LinkedIn Tycoon

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💡 Inspiration

Let's be real: Building a career in tech already feels like an RPG.

You grind for skills (LeetCode), you farm connections (LinkedIn), you complete quests (side projects), and you fight bosses (technical interviews) to level up your job title.

I wanted to take that metaphor literally.

I asked myself: "What if I could build a massive, open-world pixel art game that simulates the real-life hustle?" I didn't just want a clicker game; I wanted a living world where you actually have to walk to the gym to train stamina, visit coffee shops to boost energy, and physically attend conferences to network.

LinkedIn Tycoon is the result: a gamified simulation of the grind.

🎮 What it does

LinkedIn Tycoon is a browser-based Open World RPG built on the Phaser 3 engine. It turns professional development into an immersive adventure.

You start as a Junior Engineer with 0 connections. Your goal? Become a Tech Industry Leader.

To get there, you have to manage a complex ecosystem of stats and choices:

🌍 Open World Exploration: Seamlessly walk between your Home, the Gym, Coworking Spaces, Parks, and Tech Conferences.
📊 Stat Management: It’s not just about coding. You have to balance Energy, Health, Coins, Networking, Skills, and Reputation.
🚀 Viral Content Engine: Create posts in-game. If your reputation is high enough, your network grows exponentially.
💾 Auto-Save System: The game persists your exact coordinates, inventory, and stats to LocalStorage every 30 seconds.

⚙️ How I built it

I set a specific challenge for myself: Build a complex game engine without using any UI frameworks.

No React. No Vue. No Redux. Just code.

The Tech Stack

const techStack = {
  engine: "Phaser 3.70",
  language: "Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+)",
  buildTool: "Vite",
  persistence: "LocalStorage API",
  linesOfCode: "11,000+"
};

I built a custom event system to handle game state modifiers. For example, when you enter a "High Productivity Zone" (like a Coworking Space), the game loop detects the collision and applies a multiplier to your skill gain:

$$\text{XP Gain} = \text{Base Rate} \times 1.5$$

🚧 Challenges I ran into

1. The "Vanilla" Architecture Building a game this large without a framework was a massive architectural challenge. Managing this contexts and keeping the UI in sync with the game state manually (without a Virtual DOM) taught me a hard lesson in memory management and clean code structure.

2. Spatial Audio Implementation I wanted the world to feel alive. I implemented a spatial audio system where the volume of music tracks (like the upbeat gym music or the chill park vibes) adjusts dynamically based on the pixel distance between your character and the building.

🏅 Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The Balance: Tweaking the economy so the game feels fair—not too grindy, but not too easy—took days of playtesting, but the pacing now feels solid.
Zero Dependencies: Aside from the Phaser engine, every menu, dialogue box, and inventory system is custom-built.
Dynamic Sprites: The character generator allows for thousands of combinations, so your avatar actually feels unique.

🚀 What's next for LinkedIn Tycoon

☁️ Cloud Saves: Migrating from LocalStorage to a Firebase backend to allow cross-device play.
🤖 AI NPCs: Integrating an LLM API so the NPCs you network with generate unique career advice every time you talk to them.
🏆 Multiplayer: Adding global leaderboards and the ability to visit your friends' offices.

Play the game right now in your browser!