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Vibe Code Dev Story
A browser-based startup management sim — garage to IPO — that demonstrates deterministic game-simulation engineering, data-driven content systems, one-time billing and entitlements, and edge-native delivery of a monetized consumer product.
Positioning
A monetized consumer web product — accounts, one-time billing, entitlements, and competitive leaderboards — designed, shipped, and operated by a small team on an edge-native stack.
Overview
What this project demonstrates
Vibe Code Dev Story is a turn-based, deck-driven management sim where players grow an AI startup from a garage to an IPO, balancing runway, hype, users, technical debt, and team morale. Under the playful surface it is a complete consumer product: a pure-TypeScript simulation engine with no framework dependencies, a JSON-authored card content system, registered accounts with cross-device saves, one-time purchase unlocks via Stripe, and a scored Ranked mode feeding competitive leaderboards. For Spectrum Labs it is a concrete example of game and simulation engineering, live-service infrastructure, and consumer monetization shipped on a lean, serverless edge stack.
Core framing A roguelite startup sim: garage to IPO in a deck of cards
Good Fit For
Interactive products, simulations, and gamified experiences
Data-driven content systems that designers can extend without touching engine code
Consumer apps needing accounts, entitlements, and one-time or recurring billing
Deterministic engines where correctness is proven by tests, not manual QA
Core Delivery Areas
Turn-based and simulation game systems with reproducible, fully testable logic
Content pipelines that let designers add cards, events, and balance from data files
Live-service backends: identity, cross-device state, purchases, and scoring
Automated balance verification so tuning changes ship with confidence
Platform Stack
Pure-TypeScript simulation core with no framework dependencies, testable in isolation
Svelte 5 (runes) and Tailwind interface built with Vite for a fast, app-like feel
Node and Postgres API for identity, cross-device saves, entitlements, and leaderboards
Monorepo with a shared engine package, CI/CD, and edge deployment on Cloudflare
AI Pipeline
AI-assisted development workflow: agentic code generation, review, and refactoring at high velocity
Monte-Carlo balance harness simulating thousands of playthroughs to catch exploits and calibrate difficulty
Card content authored and tuned against the simulation for repeatable, data-driven design iteration
Applied Product Capabilities
Deterministic turn engine with tasks, events, crises, hiring, and stage progression
Card-based content system with decks, trigger conditions, and persistent stat modifiers
Registered accounts with anonymous-first onboarding and cross-device saves
Stripe one-time purchase unlocks with server-authoritative entitlement checks
Scored Ranked mode with server-side validation and competitive leaderboards
Adversarial balance benchmark that gates tuning changes in CI
What A Client Could Hire Spectrum Labs To Do
Turn a game or interactive concept into a shipped, monetized web product
Build simulation and rules engines whose correctness is guaranteed by tests
Add accounts, billing, and entitlements to a client-only app without a heavy backend
Stand up competitive and social features such as scoring and leaderboards
What’s Next
Cross-platform play with mobile packaging and native in-app purchase support
Meta-progression, daily challenges, and expanded content packs as additional paid modes