The latest articles on DEV Community by Md. Akkhor Hasan (@akkhor7). https://dev.to/akkhor7 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4167665%2F99359229-2ac7-4905-9b63-ed695f7fb475.jpg https://dev.to/akkhor7 en Md. Akkhor Hasan Wed, 07 Oct 2026 03:52:02 +0000 https://dev.to/akkhor7/i-built-a-game-that-replaces-doomscrolling-with-quizzes-hidden-history-and-brain-puzzles-2710 https://dev.to/akkhor7/i-built-a-game-that-replaces-doomscrolling-with-quizzes-hidden-history-and-brain-puzzles-2710 <p>I kept catching myself doomscrolling, so I built something to replace it: <strong>CurioQuest</strong>, a free web game where curiosity earns you XP.</p> <p>👉 <strong>Try it:</strong> <a href="https://curio-quest-phi.vercel.app/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://curio-quest-phi.vercel.app/</a></p> <h2> What it does </h2> <ul> <li>🏛️ <strong>Forgotten Wonders:</strong> stories about obscure history and nature mysteries (the Antikythera Mechanism, the Dancing Plague of 1518, Göbekli Tepe), each with a 3-question quiz</li> <li>🔬 <strong>Science Fact Lab:</strong> rapid true/false facts with sourced explanations and accuracy streak multipliers</li> <li>🧩 <strong>Brain Games:</strong> memory match, word scramble, math sprint, and a daily cipher puzzle</li> <li>🌍 <strong>World &amp; Tech Pulse:</strong> live news cards plus a 3-question daily quiz</li> </ul> <p>Everything feeds one progression system: XP, unlimited levels, daily streaks with a calendar, 12 badges, 32+ collectible museum relics, and two leaderboards (points and streaks).</p> <h2> How I built it </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Stack:</strong> React + TypeScript, built with Google AI Studio and Gemini</li> <li> <strong>Live news:</strong> a server-side endpoint calls Gemini with Google Search grounding, so cards come with citations and source links</li> <li> <strong>Feedback:</strong> procedural sounds with the Web Audio API, haptics with <code>navigator.vibrate</code>, and confetti on rewards</li> <li> <strong>Auth:</strong> salted and hashed passwords with session tokens, plus guest mode that saves progress when you sign in</li> <li> <strong>Hardening:</strong> security headers, an in-memory rate limiter, and a request body size limit</li> </ul> <h2> What I learned </h2> <ul> <li>Streak logic is trickier than it looks. Missed days, same-day logins, and migrating old saved state all needed careful handling.</li> <li>I had fake multipliers on the leaderboard early on and replaced them with real per-day XP tracking, so the timeframes now come from actual activity.</li> <li>Gemini works well for current-events content only when it's grounded with search and sources.</li> </ul> <h2> Feedback welcome </h2> <ul> <li>Does the XP and leveling feel motivating or too grindy?</li> <li>Which game mode or content category should come next?</li> <li>Anything confusing or broken?</li> </ul> <p>Thanks for reading!</p> ai beginners learning webdev