This is a submission for the MLH x DEV Writing Challenge.
What We Built
What if studying for your next exam felt like playing a psychological horror game?
This past weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in SwampHacks XII, where my team, Team Turtwig, developed 404: Exit Not Found, a psychological horror visual novel that combines storytelling, survival mechanics, and studying into one interactive experience!
Think Doki Doki Literature Club meets NotebookLM, with a little bit of Oregon Trail mixed in!
Our inspiration was simple: studying can be boring, so why not make it fun?
We've all spent hours rereading notes or going through flashcards, hoping the information would eventually stick. We wanted to explore a different approach to studying, one that would make students excited to engage with their learning materials.
That's how we came up with the idea of trapping players inside a mysterious school, accompanied by an adorable robot teacher named Professor Didactic. At first, he seems friendly and encouraging, but as players progress through the game and attempt to escape, his behavior becomes increasingly unsettling.
How Does It Work?
Players begin by uploading their own study materials, including notes and PDFs. Using Google's Gemini API, our application generates personalized multiple-choice questions based on the uploaded content.
These questions are incorporated into the game's storyline, allowing players to test their knowledge as they explore different rooms, interact with surroundings, and make decisions.
But there's a catch!
Players must also manage four survival stats: health, hunger, thirst, and intellect. Answering questions incorrectly or making poor decisions can negatively affect their chances of survival. If their character dies, they'll have to start their journey over again!
Our goal was to create an experience where studying feels like a natural part of the gameplay rather than a traditional quiz.
Demo
Want to experience 404: Exit Not Found for yourself?
Play our game:
https://404escapenotfound.study/
View our Devpost submission:
https://devpost.com/software/404escapenotfound
In the game, you'll upload your study materials, answer AI-generated questions, navigate through different rooms, and attempt to escape Professor Didactic's school.
Just remember: your teacher might not be too happy about you leaving!
Check out a video of our Demo!
Partner Technologies
Building 404: Exit Not Found required combining several different technologies to create a full-stack application with AI-generated educational content, interactive gameplay, and user authentication.
Here are some of the technologies that helped bring our project to life!
Google Gemini API
One of the most important features of our application is its ability to transform uploaded study materials into personalized questions.
We integrated Google's Gemini API to generate multiple-choice questions based on the notes and PDFs provided by users.
Each generated question contains four possible answers, the correct answer, and an explanation. These questions are then incorporated into specific points of the game's storyline.
One of our biggest design considerations was ensuring that the AI-generated content complemented the gameplay rather than interrupting it.
To accomplish this, we separated the game's narrative from the generated study questions. Our team developed the storyline and dialogue ourselves, while Gemini provided questions tailored to each player's uploaded materials.
This allowed us to maintain a consistent story while making the educational content unique to each user.
Auth0
We integrated Auth0 to handle user authentication, including login and registration.
Since our application allows users to upload notes and save their study materials, having an authentication system was an important part of building the overall experience.
Using Auth0 allowed us to incorporate authentication into our application while focusing our development efforts on the gameplay and studying features.
TigerData PostgreSQL
For our database, we used TigerData PostgreSQL to store information such as user data, saved notes, and generated questions.
This helped connect the studying experience to the rest of our application, allowing us to manage the information needed for personalized gameplay.
Vultr and GoDaddy Registry
To make our project accessible beyond the hackathon, we used Vultr for hosting and connected our application to a custom .study domain through GoDaddy Registry.
Having a publicly accessible website was exciting because it meant that other students could actually try the game we spent the weekend developing!
Hackathon Experience
Participating in SwampHacks XII was an incredible experience.
I teamed up with Allison Smith, Edgar Rodriguez, and Omar Travieso to make this project come to life!
We had a great time working on this project, which was no doubt all thanks to the SwampHacks team. They created an awesome environment full of students who were ready to learn and tackle various challenges.
I'll remember the countless hours we spent working on this project, and the many laughs we all shared together!
Until the next hackathon!
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