Guess or MESS

Desktop home page
Mobile home page
Joining a game with the code
Not uploaded yet
Deck uploaded so can start ameplay
Gameplay

Inspiration

Studying with flashcards is effective, but it can feel repetitive and isolating. We wanted to make learning more engaging, social, and fun—like a game. Inspired by Kahoot and Anki, we combined the best of both worlds: structured flashcard review with a multiplayer competitive experience.

What it does

Guess or MESS turns Anki flashcards into live, interactive study games. Users can upload Anki decks, start a game session, and invite others to join. Players answer multiple-choice questions based on the flashcards, earning points for speed and accuracy. A leaderboard at the end keeps things competitive, making studying more exciting.

How we built it

We used a combination of modern web technologies to develop WaitInfo:

Frontend: Built with TypeScript, React.js and tailwind CSS to create an intuitive and responsive user interface.
Backend: Developed using Firebase, which handles flashcard deck processing and game state management. It also allows us to host the web app.
Design: A user-friendly UI was created using Figma to prototype and implement CSS frameworks.

Challenges we ran into

building Guess or MESS came with many challenges:

Parsing Anki Decks – Anki’s file structure isn’t straightforward, especially when dealing with media or custom formatting. Extracting and converting decks into a multiple-choice quiz format required a deep exploration of Anki’s data structure.
Real-time Game Mechanics – Managing real-time game events, ensuring low latency, and synchronizing player responses was a major challenge. We had to optimize WebSocket usage to handle multiple simultaneous players without lag.
Scalability Issues – Making sure the platform could handle multiple games running at once required optimizing database queries and reducing server load.
UI/UX Design – Balancing aesthetics with functionality on both desktop and mobile was tricky. The goal was to keep the interface simple while ensuring a seamless experience for both hosts and players.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite the challenges we ran into, we're really proud of what Guess or MESS has achieved so far:

Successfully built a real-time multiplayer study game from scratch.
Seamlessly integrated Anki decks into a gamified quiz experience.
Optimized real-time updates to create a smooth and engaging user experience.
Created an interface that makes it easy to host and join study sessions in seconds.
Overcame significant technical challenges, particularly in handling live game sessions and Anki data extraction.

What we learned

Throughout this project, we learned a lot about:

Working with Anki data formats – Parsing and structuring flashcards in a way that makes them useful for interactive games.
Database optimization – Structuring the backend to handle large datasets without performance drops.
Game design for education – Understanding how to balance engagement, competition, and learning outcomes effectively.
User experience in multiplayer apps – Designing interfaces that work seamlessly for hosts and participants in a live session.

What's next for Guess or MESS

Here are some features we plan to add in the future:

Support for More Deck Formats – Currently, the app supports Anki decks, but we’d love to add support for Quizlet, CSV imports, and even manual flashcard creation.
New Game Modes – Different gameplay styles, such as team-based play, timed challenges, and adaptive difficulty, could make the experience even richer.
Progress Tracking & Analytics – Adding insights on performance, weak areas, and study trends would help users refine their learning strategies.
Mobile Optimization & App Version – Enhancing the mobile experience and potentially building a dedicated mobile app.
Public Game Lobbies – Allowing users to join games with others studying the same subjects to create a community-driven learning environment.

This is just the beginning! Guess or MESS has the potential to transform how people study, making learning more interactive, competitive, and fun!