FinQuest

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  FinQuest

Inspiration

Managing money on our own for the first time turned out to be far more overwhelming than we expected. Rent, groceries, unexpected expenses, suddenly every decision carried weight, and even years later, those financial pressures haven’t disappeared. That’s why we dreamt up FinQuest. We wanted to build something that gives anyone a safe space to simulate their finances, make important decisions, and see the consequences all without real-life risks.

What it does

FinQuest is our answer to navigating life’s financial challenges safely and confidently. It’s a game where you can “play out” realistic money scenarios, like managing budgets, handling surprise expenses, and choosing between saving and spending. Through a point system, you see how your choices impact your financial health, learning from both successes and setbacks. FinQuest goes beyond teaching facts: it gives you hands-on experience, and the reassurance that your financial decisions are truly in your control. Designed as an interactive adventure, FinQuest lets anyone practice money management in a risk-free setting, transforming everyday financial stress into a quest for real-world empowerment.

How we built it

We developed a progressive web application using Vite and React, focusing on a seamless, responsive user interface. Session data is managed and stored in a Prisma database. At the core, we implemented a scenario generation system that analyzes each user’s basic economic status and transaction trends to dynamically profile the likelihood of various real-life financial scenarios and crises. For interactive feedback, we integrated Gemini-powered agentic prompting, delivering personalized, context-aware guidance based on user decisions.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was making sure the app looked and worked right on all sorts of devices, like the S23 Ultra, Pixel 8 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro. Bringing together features developed by different team members introduced complex bugs and repeated merge conflicts, requiring careful troubleshooting and coordination.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

we achieved a unified UI that operates flawlessly across commonly used phone dimensions. FinQuest can now generate an extensive range of realistic, personalized scenarios depending on user profile and transaction history.

What we learned

Creating FinQuest showed us the value of combining empathy with technical precision. Our personal finance experiences inspired realistic scenarios, while building the game taught us to focus on responsive design, reliable cross-device performance, and dynamic AI-powered feedback. We learned that thoughtful collaboration and user-centered decisions are essential to create a product that’s engaging and genuinely helpful, transforming complex financial concepts into accessible, practical adventures for everyone.

What's next for FinQuest

Our next steps are to make the interface even more user-friendly, incorporate brief, engaging lessons to reinforce key concepts, and introduce an interactive pet that accompanies each player, growing and evolving based on their financial decisions.

Built With

• api
• express.js
• gemini
• node.js
• prisma
• pwa
• react
• vite