The Forgotten Hero

A hero awakens with no memory. Every day, the community votes on their fate. Participate, earn influence, shape the story. One community, one destiny, one legend in the making.

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Inspiration

As a lifelong fan of storytelling, RPG games, and more recently Dungeons & Dragons, I have always dreamed of a game where players don't compete against each other or control individual characters. Instead, everyone controls a single hero, collectively making decisions for a shared adventure. This concept requires a community to thrive, and Reddit provides the perfect foundation for bringing players together around a common story.

What it does

The Forgotten Hero is a community-driven RPG where every player controls the same hero. Think of it as DnD with one character that the entire community pilots together. Players shape the hero's journey by voting on story choices each day. Beyond voting (the "main daily quest"), players can complete "side daily quests" like riddles to earn Influence points, with more minigame modes planned for the future. Influence represents a player's investment in the story and community. Leaderboards and a 30-level ranking system add a competitive layer, letting players showcase their dedication while still working together toward a common narrative.

How I built it

Development started with Devvit Blocks but quickly transitioned to Devvit Web after encountering limitations. The final stack includes React for the frontend, Hono for backend routing, Tailwind for styling, and Devvit for authentication and scheduling. The Reddit API handles community integration. The story arc is original, with AI assistance used to polish the narrative for its first version.

Challenges I ran into

Devvit Blocks presented the first hurdle. As a completely new framework, it imposed constraints that prevented building the UX/UI vision I had in mind compared to a standard React application. Testing proved equally challenging, particularly around the scheduler that drives daily game events. Race conditions and state consolidation required careful handling since multiple players interact with shared game state simultaneously. These multiplayer synchronization challenges demanded significant design consideration.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

The polished UX stands out after countless iterations. What began as a constraint imposed by Reddit's platform actually pushed the design toward a cleaner, leaner interface. The voting system combined with influence allocation and the automated scheduler represents sophisticated game logic. Days of design and implementation went into the current version, and there are still features that didn't make the beta cut. The progression system with 30 levels, weighted voting based on player investment, and daily engagement mechanics all came together into a cohesive experience.

What I learned

Building for Reddit taught me how to design apps within the Devvit ecosystem, working with Blocks, schedulers, and the Reddit API. More broadly, I gained appreciation for just how many edge cases emerge when designing a multiplayer game with near real-time updates and shared state. Coordinating a common game state across many simultaneous players involves far more complexity than anticipated.

What's next for The Forgotten Hero

  • Refining the voting system
  • Adding comprehensive testing to ensure feature integrity
  • Comment Karma contribution, rewarding users whose daily discussions add value to the hero's adventure while penalizing disruptive behavior
  • Guild system allowing players to organize into factions pursuing their own agendas within the story
  • Visual storytelling through illustrations, videos, or images to enhance immersion
  • User-contributed story elements and more dynamic narrative mechanics
  • Expanded moderation tools for community managers to oversee gameplay
  • Detailed statistics for both moderators and players, providing insights into engagement, voting patterns, and overall game health

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