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An IDE with lootboxes, an 85% curse rate, and a theme called "Eye Pain." Typing might delete your code. We aspire to EA and Genshin levels of monetization.

Inspiration

Everything is gamified now. Your fitness app has streaks. Your language learning has lootboxes. Your credit card has "rewards tiers." Gamification has invaded every corner of modern life—except the one place developers spend 8+ hours a day.

Until now. We brought gacha mechanics to the IDE.

What it does

It's a real IDE built from scratch—not a VS Code fork. We assembled Monaco Editor, wired up LSP servers, built our own file tree, tab system, terminal integration, and Git panel from the ground up. Every component is custom React. No bloat, full control—so we could gamify everything.

Every feature exists in 3 states—Positive (temporary unlock), Neutral (default), and Negative (curse):

LSP: full intellisense → off → random wrong syntax colors
Autocomplete: works (quota) → disabled → auto-triggers every 3s with lorem ipsum
Code Editing: works (per-char quota) → read-only → 50% chance each keystroke deletes random code
Theme: dark/light toggle → locked to light → "Eye Pain" (neon green on blue)
Code Visibility: normal → normal → invisible (text = background color)
Text Size: adjustable → fixed 14px → 6px, good luck
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 → 1:1 square → random ratio every 2 seconds
Git: full access → disabled → git push --force roulette

The Gacha System:

Basic ($5): 10% positive, 5% badge, 85% curse
Premium ($15): 20% positive, 10% badge, 70% curse
Legendary ($40): 35% positive, 15% badge, 50% curse

Yes, you pay more for slightly better odds of not getting sabotaged.

Curses include: invisible code, "Eye Pain" theme, typing that deletes your own code, aspect ratios that shift every 2 seconds, and 6px font size. Plus meta-curses that double lootbox prices or halve your remaining quotas.

3D lootbox opening with Three.js—particle effects, rarity-colored lighting, the full dopamine hit. Just like the games that inspired this nightmare.

How we built it

We didn't fork VS Code—we built an IDE from components. File tree, tabs, terminal, Git panel, all custom React. Then we made it break itself on command.

Electron + React + TypeScript — full desktop app architecture
Monaco Editor — wired up with dynamic LSP toggling
Three.js + React Three Fiber — 3D lootbox animations with particle systems
Zustand — state management for timers, quotas, curses, and meta-curses
xterm.js + node-pty — integrated terminal
simple-git — Git operations
IPC architecture — main process handles LSP, terminal PTY, Git, file I/O; renderer handles UI and 3D

Challenges we ran into

Dynamic LSP toggling — Monaco Editor doesn't expect you to yank language servers mid-session. We made it work anyway.
Reversible curses — Every sabotage (invisible text, random deletions, aspect ratio chaos) had to be cleanly reversible without corrupting editor state.
Complex state orchestration — Timers, quotas, stacking effects, meta-curses that affect other curses—all managed through Zustand without race conditions.
3D in Electron — Smooth 60fps lootbox animations inside a desktop app required careful optimization.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a fully functional IDE from scratch—not a fork
Every feature can dynamically switch between working, disabled, and actively sabotaging you
The 3D lootbox opening feels genuinely satisfying (which is the problem)
The "Eye Pain" theme is exactly as bad as it sounds
85% curse rate on the basic lootbox is peak game design

What we learned

Building manipulative gacha mechanics gave us visceral insight into why these systems work. The "just one more pull" feeling is real—and the line between our parody and real products is uncomfortably thin.