CODE//GUARD

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Gameplay Mechanics

CODE//GUARD is a typing-survival game built around one core loop: type the word displayed above each incoming enemy to destroy it before it reaches your territory. Your territory is a literal 32-tile strip — the direct expression of the jam’s 32×32 constraint. Every typing mistake burns one tile; total loss, or a single enemy reaching your line, ends the run immediately.

Controls are entirely keyboard-based: just type. Once a keystroke matches an enemy’s next letter, you’re locked onto that target until it’s destroyed or you make a mistake. Press Escape (or tap the pause icon) to pause anytime.

Key Features

• Real difficulty engine — word selection is driven by a computed typing-difficulty score (length, rare letters, repeated letters, QWERTY hand/finger transitions), rising on a smooth 5-phase curve instead of just spawning enemies faster
• Three distinct boss encounters — AEGIS-WALL (multi-stage word sequence, randomized every fight), GLITCH-PHANTOM (multiple simultaneous words, only one is the real rotating target), and VELOCITY-CORE (strict sequence under a shrinking time limit)
• Skill-based scoring — every kill scores Base (word length) + Speed bonus + Accuracy bonus + Combo multiplier, rewarding precision and pace, not just survival time
• Territory integrity system — staged Stable → Warning → Critical → Emergency states, with kill-milestone tile regeneration letting skilled play reclaim lost ground
• Live shared leaderboard — real-time via Supabase, tracking each player’s personal best
• Fully procedural audio — cyberpunk pad, bass pulse, and arpeggio music plus all sound effects generated live via Web Audio, zero external audio files

What makes your game stand out from others in its genre?

The 32-tile territory bar isn’t a stylized health bar — it’s the literal jam constraint made into the core stake of the game. Every design decision loops back to it: mistakes burn real tiles, skilled streaks reclaim them, and the “Territory Integrity” status genuinely shifts the game’s intensity as you get closer to losing. Combined with a typing-difficulty engine that scores words by actual keyboard awkwardness (not just length) and three mechanically distinct bosses that each demand a different kind of pressure — prioritization, timing, or endurance — it pushes the typing-survival genre past “type fast, survive longer” into something with real decision-making depth.

AI Tools Used

Game Designer Mind (Minds by Animoca Brands), Claude

How AI was integrated into the development process

Game Designer Mind was used across six production stages: game identity and naming, core word-tier generation for the typing-difficulty engine, enemy archetype design (visuals and mechanics for all four ship types), UI flavor text, boss encounter naming and flavor text for all three bosses, and the expert-tier/boss-exclusive word lists used in late-game and boss content. Claude was used for the full implementation — game engine, rendering, boss state machines, the difficulty-scoring system, Supabase backend integration, and UI/UX — translating GDM’s design and content decisions directly into working gameplay systems rather than using them as cosmetic flavor only.