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Game for experimental educational app

commercial development gamedevelopment Education
Started by LegendEd Nov 12, 2025 at 11:00 PM 6 replies 1.2k views
Original Post
LegendEd
LegendEd

I've been self funding the development of my own educational software application but now need the reward system (the game) developed. I do not have the skills (or time) for the fun part.

I have a tiny budget, so this is really for a hobbyist that sees potential in a system like this to take a chance on developing something. This would eventually be commercial software - but I need to test the system with a functional game reward first and prove the concept.

I'd encourage the developer to ensure that their name \ company was displayed on the welcome / lobby screen and leader board for publicity. I am fully aware that asking for a semi finished game with a shoe string budget isn't exactly a great deal for the developer!

My requirements are below and if you feel you would like to develop something for this (given that this is purely experimental at this point, and I'm self funding - so on a shoe string budget - please get in touch)

Project Overview:
Develop a short, engaging multiplayer web game for students, featuring a comedic or fun competition/race (e.g., Mario Kart-style, Parkour, or Snake etc…). Game must appeal to most students, run in browsers, and support headless server deployment for scheduling by a third-party system.

Key Requirements:
Input Data: Receive JSON with: player count, names, avatar images, points balances, and a small list of usable items.
Lobby Phase: 60-second countdown where players can purchase/use power-ups/items (deduct points if purchased; send usage data back to main system).
Gameplay: Auto-starts after lobby; lasts ≤3 minutes; multiplayer competition.
End Screen: Display leaderboard with player names and avatars.
Output Data: Return game stats to main system (e.g., names, race times, items used).
Technical Specs: Headless server-compatible; browser-based multiplayer; no client installs required.

I don't mind if the game is made with pre-built assets from the Unity store to make life easier and cheaper, I don't mind if it's an existing game that you have already built want to publish and promote - as long as it can be modified to handle the above requirements.

Hope to hear from someone!

Thank you for reading this!

Tom Sloper
Tom Sloper

LegendEd said:
…this is really for a hobbyist … a shoe string budget …

Recruiting is forbidden in the discussion forums. This is now moved to Your Announcements, since “shoe string budget” implies non-zero pay (otherwise Hobby Project Classifieds would be a more appropriate place for this). Before posting again, review our community guidelines. Good luck with your project.

-- Tom Sloper    --      sloperama.com
RmbRT
RmbRT

I wish people would stop using JSON already… just use WASM and take little-endian POD blocks. It's way more compact and faster and easier, and reduces friction and effort both on the server side and client side. Especially if you can use the same code to compile the server side and client side data structures.

Also, is the game for adults or children or teenagers? What field is the educational part in? STEM? Anger management/therapy? Skilled trade? What is the goal of the game, in terms of outcome for the students? Is it about just taking a break, or strengthening social skills? I assume you don't want it to be an overstimulating brainrot experience like vampire survivors? What's the expected mental state of the player going into the game, and what's the desired mental state when he finishes? What should the social dynamic be between players?

If you don't have an answer to these questions, you will probably end up with something embarassing and should keep it out of your educational software.

Walk with God.
LegendEd
LegendEd

I've never heard of WASM, I'm self teaching and JSON was one of the things I had previously come across that I knew worked - used it as I was trying to limit personal friction…. I'll look into the WASM.

App is where the teacher runs the lesson, and then the game at the end is a reward - tied into the learning the student demonstrates - the more engaged and the more they attain (remember \ demonstrate) the more points they have in the game.

RmbRT
RmbRT

WASM is where you compile regular programming languages into a portable machine code format. This lets you execute C or C++ code in the browser, meaning you get the same memory layout on your server as on your client. Which means you can just send the raw bytes over the network instead of tediously converting it to a text-based encoding, and writing a decoder and validator. And it's just faster than javascript and typesafe because you get the benefits of C/C++.

LegendEd said:
App is where the teacher runs the lesson, and then the game at the end is a reward - tied into the learning the student demonstrates - the more engaged and the more they attain (remember \ demonstrate) the more points they have in the game.

Does that mean the game's content is related to the content of the course? Or do you get bonus resources in the game if you do well on a test? Or is the game the test itself?

Walk with God.
LegendEd
LegendEd

Doesn't that introduce possible security issues? If you could just inject all sorts of code?

RmbRT
RmbRT

No, the code is (supposedly) securely sandboxed. To access any outside functionality, it has to talk to the JS environment of the browser first.

Walk with God.
LegendEd
LegendEd

Looks like I've got some reading to do 🙂

Thanks for the info tho!

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