This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam
What I Built
Sunburn is a small arcade game about the longest day of the year.
Try the demo https://sunburn.shakiltech.com
You move a bowl at the bottom of the screen. Catch the suns ☀️, skip the clouds ☁️. You get 45 seconds, and the sun keeps setting the whole time — so you're racing the daylight.
At first I didn't even know this day is called the solstice. Learned that while building this.
There's also a hidden bit. Now and then a glowing orb falls with a scrambled word on it. Catch it, it decodes, you get bonus points. The words add up into a short message at the end — a small nod to Alan Turing, since the orbs use a simple cipher.
Video Demo
Code
Sunburn
A small solstice game. Catch falling sunlight before the day ends.
How to play
Open index.html in a browser — no server or build step needed.
Move the basket to catch items as they fall:
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| ☀️ Sun | +1 |
| ☁️ Cloud | −2 |
| 🔆 Code orb | +5 + decodes a word |
You have 45 seconds. The game speeds up as time runs out.
Controls
- Mouse / touch — move left and right
- ← → arrow keys — same thing
The Turing layer
The glowing code orbs display words encoded with a Caesar cipher. Each one you catch reveals a decoded word, assembling a closing tribute to Alan Turing.
Ranks
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 55+ | ☀️☀️☀️ Solstice champion |
| 32–54 | ☀️☀️ Bright |
| 15–31 | ☀️ Warm |
| 0–14 | 🌤️ A bit cloudy |
It's one HTML file. No build, no libraries. Open it in a browser and it runs.
How I Built It
Plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on a single canvas.
The part I like most: there's no countdown number. The sky is the timer. As time runs out, it darkens and the sun drops. That one trick made the game feel like more than it is.
Falling things are just objects moving down an array. Each frame they drop, I check if the bowl caught them, and clear the rest.
Sound is all made in code with the Web Audio API — no files. Just small beeps for catching, missing, and the sunset. They help a lot.
The orbs were the fun part. Each one picks a random word and a random cipher shift, then decodes when you catch it. Easy to write, and it makes the Turing idea something you actually do.
Prize Category
Best Ode to Alan Turing. The orbs are encoded words you break by catching them, and the ending remembers Turing — a codebreaker who helped people live free.
Try the demo https://sunburn.shakiltech.com
UPDATE: Added PWA Support. Now You can install and play it in free time.
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