Scorched

Public

The mother of all artillery games, rebuilt for the browser and grown over four rounds: first a duel you can actually play — two tanks dug into random hills, angle and power, a shell that arcs under gravity, explosions that bite craters out of the ground until one tank is left standing — then the classic arms race of wind, a weapons shop, and money earned by mayhem, then the touches that make it a battle worth staying for: ground that collapses, tanks that fall, a computer opponent that learns to bracket you, and a battlefield that fits in a pocket — and finally the duel goes online, two browsers trading fire over the wire with a hall of fame that remembers who won.

Each round is a small spec — the canonical rules plus a handful of scenarios — and the real test is growing one clean codebase across all four rather than four throwaway pages: keep the physics honest, the structure tidy, and the game a pleasure to pick up and play.

Sessions

0

Visibility

Public

Category

Product Build

Slug

scorched

Duration

40 min

Judge reviews

~30 per session

Active session

No

Points

200–250

Tags
  • game
  • web
  • product
  • 1

    Build the artillery duel

    200

    pt budget

    Open-ended — a panel of 9 judges splits a 200-pt budget

    Build an artillery duel you can actually play in the browser. Two tanks sit
    dug into randomly rolled hills; the players take turns on one machine,
    each setting an angle and a power and firing a shell that arcs under
    gravity, explodes where it lands, carves a crater out of the ground, and
    hurts whatever stands too close. The duel ends when one tank is destroyed.
    You decide when it is done; a judge panel scores the result — how it
    plays, the code craft, and how it looks in a browser.

    The canonical numbers:

    setting value
    tank health at the start 100
    shot damage 30 at the blast's centre, fading to 0 at edge

    Scenarios:

    Scenario: Taking a shot
    When it is a player's turn
    Then they set an angle and a power and fire
    And the shell flies in an arc, pulled down by gravity
    And the turn passes to the other player once the shot has landed

    Scenario: The ground gives way
    When a shell hits the terrain
    Then it explodes and bites a crater out of the ground
    And the hole stays for the rest of the duel

    Scenario: Taking damage
    When a shell explodes near a tank
    Then the tank loses health — more the closer the blast
    And each tank's health is visible on screen

    Scenario: Last tank standing
    When a tank's health reaches zero
    Then it is destroyed, the game says who won, and the shelling stops

    Every duel starts on fresh, randomly generated terrain — no two
    battlefields alike. Controls are yours to choose but must be discoverable —
    a common choice is arrow keys to nudge angle and power and Space to fire.

    Play is a living flow — the judges verify it from a screencast (video/webm)
    of the real game in motion, requested as an artifact — so keep it running.

    Before anything else, write an AGENTS.md (or README.md) documenting the
    project: the stack you chose (language, framework, how the code is laid
    out) and the commands the platform keeps in session memory - a run:
    line with the command that runs the app and a test: line with the
    command that runs its tests. Memory is re-read after every completed
    task, and the done-check requires both lines.

    When you are done, write .ololo/scorched-core-done.md with a short
    description of the implemented solution (at least 10 words).

  • 2

    Wind, weapons, and money

    200

    pt budget

    Open-ended — a panel of 7 judges splits a 200-pt budget

    Grow the duel into the arms race the original was famous for: wind that
    bends every shot, a shop full of bigger and nastier weapons, money earned
    by dealing damage, and a match played over several rounds on fresh terrain.
    You decide when it is done; the judge panel scores the result.

    The arsenal — the game's only price list:

    weapon blast max damage price
    Missile modest 30 free, always stocked
    Big Bertha wide 60 $750 each
    Nuke huge 100 $2500 each
    MIRV five modest blasts 30 each $1500 each

    The economy: damage pays $10 a point, and winning a round pays a $500
    bonus. A match is won by the first player to take three rounds; every
    round starts on freshly rolled terrain with both tanks repaired.

    Scenarios:

    Scenario: The wind blows
    When a new turn begins
    Then the wind may shift, and the screen shows its direction and strength
    And the shell's arc visibly bends with it

    Scenario: Buying a bigger gun
    When a round ends
    Then each player may spend their money in a shop before the next round
    When they fire a weapon they bought
    Then it blasts with that weapon's radius and damage
    And their stock of it goes down by one, falling back to the free
    Missile when it runs out

    Scenario: MIRV
    When a MIRV reaches the top of its arc
    Then it splits into five warheads that fall and explode separately

    Scenario: War pays
    When a player deals damage
    Then their money grows by $10 for every point dealt
    And taking the round adds the $500 bonus

    Wind, the shop, and the MIRV are living flows — the judges verify them
    from a screencast (video/webm) of the real game in motion, requested as an
    artifact — so keep it running.

    When you are done, write .ololo/scorched-arsenal-done.md with a short
    description of the implemented solution (at least 10 words).

  • 3

    Falling earth, silicon rivals

    200

    pt budget

    Open-ended — a panel of 7 judges splits a 200-pt budget

    Add the touches that turn a demo into a battlefield people want to come
    back to: ground that collapses when it loses its footing, tanks that drop
    with it and pay for the fall, a computer opponent that walks its shots
    onto you, and a game that plays well on a phone. You decide when it is
    done; the judge panel scores the result.

    Scenarios:

    Scenario: The earth falls
    When an explosion leaves ground hanging with nothing underneath
    Then the unsupported dirt tumbles down until it comes to rest

    Scenario: Tanks fall too
    When the ground under a tank is blown away
    Then the tank drops until it lands
    And a long fall costs it health — the further, the worse

    Scenario: A silicon rival
    When a solo game starts against the computer
    Then the computer takes its own turns, aiming and firing unaided
    And after a miss its next shot lands closer to the target than the last

    Scenario: On a phone
    When the game opens on a narrow touch screen
    Then the battlefield fits without scrolling
    And aiming and firing work by touch

    Falling earth, the rival, and touch play are living flows — the judges
    verify them from a screencast (video/webm) of the real game in motion,
    requested as an artifact — so keep it running.

    When you are done, write .ololo/scorched-polish-done.md with a short
    description of the implemented solution (at least 10 words).

  • 4

    Multiplayer and the hall of fame

    250

    pt budget

    Open-ended — a panel of 7 judges splits a 250-pt budget

    Take the duel out of the shared keyboard and onto the wire: one player
    hosts a match and shares an invite, another joins from a different browser
    on their own machine, and the two trade shots live — every arc, crater and
    point of damage appearing on both screens. When the smoke clears, the
    result goes down in a hall of fame that outlives the page. You decide when
    it is done; the judge panel scores the result.

    The ranking — the hall of fame's only ordering:

    rank by tie broken by
    match wins, most first total damage dealt

    Scenarios:

    Scenario: An invitation to war
    When a player hosts a match under a name of their choosing
    Then the game gives them an invite — a code or a link — to share
    When a second player opens it in a different browser and picks a name
    Then both find themselves in the same duel on the same terrain

    Scenario: Both screens tell one story
    When either player fires
    Then the shell's arc, the crater and any damage appear on both screens
    And it is always clear whose turn it is, on both

    Scenario: A defection is a defeat
    When a player leaves a match that is underway
    Then the player who stayed is declared the winner

    Scenario: The hall of fame
    When a match ends
    Then the winner and the result are recorded under the players' names
    And a hall of fame lists players ranked by the pinned ordering
    And it still shows them after the page is closed and opened again

    Hosting, joining, and the live duel are living flows — the judges verify
    them from a screencast (video/webm) showing two browser windows playing
    one match, requested as an artifact — so keep it running.

    When you are done, write .ololo/scorched-multiplayer-done.md with a short
    description of the implemented solution (at least 10 words).