Motion - Bubble Brawl Poppers

Play an real-time online multiplayer game... without touching your keyboard.

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Bubble Brawl Poppers

Inspiration

Bubble Brawl Poppers was not born from imitation, but from obsession — a fascination with motion, physics, and the raw thrill of skill expression. We set out to create a game entirely our own, one where mechanics are shaped by intention, mastery, and the joy of emergent chaos.

Every rule, interaction, and combat dynamic was crafted through experimentation, iteration, and relentless refinement. What emerged is a multiplayer arena where success is earned through precision, timing, and intuition — a space that rewards dedication while celebrating expressive play.

At its core, Bubble Brawl Poppers reflects our belief that great games are not merely built, but cultivated through passion, persistence, and a willingness to chase fun until it becomes unmistakable.

What it does

Bubble Brawl Poppers is an online multiplayer physics brawler controlled entirely through hand gestures.

Players navigate using natural hand motion while controlling an orbiting “bubble” weapon. Combat is driven by gesture interactions:

  • Pinch to boost movement
  • Closed hand to launch the bubble into a tangential attack
  • Real-time gesture input enables skill-based combat and navigation

The bubble attack leverages tangential velocity from orbital motion — meaning the bubble launches in the exact direction of its orbit at the moment of release. This creates a high-skill, physics-driven combat mechanic where timing and positioning directly influence attack trajectories.

How we built it

Hand Tracking:
Google MediaPipe processes camera input and extracts hand landmarks. Gesture recognition algorithms analyze these landmarks to classify player actions.

Frontend:
The game UI and rendering pipeline are built using the HTML5 Canvas API for smooth real-time visuals.

Backend:
A Golang server performs authoritative physics simulation and maintains WebSocket connections for low-latency multiplayer synchronization, including orbital mechanics and tangential projectile motion.

Challenges we ran into

  • Team setbacks reduced us to two active members after illnesses affected teammates, making coordination difficult during a time-constrained hackathon.
  • Our original mechanics involved complex physics and mathematical modeling, forcing a pivot to simpler but more polished gameplay.
  • With limited prior experience in web game development, we had to rapidly learn MediaPipe, canvas rendering, and real-time networking.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Designing and deploying a fully functional multiplayer web game from scratch
  • Implementing real-time hand tracking as a primary input system
  • Creating a tangential orbital combat mechanic that rewards timing and player skill
  • Building a full-stack game architecture with physics simulation and live networking

What we learned

  • Practical game server architecture and real-time networking patterns
  • Gesture recognition using MediaPipe and landmark heuristics
  • Orbital physics and tangential motion for gameplay mechanics
  • Client-server synchronization for multiplayer gameplay

What's next for Bubble Brawl Poppers

Bubble Brawl Poppers currently exists as a polished demo, with several planned improvements:

  • Expanded gameplay mechanics including pellets, wall collisions, and scoring systems
  • Smoother client experience through interpolation and extrapolation beyond the current 20 Hz server tick
  • Visual polish such as particle effects, camera shake, and improved UI states (death screen, menus, feedback)

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