Show HN: Shoot-em-up Deck Building game
stanko Tuesday, January 06, 2026Hey, I've shared this game while it was still a work in progress in one of the Tell HN threads. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of people tried it, and I got some positive feedback and constructive criticism.
Anyway, I found a gamedev library I really like - Kaplay [1]. What I like about it is that easy things are easy. Meaning I could have fun building the game without learning (or fighting) a new tool. I always wanted to make games, but this is the first one I actually did.
And I have to tell you - game development sparks joy! It combines so many things (game design, programming, art, sounds, UI...), and it is incredibly fun.
The game is a combination of action and turn-based gameplay. Probably a too ambitious goal, but I think I managed to make a fun little game. If you are not sure what I'm talking about, try playing the tutorial, it should help. There is also a global leaderboard, which is dominated by my friend, and I would appreciate if someone can dethrone him :)
It is completely free. I'm thinking of open sourcing it, but the code isn't up to my regular standards, as I was learning on the go. Also, I was more excited about adding stuff than going back and refactoring. So I'm still deciding on that one.
Before you ask, no, I haven't vibe-coded it. For me personally, that would mean delegating the fun stuff to something else. I’ve been working on it for about a month, in the evenings after my kid is asleep.
All feedback is appreciated!
P.S. I also plan a blog post or two about it. I already started an interactive demo on how missiles are coded.