Check out my project here >> 🍻 www.gamedraft.co 🎲
Scope
This week we had to make a web-app by the end of the week, and our first challenge was to come up with a prototype that could be finished by Tuesday night. It took me a second to ideate something which I felt I could realistically finish in that timeframe. I find that big projects are easier to come up with than smaller ones, especially when because I'm still not sure exactly what my limits are for a "small" project.
Nope
The good news is that I had a prototype by the deadline! As long as you're someone that considers 6am on a Wednesday to still be "Tuesday night". Maybe I'm still figuring out this scoping thing...
Regardless, by Tuesday I had an app that could prompt a user for camera access (on mobile), allow them to capture a picture of their board game collection, and pick a few recommended games based on their preferred player count.
The original setup was fairly straightforward, and I had a decent idea for how I wanted each piece to work, its connecting them all together that became the really difficult part for me. If I could give one piece of advice it's to explain to someone else how the data is flowing in your app. Miah was kind enough to have me explain to them how my app works for 30 minutes and it was a huge help to my own understanding.
Cope
Another aspect of the project that I had to come to terms with was that while my original plan was to include user accounts and database connections, the more I worked on the project, the less I felt it would make sense within the context of the experience I was trying to curate. I wanted users to have as few distractions or obstacles as possible from the core use of getting a few board games recommended, and I didn't feel having a database or a personal account would meaningfully add to that experience.
I think this was also on my mind because most other people in my cohort had implemented these features, and integrated them into their user experiences incredibly well. Ultimately I think I made the right choice for my case, and I spent the next few days getting the app to feel as responsive and welcoming as possible.
Dope
There are still areas for improvement: I find that the AI seems to have a strong preference in recommending some games over others, and in the future I hope to add some logic encouraging it to widen its tastes. Or even to recommend games based on the vibes of whatever you took a picture of if it's not a collection.
I'm proud of what I've made though, and it feels great to have put as much effort as I did into it.
I made this app mostly for myself and other people wading through the overwhelming titles in the board gaming hobby. To make their game nights easier by simply taking a picture rather than taking each game off the shelf to find the ones suited for 5 players, or trying to rmember if 8 people will be enough for a night of Blood on the Clocktower.
I'm happy to say I felt my efforts were not in vain when I got some good reactions from my friend who has a wall dedicated to games in his place:
Thanks Ian! Try it out yourself at the link above.