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Project Climb

An endless climb to get the highest score possible

I wanted to create a simple doodle jump-inspired game where the goal is to reach the highest point possible and share that score on an online leaderboard. The game and movement are simplistic, with only jump and grapple hook options to climb up.

How we built it

I created this game using the Phaser and React JavaScript frameworks. Phaser helped me render the graphics onto an HTML5 canvas and handle character movement and logic. At the same time, I used React to create the game's UI. To share the game state between the two components, I used a library called Jotai.

AWS Amplify allowed me to create a simple database that could store all the player's high scores and usernames. Last but not least, I used AWS Generative AI Assistant - Amazon Q to learn and implement different features of the game. The biggest example is learning how to implement AWS Amplify straight inside VsCode.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest and most challenging part of this project was starting it; since I did not know what I was doing when it came to the Amazon ecosystem, I had to learn a lot before I ever started coding. I was forced to restart my project two or three times because I messed up the AWS Amplify setup. But once I got this initial setup done, it was more or less smooth sailing from there.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am very proud of what I accomplished during this hackathon with Amazon Q's help. As I said before, setting up the project was difficult, but I am proud that I did not give up and was able to create a full-stack application with AWS Amplify. More specifically, I created an online leaderboard system where players can share their high scores with the world.

Gameplay-wise, I implemented multiple game mechanics within a few hours with the help of AI.

What we learned

The biggest takeaway I learned during this hackathon is that when using AI to generate code or help explain code, the best thing you can do to minimize headaches is to be as specific as possible. While trying to ask Amazon Q to explain AWS Amplify, I would find myself stuck because I never specified too use AWS Amplify Gen 2 when generating or explaining code. So, While I was using the latest version of AWS Amplify, the AI would create Gen 1 code.