Prompt Hunter

Battle AI monsters by solving real programming challenges in this retro RPG-style game. Choose from 8 unique character classes, fix bugs, create creative hints, and master logic puzzles.

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Inspiration

The idea for Prompt Hunter came from Duo-lingo, a learning platform with games. I would like to have creative coding challenges and apply AI assistant to help with. I wanted to make learning and problem-solving feel like a game, not homework. Reddit’s culture of community challenges and puzzles made it the perfect home for this project.

What it does

Prompt Hunter is a retro pixel-art RPG where players battle AI monsters by solving programming, logic, and creative tasks. Each character class offers a different difficulty level and specialty — Engineers debug, Bards create, Detectives solve mysteries, and so on. Correct solutions deal damage, while mistakes cost HP. Clearing all phases completes the role. During Battle, User can ask for AI assistant to help you with it. It is very similar to real life nowadays where we can ask AI to help in daily tasks. Prompt Hunter's AI assistant was trained not to provide direct answer.

How we built it

  • Frontend: React 19 + TypeScript + Vite
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS v3
  • State Management: Zustand with persistence
  • Rendering: Canvas 2D for pixel-art graphics and combat effects
  • Routing: React Router DOM
  • AI Integration: Google Gemini API (for hints and answer validation)
  • Security: JSON schema validation for content packs. server sync and hashing to protect gemini api key. Also backend will never directly save and get your data.

Challenges we ran into

  • Designing a real-time combat system entirely in the frontend while keeping gameplay smooth
  • Building a safe validation layer for running code challenges without risking XSS
  • Making AI scoring fair and consistent, especially for creative tasks
  • Pixel-perfect scaling across different devices with high-DPI support
  • Balancing character classes so each feels unique but playable

Accomplishments that we're proud of

9 key achievements highlighting technical and design successes Focus on innovation and user experience Emphasis on educational impact

What we learned

  • How to integrate AI not just as a “chatbot,” but as a gameplay mechanic (hint-giver and judge)
  • The importance of security even in a game context — sandboxing user input was non-negotiable
  • How much polish small touches (shake effects, damage numbers, retro scaling) add to player - experience
  • That community-driven content is key — the game becomes more alive when others can create their own challenges

What's next for Prompt Hunter

Prompt Hunter was built as a foundation, but it’s designed to grow:

Reddit Community Integration We want to embed the game directly into Reddit via Devvit Web so players can take on daily “Boss Prompts” inside subreddit posts. The comment section can become a natural space for players to share solutions, strategies, and memes.

User-Generated Content Packs Anyone will be able to upload JSON challenge packs and create new monsters, puzzles, or creative tasks. This turns the game into a community-driven RPG where the hardest bosses come from fellow redditors.

Daily & Seasonal Events Introduce rotating challenges, streak systems, and limited-time “raid bosses” to encourage repeat play and discussion.

Deeper AI Integration Expand the role of AI as a co-pilot — not only scoring answers, but also dynamically generating new challenges, adapting monster behavior, or tailoring hints to the player’s skill level.

Multiplayer & Leaderboards Add cooperative boss fights, PvP puzzle duels, and global rankings to foster competition and collaboration.

Accessibility & Localization Currently the game supports English and Chinese (Hong Kong). We plan to broaden localization support and add accessibility features so more players can enjoy the experience.

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