Sticky Keys

Level 2: Bubble Gum
Level 3: Glue
Level 1: Honey

Inspiration

For this hackathon, we were aiming to build the most annoying project. We looked at small daily frustrations and quickly agreed on typing, especially when autocorrect or keyboards mess up what we are trying to say. Instead of fixing this problem, we decided to amplify it and turn it into a game. We were also inspired by the viral honey ASMR keyboards online, which look satisfying but are impractical to use.

What it does

Sticky Keys is a typing game where mistakes directly affect the typing experience. The game has three levels inspired by real-world stickiness:

Honey: Letters may unexpectedly repeat, simulating sticky keys.
Chewing Gum: Characters stretch, words jumble, and bubbles distract the player.
Glue: Keys are temporarily disabled and must “dry” before reuse. Words will also get jumbled up.

How we built it

We built the project using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Typing accuracy and mistakes are tracked in real time and mapped to different punishment mechanics.

Each level applies a different transformation to the typing input and visuals, reinforced with animations and video backgrounds

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was balancing frustration and fun. If the punishments were too strong, the game became unplayable. If they were too weak, the concept will not land. Another challenge was handling input manipulation in a way that still felt responsive. Delaying keys, stretching characters, and disabling input without fully breaking the typing flow required careful timing and state management. Finally, coordinating visual effects with user actions, especially during fast typing, was more complex than expected, particularly when multiple punishments overlapped.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a fully playable, polished game from scratch with no libraries

What we learned

Not every hackathon project needs to solve a serious problem Designing for emotion (frustration, humour, discomfort) is just as challenging as designing for utility Small interaction details can dramatically change how users experience a system Most importantly, we learned how to turn a shared annoyance into something playful, memorable, and fun to demo.