Z-Hour

Z-Hour proves real games can be built without coding — a browser-based zombie survival experience powered entirely by AI prompts in MeDo.

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Inspiration

I've always loved zombie survival games — the tension, the chaos, the rush of staying alive just one more wave. I wanted to build something that captured that feeling but was accessible to anyone, anywhere, with no downloads required. As a no-code builder, I also wanted to prove that a polished, action-packed game could be built entirely with MeDo — no traditional coding needed.

What it does

Z-Hour is a top-down survival shooter where you fight endless waves of zombies across 3 arenas — City, Laboratory, and Ship. Survive as long as you can, beat the boss every 5th wave, and climb the global leaderboard.

🎮 GAME FEATURES:

  • 3 arenas: City, Laboratory, Ship — each with a distinct environment
  • 3 zombie types: Normal (wave 1), Runner (wave 3), Tank (wave 6)
  • Boss every 5th wave — scales in health each time, spawns with a mini-horde
  • 2 weapons: start with Handgun, unlock Shotgun with knockback at wave 3
  • Smart pickup system — ammo and health prioritized based on what you need most
  • 5-second breather between waves with health regeneration
  • Wave-based survival with no end — how far can you go?

🔌 3 PLUGINS — added in ONE chat message:

  • 🔊 Text-to-Speech: deep voice announces every wave, boss incoming, and game over
  • 🎙️ Speech-to-Text: tap the mic, speak your name, done — no typing needed
  • 🌐 Google Translate: full game in English, Mandarin, Japanese & Spanish — cached for speed

📊 EXTRA FEATURES:

  • Global leaderboard — top 3 survivors on homepage podium with live star animation
  • Play History — tracks 365 days of your sessions with total score, days played, current streak, and best streak
  • Downloadable score card — 1200x630 image with your name, photo, kills, time, and points
  • Post-game flow — snap a photo, share your location, speak your name, download your card, see yourself on the global leaderboard
  • Settings — mute music, adjust echo effect, switch language anytime

How I built it

Z-Hour was built entirely using MeDo, a no-code AI app builder, with Supabase as the backend for real-time data storage and the global leaderboard. The game logic, arena maps, character movement, zombie AI, and UI screens were all created inside MeDo without writing a single line of traditional code.

What made MeDo incredibly powerful was the prompt-based workflow — I simply described what I wanted in plain language, and MeDo generated it. For example, to add three plugins at once, I wrote a single prompt:

"I want to add three plugins to Z-HOUR: Text-to-Speech for dramatic wave announcements, Speech-to-Text so players can speak their name on the Game Over screen, and Google Translate for Mandarin, Japanese, and Spanish support across all pages."

MeDo handled all three simultaneously — exactly as described, with zero extra configuration needed.

🗂️ Assets & Resources

Asset Source
🎮 Player sprite sheets OpenGameArt.org
🧟 Zombie sprite sheets OpenGameArt.org
🖼️ Game Arena Map, Boss, and other stuff Google Gemini
🔊 Sound effects freesound.org
🤖 App builder MeDo

Plugins & API Integrations

I extended Z-Hour using 3 MeDo plugins:

  • 🔊 Text-to-Speech — dramatic voice announcements during gameplay: "WAVE 3 — SURVIVE!", "BOSS INCOMING!", "GAME OVER — YOU DIED" in a deep, intense tone that adds real atmosphere to the game

  • 🎙️ Speech-to-Text — players can speak their name on the Game Over screen instead of typing it. A red pulsing mic icon activates listening and stops automatically after 3 seconds of silence

  • 🌐 Google Translate — the entire game is dynamically translated into Mandarin, Japanese, and Spanish. Results are cached after the first call for fast performance across all pages

All three were added in a single MeDo prompt — one conversation, three fully working features, zero code written.

Challenges I ran into

  • Designing smooth zombie wave escalation without code — tuning the difficulty curve took many iterations inside MeDo
  • Building a Game Over screen that captures player photo, name, and GPS location and saves it cleanly to the global leaderboard
  • Making 3 visually distinct arenas that each feel unique while sharing the same game engine

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  • A fully playable, polished zombie survival game built with zero traditional coding
  • A live global leaderboard with real player data — players from multiple locations are already competing
  • 3 plugins working together seamlessly — voice, speech input, and multilingual support — all added in one prompt
  • Professional-grade UI with dark theme, animated screens, and smooth game flow from menu → arena → gameplay → game over → leaderboard

What I learned

  • MeDo handles everything — frontend, backend, database, and plugins — all through simple chat prompts, no setup required
  • I don't need to understand code to build a real, polished game — just clear ideas and good prompts
  • Plugins in MeDo are as easy as asking — no installation, no configuration, just describe what you want
  • The key to building with MeDo is preparing your idea clearly before you prompt — the better your idea, the better the result

What's next for Z-Hour

  • 🌐 Multiplayer mode — compete against other players in real time
  • 🧟 New zombie types — special enemies with unique behaviors
  • 🗺️ More arenas — jungle, hospital, underground bunker
  • 📱 Mobile-optimized version for touch controls
  • 🏅 Weekly tournaments with seasonal leaderboard resets

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