Inspiration
As complete beginners to coding, we didn't know where to begin or how to start. Another issue that plagued our progress was how to stay accountable and continue learning and growing.
What it does
Pounce is a gamified educational web app that teaches beginners how to code through daily, hands-on micro-projects, where your progress directly raises a virtual tiger named Clawed.
Instead of passive lessons, users complete real coding actions (like setting up GitHub, building small apps, or using AI tools), earning XP and maintaining streaks. Each completed task feeds, grows, and evolves Clawed, unlocking life milestones, outfits, and achievements. Missing days breaks your streak and causes Clawed’s condition to decline, creating emotional accountability.
The platform combines:
Step-by-step onboarding modules (Git, GitHub, AI tools) Daily 10-minute coding challenges that produce tangible outputs Gamified progression (XP, streaks, milestones, rewards) Social competition (leaderboards, teams, university battles) A snarky mascot that roasts or rewards you in real time
The core idea is long-term skill building through short-term gratification: every day you ship something small, and over time, you become a real developer while raising the best tiger.
How we built it
We used Claude Code to help us make our idea a reality. Claude Code allowed us to create an initial website and continue refining our site to improve functionality.
Challenges we ran into
We started from an absolute scratch and every step of the way was a struggle we fought through.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud that we were able to implement all the functions that we originally planned to and make it more user-friendly.
What we learned
We learned how to work together with Claude to improve efficiency and go beyond our technical abilities.
What's next for Pounce
Pounce is currently targeted to coding beginners, but we hope to continue growing with coders and expand the projects available.
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