Flagship project / RevenueCat Shipaton 2026
WordChess
A real-time multiplayer word strategy game. Place letters, claim words, and think a move ahead on a shared board.
A game worth bringing back
WordChess began with a paper-board game I played with a school friend. I rebuilt it for online play.
Play the board, not just the word
Two players place letters on a shared board and claim words in any direction. Every move can create an opportunity for your opponent.
- Online matches, friend invites and guest access.
- Computer practice, three time controls and Glicko-2 ratings.
- Replay and dictionary lookups, to learn from each match.
The engineering behind a live match
React and TypeScript power the client; Capacitor packages it for mobile. Fastify and Socket.IO handle live play, backed by PostgreSQL and Redis.
The server owns match state. Immediate local feedback keeps play responsive, while synchronized clocks, reconnection recovery and duplicate-move protection keep matches consistent.
From project to product
Submitted to RevenueCat Shipaton 2026, WordChess also taught me about onboarding, moderation and the work beyond gameplay.
Play WordChess or read the hackathon submission for the full development story.