The Price is Sorta Right

About this project

Role

Ideation, Visuals, Development

Tools Used

HTML/ CSS, JavaScript

Overview

April 2024

I am quite the fan of the Jackbox Party Packs game series. It’s a fun, easy way to spend time with and play with friends or family, and it’s all based around the philosophy of dumb/ silly fun. In fact, I had been playing it more recently as a way to spend time with my friends during my busy schedule. So, when I was tasked with developing a fully responsive and interactive site that would utilize an existing web API to inspire my concept, I knew what I had to do. Using IndexedDB along with Dexie.js, I wanted to develop a Jackbox style web game that embraced the idea of dumb fun using one of my favorite hobbies: searching the internet for funny, weird, or cursed items.

Ideation & Development

When coming up with a proposal to layout my goals for The Price is Sorta Right, I also took into account other projects that I would be working on and how those might factor into the development of this web game. Doing so helped me understand what I’d realistically be able to accomplish, as well as recognize how much more I would actually be able complete with a planned out schedule. Having a proposal/outline definitely took a lot the stress and guess work out of it. Although, this document was a bit more informal due to the nature of who I would be sending this proposal to.

The original proposal and plan of the site goes as follows:

Project Type

Fun, Short, and Sweet Browser Game

Date Completed

In summary, there would be 10 rounds of gameplay following the same rules of “The Price is Right”. Every time the user started a new game, the database of items I create would randomly pull new items, changing the game each time. At the end of the 10 rounds, the total score would be added together, and also present users with the links to the items they guessed on that game cycle. To embrace the fun of it, visual and audio elements would be utilized.

The Development Stage

After receiving the go ahead for my proposal, I went to begin development on the site. Unlike my usual design process where I wire-frame first, design second, then develop last, however, I took a different approach. This time I prioritized functionality and development of key features first before I went about designing it’s general look to challenge myself as a developer more so than a designer. Sure, I had my ideas already on how I wanted the end result to look, but I found it more important that this time around that every single working piece should be functioning perfectly before I go about designing it. Besides, this project would be criticized more on it’s functionally and responsiveness more so than the overall look of it.

So I went about using HTML/CSS and JavaScript along with existing web APIs to code and debug the game. The first step I took was compiling the item database into a usable set of data for my site to pull from. Afterwards, I worked on game functionality such as pulling random items from the database without repeating items, the user guessing that would give them points based on their guess, and more.

The Design Stage

After having made sure every working part of the game was functional, I moved on to the design of the site. I wanted to have a more cartoonish look, similar to my inspiration of the Jackbox series. However, I still wanted to maintain the look and atmosphere of a game show, referencing the original “The Price is Right”. I decided I would incorporate the red and orange hues of the original game show while putting my own spin on the concept. After multiple stages of iteration and testing, I landed on a backdrop, color scheme, and satire logo I was happy with.

The Final Deliverables

On completion, The Price is Sorta Right is a publicly available, free to play browser game. I’m updating the database and content of the game to include more items as time goes on, so that it stays new and refreshing.