript support the frontend workflow, while a Node.js and Hono backend manages daily puzzles and score submissions.

Daily challenges are generated deterministically from a date-based seed, ensuring every player receives the same puzzle. Devvit Redis stores the active challenge and leaderboard, while Reddit’s API identifies players for score submission.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was translating a physical fold into intuitive 2D gameplay. We needed to reflect marks accurately across any player-drawn crease while ensuring new marks stayed inside the paper.

Creating an animation that clearly communicated which side of the paper was moving also required careful geometry, clipping, shadows, and timing. We additionally had to make the game responsive inside Reddit’s iframe across different screen sizes without making the controls feel cramped.

Balancing the scoring system was another challenge. It needed to reward accurate matches while penalizing unnecessary marks without making imperfect attempts feel unrewarding.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are especially proud of making freeform folding feel approachable with simple drag-and-confirm controls. The animated paper, target overlay, contextual guidance, and undo/redo system make a geometry-based puzzle understandable without a lengthy tutorial.

We also built a complete daily challenge loop: deterministic puzzles, timed play, accuracy scoring, persistent personal bests, and a shared leaderboard—all inside a Reddit post.

What we learned

We learned that small visual details are essential when explaining unfamiliar mechanics. Fold previews, crease lines, shadows, and temporary target overlays communicate more effectively than written instructions alone.

We also learned how to connect a real-time Phaser experience with a React interface and a serverless Devvit backend. Most importantly, we learned how constraints such as limited folds and a short timer can turn a simple geometric idea into a replayable daily challenge.

What's next for Origami Master

Next, we want to add difficulty levels, more varied target patterns, daily streaks, achievements, and shareable result cards. We would also like to introduce community-created challenges, themed paper styles, expanded leaderboards, and practice modes that help players understand more advanced folding strategies.

Built With

• devvit
• phaser.js
• react