Sudoku Showdown

Context

Sudoku Showdown began as a web prototype for friendly multiplayer races and focused solo runs. Players needed to solve the same puzzle while the game preserved a consistent account of moves, hints, scoring, and results.

Approach

I used Codex to develop the game surface and supporting systems in small, testable parts. The work combined generated puzzles, short-lived rooms, ready states, server-authoritative game actions, and a separate solo mode that could remain useful without multiplayer.

What happened

The project produced a working game prototype with multiplayer rooms, solo runs, local leaderboard history, and an iOS foundation. It also made the limits of a prototype more visible before treating the work as a production release.

Working with AI

Codex was useful for implementation, but the important decisions remained human ones: defining what counted as a fair move, deciding which state belonged on the server, keeping the mobile flow understandable, and checking whether each generated change preserved the game's rules.

Key details

• Players can create or join a room to solve the same generated puzzle together.
• The server remains authoritative for moves, hints, scoring, and finish states.
• Solo runs and multiplayer history are kept distinct so their results are not treated as the same kind of record.

Tools and method

The project uses TypeScript, React, Next.js through Vinext, and Supabase for the active multiplayer service. Capacitor provides an iOS shell, while the game logic and puzzle validation remain separate from the interface.

Lessons learned

A competitive game needs explicit authority boundaries early. When rules, scoring, and finish states are left vague, an interface can appear complete while the underlying game is inconsistent. Codex helped move quickly, but the work improved when those rules were written down and tested directly.

Limitations

The current version is a prototype rather than an App Store-ready release. Realtime behavior, device testing, difficulty ratings, and production operational requirements still need more validation.

Next step

Test multiplayer sessions across real devices, strengthen difficulty ratings, and continue preparing the iOS build for TestFlight.