ThesauRace

Main Menu (+ gambling)
Loading Screen feat. Hatsune Miku
Gameplay
Win Screen
Quit Screen (shows which goal path words were found)
Dungeon Mode

Inspiration

While deciding how to interpret the theme "Building Foundations", we were checking the definitions of these words to find unique interpretations. Then, because we were bored, we started clicking on word synonyms to see how far we could get from "Building Foundations" while technically still being based on the theme. This inspired us to make ThesauRace, which combines the classic WikiRace with a thesaurus.

What it does

ThesauRace is a game that is played.

How we built it

The game was made in python using the PyGame library for the inputs & outputs.

Challenges we ran into

Early on we had troubles finding a suitable API for word synonyms. Most APIs either cost too much or had too few free uses. The API we settled on is both free and has a large number of uses, with the minor drawback that for some words it doesn't return any synonyms.

Another issue was that as the core project is relatively low-scope, we finished pretty quickly, so we had to find a way to use up our time for the rest of the hackathon. This was accomplished by adding new game modes, quality of life improvements, and improving the UI.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were successfully able to work in a team to develop a fully functional game, and got positive feedback from our playtesters.

What we learned

For two of us this was our first hackathon, so we learnt the importance of careful planning to ensure the project is finished without crunch. This was also one member's first time using PyGame.

What's next for ThesauRace

We'd like to add more interesting game modes, for example a space invaders mode or a platformer mode (in a similar vein to how the dungeon crawler mode uses the foundation of the main mode and builds upon it)

Built With

Submitted to

birmingHack

Created by

I handled a lot of the core gameplay loop, including the UI, letting the player select a synonym to jump to, and the undo stack. I also added some other features like the gambling button.

Dani Lawson
Did parts of the UI and some of the game modes, ai option that uses vector similarity on words to find a path using a modified bfs

Garance AR
I setup the synonym, ensuring our cache was sanitised of problematic entries. Then I implemented asynchronous gifs to level up the loading screens, and wrote and downloaded AI voicelines to enhance the endscreen. I also submitted some university coursework 3 days late.

Sam Wickstead