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§ masterplan.md

Retro Pixel Game Hub

A nostalgic arcade-style site hosting simple browser games with pixel art, chiptune audio and high-score tables.

All ideas
Retro

01

App overview and objectives

A hub for small pixel-art browser games with global leaderboards, a cosmetic shop and a devlog. Play instantly, no install, no account until you want your score on the board.

02

The problem worth solving

Small games die in app stores. A shared hub gives several tiny games one audience, one login and one leaderboard culture, which is what keeps players coming back daily.

03

Target audience

  • Primary — Casual players looking for a five-minute game at a desk.
  • Secondary — Indie developers wanting distribution for small titles.

04

Roles and permissions

  • Visitor — read-only public pages, can sign up.
  • Member — owns their own records, cannot see other users' data.

05

Core features

  • Instant-play game grid with no install and no account required
  • Global and weekly leaderboards with anti-cheat validation
  • Player profile with achievements and play history
  • Cosmetic shop for avatars and skins, purely visual
  • Devlog with development posts and patch notes
  • Community page for feedback and bug reports

Deliberately later

  • Third-party developer submissions
  • Tournaments with prizes
  • Mobile-optimised control schemes

06

Technical stack

React shell hosting canvas games, Postgres for scores and profiles, server-side score validation.

Why: Leaderboards are worthless without server validation; the games themselves run entirely in the browser for zero marginal cost.

Alternatives: A game platform like a hosted portal (instant audience, revenue share and no control) or native apps (better monetisation, far slower iteration).

07

Conceptual data model

Game — slug, title, description, controls, thumbnail, version

Score — game, player, value, replay hash, validated, created_at

Player — handle, avatar, cosmetics owned, achievements

Purchase — player, item, price, provider reference

DevlogPost — game, title, body, published_at

08

Integrations

  • Payments for cosmetics
  • Analytics for session length
  • Asset CDN

09

UI design principles

  • Period-accurate details: pixel or bitmap type, dithered textures, chunky borders.
  • Nostalgia must not cost usability — keep tap targets and contrast modern.
  • Sound and animation are opt-in, never autoplay.

10

Security considerations

  • Scores validated server-side with replay or checksum verification; never trust the client.
  • Cosmetic-only monetisation avoids pay-to-win and keeps leaderboards meaningful.
  • Handle moderation and profanity filtering on display names.

11

Development phases

Phase 1 — Prove the core

  • — Instant-play game grid with no install and no account required
  • — Global and weekly leaderboards with anti-cheat validation
  • — Player profile with achievements and play history
  • — Static content and design system in place
  • — Basic analytics

Phase 2 — Make it real

  • — Cosmetic shop for avatars and skins, purely visual
  • — Devlog with development posts and patch notes
  • — Community page for feedback and bug reports
  • — Accounts, sign-in and password reset
  • — Empty, loading and error states everywhere

Phase 3 — Polish and launch

  • — Performance, accessibility and SEO pass
  • — Legal pages, contact route and 404 handling
  • — Wire up: Payments for cosmetics
  • — Wire up: Analytics for session length

Phase 4 — Grow

  • — Third-party developer submissions
  • — Tournaments with prizes
  • — Mobile-optimised control schemes

12

Challenges and solutions

Risk — Cheating destroys leaderboards

Solution — Replay verification, statistical outlier detection and a separate unverified board.

Risk — Games get stale

Solution — Weekly leaderboard resets and seasonal challenges keep old games fresh.

Risk — Asset loading on slow connections

Solution — Tiny pixel assets, sprite atlases and offline caching after first play.

13

Future expansion

  • Developer revenue share
  • Level editor and user-generated content
  • Physical merchandise

14

Page list (13 pages)

  1. 01 PUBLIC Games — The arcade grid.
  2. 02 PUBLIC Leaderboard — Global and weekly rankings.
  3. 03 PUBLIC Shop — Cosmetics.
  4. 04 PUBLIC Community — Feedback, bugs and discussion.
  5. 05 PUBLIC Devlog — Development posts and patch notes.
  6. 06 AUTH Sign up — Create an account with email or a social provider.
  7. 07 AUTH Log in — Return to the account, with error and lockout states.
  8. 08 AUTH Reset password — Request a reset link and set a new password.
  9. 09 APP (signed in) Account settings — Profile, email, password, language and delete account.
  10. 10 PUBLIC Contact — Contact form plus real address, phone and email.
  11. 11 LEGAL & SYSTEM Privacy policy — What data is collected, why, and how to remove it.
  12. 12 LEGAL & SYSTEM Terms of service — Rules of use, liability and account termination.
  13. 13 LEGAL & SYSTEM 404 not found — Friendly dead end with search and links back.

15

Page map

PUBLIC          AUTH               APP (signed in)      LEGAL & SYSTEM
──────────────  ─────────────────  ───────────────────  ───────────────────
├─ Games        ├─ Sign up         └─ Account settings  ├─ Privacy policy
├─ Leaderboard  ├─ Log in                               ├─ Terms of service
├─ Shop         └─ Reset password                       └─ 404 not found
├─ Community
├─ Devlog
└─ Contact

key flows:
  Games ──▶ Leaderboard
  Leaderboard ──▶ Shop
  Devlog ──▶ Games
  Community ──▶ Devlog