Recipia: A Delightful, Food Themed, Game To Explore Your Local Environment
Welcome to the next level of exploration — introducing Recipia, the groundbreaking game that transforms your local environment into an immersive playground for discovery and culinary adventure. Imagine embarking on a journey where every step brings you closer to unveiling hidden gems in your surroundings, all while crafting delightful dishes with your loyal pet and sous chef, Fido. It’s not just a game; it’s an experience that transcends the virtual world and connects you with the richness of your neighborhood. Are you ready to embark on this culinary escapade? Dive in and explore the world of Recipia.
Recipia is a location based wherein users are invited to explore “waypoints” scattered around their local neighborhood (Dartmouth’s campus in this case). When users arrive at a waypoint, they are able to collect a bundle of ingredients associated with that waypoint (ingredients can be celery, beef, tomatoes, coffee, etc.).
After collecting enough ingredients, users are able to engage in a delightful cooking experience, where ingredients are consumed to create dishes like a Succulent Lobster roll, a Robust Tomato Soup, or Maple Glazed Carrots.
What sets Recipia apart is not just the gameplay itself but the unique integration of a photo-taking feature that transforms happenstance exploration into a reflective experience. Navigate the map as Fido leads the way, not only collecting ingredients but also capturing the essence of each location through your lens. As you explore your community and collect ingredients, your exploration becomes a visual story, with each photo a chapter in your culinary adventure. Over time, you can build a location-aware catalog of places that you’ve visited and the time that you’ve spent there. Recipia makes it easy, and fun to capture the magic of your local environment, and relive your exploration history through a fun, food-themed lens.
One of the most interesting challenges when creating Recipia was the integration of the photo-journaling feature. Recipia’s backend was an ExpressJS server with limited RAM, so storing the photos in memory wasn’t an option. To solve this problem, we utilized an AWS S3 Storage Bucket to handle image storage and url generation. By creating a custom POST endpoint in the ExpressJS server to direct images from the Recipia game client to the S3 Bucket, as well as creating functions to generate a signed url for each photo stored in the bucket, we were able to create a delightful image uploading experience that enables users to capture meaningful moments playing the game and exploring their community.
Technical details aside, with Recipia you can experience the thrill and joy of reconnecting with your local surroundings and develop a practice of heightened awareness, appreciation, and admiration for your neighborhood. Click here to try it out now and be a part of the Recipia revolution. It’s time to play, explore, and savor every moment!
