SideQuest: Gamified AI Productivity Coach

SideQuest turns your daily tasks into epic AI-generated quests—earn XP, level up, and slay procrastination. It’s productivity gamified for Gen Z. Why work when you can play your way?

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What Inspired Me

As a creative young adult, I’ve always struggled with motivation, burnout, and sticking to routines. I realized that productivity tools often feel cold, boring, or overwhelming, especially for Gen Z. So I asked myself: "What if your to-do list felt more like a video game?"

That question sparked the idea for SideQuest, a gamified productivity app powered by AI that turns your daily tasks into exciting, story-driven quests. It’s productivity reimagined as a role-playing game — because slaying your homework should feel like defeating a dragon.

What it does

SideQuest is an AI-powered productivity app that turns your boring to-do list into a gamified RPG adventure. Users input everyday tasks, and the app transforms them into fun, story-driven quests. Complete tasks, earn XP, level up, and upgrade your avatar — productivity has never felt this fun.

How I built it

  • Idea & Wireframe: I started with sketches and notes about what a gamified productivity app should feel like.

  • Design & Editing: I spent over 2 weeks editing the app’s appearance and features, changing everything from layout to icons to color schemes.

  • AI Integration: I used GPT to generate the “quests”, rewriting boring tasks into fun RPG missions.

  • Video Production: Filming and editing the app demo took 3 days; planning, capturing, editing, and polishing it to tell the story well.

  • Deployment & Domain Setup: Getting the app online with a custom domain took 1 full week; from hosting to linking everything correctly.

Challenges I ran into

  • I knew absolutely nothing about app development when I started. Everything I built, I had to learn along the way.

  • Design revisions were exhausting; it took 2 weeks to get the app looking and feeling right.

  • Video editing was tough — it took 3 days to storyboard, record, and polish.

  • Deployment and connecting the domain was frustrating and time-consuming; it took an entire week of troubleshooting.

  • Faced a major issue where the Bolt.new app wouldn’t open on other accounts due to missing SUPABASE_URL and SUPABASE_KEY environment variables, causing a “supabaseUrl is required” error.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  • Built a fully functional AI productivity app from scratch as a solo beginner.

  • Integrated real-time AI (OpenAI) to create dynamic, fun quests.

  • Completed a polished product and video presentation ready for hackathon submission.

  • Took a vague idea and turned it into something real, with potential for actual users.

What I learned

  • How to build a full app from scratch using React and Firebase

  • How to integrate OpenAI’s API to create smart, fun quest content

  • How to gamify a user experience with XP systems and leveling logic

  • UI/UX design; how a simple color or layout shift can change user experience

  • Video editing and storytelling for project presentation

I learned more in this project than in months of passive tutorials.

What's next for SideQuest

  • I plan to fully deploy SideQuest and make it available in app stores.

  • I'm working on expanding it with features like weekly boss fights, AI sidekicks, and social leaderboards.

  • I’m also planning to build more AI-powered websites and apps in wellness, education, and creativity.

Built With

  • bolt.new
  • localstorage
  • netlify
  • node.js
  • postcss
  • react
  • responsiveimages
  • socialmediaapi
  • stripe
  • supabase
  • tailwindcss
  • typescript
  • vite
  • webhookhandler
  • webshareapi
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