#HuntingForHappiness: I Built a Local AI Game Master That Forces You Off Your Screen

This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 1: Touch Grass

What I Built

We all do it: we open our phones for "just one minute," start doomscrolling, and suddenly hours have vanished. I wanted to build something that actively breaks that cycle. So for Hacktoberfest, I built my very first AI app on my Windows laptop, and I am super excited to share it! Meet #HuntingForHappiness.

It is an open-source AI Game Master that cures screen addiction by sending you outside. The ultimate rule of the game? Success means you lock your phone.
Here is the exact workflow:

1. The Setup: You open the app on your phone and select your current mood and how much time you have.
2. The Mission: The local AI generates a quick 5-minute outdoor micro-mission (like "Find a color you almost missed").
3. The Disconnect: You hit "Accept," and the app switches into a dark "Zen Mode" timer. You lock your phone, step outside, and do the mission in the real world.
4. The Reflection: When you return, you write a short field note about what you saw.
5. The Reward: The AI evaluates your note, gives you customized feedback, and awards you XP!

My Field Test

To prove it works, I actually took it outside! I got the mission to observe colors. I locked my screen, stepped out, and took a moment just to breathe, look around, and actually disconnect from the internet for a few minutes.
When I came back, my actual field note was: "I noticed light scattering off a tree what had a green lamp placed. it looked very peaceful."

Gemma read my note, gave me beautiful feedback about quiet contemplation, and rewarded me with +45 XP!

Demo

You have to see it in action! Check out my 3-minute demo video showing the app, my outdoor test, and the backend cloud save working seamlessly:

Code

You can view my entire project repository and try it yourself here:
View the code on GitHub

How I Built It

I wanted to build this the right way, learning how to connect a real backend to local AI and cloud storage. One of my biggest technical wins was figuring out how to bypass Windows firewall settings to allow my phone to connect to my laptop's local Python server over Wi-Fi!

Here is the exact tech stack I used:

1. The Brain (Local AI): I used Google's open-weight Gemma 3 (4B) model. Instead of relying on an expensive cloud API, I pulled the weights and ran it completely locally on my own Windows laptop using Ollama. It is fast, totally free, and highly capable of evaluating the reflection rubrics.
2. The Backend: I built the server using Python with FastAPI. This acts as the bridge, accepting the HTTP requests from my phone and routing the prompts to the local Gemma brain.
3. The Frontend: Simple HTML and JavaScript to handle the mood selection and the cool "Zen Mode" timer, all served dynamically by FastAPI.
4. The Database (MongoDB Atlas): I didn't just want local storage; I wanted my XP and levels saved securely in the cloud to hit the partner prize requirements! I created a free cluster on MongoDB Atlas, set up a database user with a secure password, allowed my laptop's IP address through the network access firewall, and plugged the connection string right into my .env file. Now, every time I complete a quest, my XP, level, and quest receipt are durably saved to the cloud!

Why Does Open Innovation Matter?

Open innovation is everything for a project like this. Because I am using open-weight Gemma and running it locally via Ollama, it means absolute privacy.

When I write a peaceful outdoor field note, or when the app tracks how long I was outside, that data is not being shipped off to some closed corporate API. Open source means I have total control over my own hardware, my own AI model, and my own data. It made it possible to build an intimate, personal wellness app without compromising privacy.

My Agent Session

Note: While I didn't use a screen-recording agent harness like DevRelay, I actively pair-programmed this entire project with an AI chat assistant to help me debug my network configuration, set up the MongoDB Atlas firewall rules, and successfully deploy the FastAPI server!

Prize Categories

• Best Use of Gemma (for using local Gemma 3 via Ollama as the Game Master)
• Best Use of MongoDB Atlas (for durably saving player profiles, XP, and receipts to the cloud)

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Building this was such an amazing experience, and getting a local AI server to talk to a phone and save to the cloud was a huge technical win for me.

Now, close this tab, put your phone down, and go touch some grass! 🌿