My entry for the Alibaba Cloud x DEV Game Challenge — built with love, logic, and browser storage.
🎮 Play the Game
🕹️ Live Demo on GitHub Pages
💻 GitHub Repository
⚠️ I also deployed this game to Alibaba Cloud using their OSS + Domain service, but DNS propagation is still in progress. GitHub Pages is your best bet for now.
✨ What If a Game Got a Heartbeat?
Nova Invaders isn’t just another robot shooter. It’s a high-speed, endlessly evolving arena built on pure JavaScript. With custom bullet logic, dynamic waves, and a seamless UI — this browser game learns, adapts, and keeps you on edge.
I built it from scratch: no frameworks, no fluff — just DOM logic, OOP, and raw gameplay energy.
🔥 Core Features
🌀 Endless Mode
There’s no final boss — just survival. Chaos ramps up endlessly.
🔄 Bullet Types & Smart Refills
Each bullet type has a unique cooldown refill system:
- B2 → 3 bullets/sec
- B3 → 2 bullets/sec
- B4 → 1 bullet/sec
Strategic use is everything.
🚀 Level-Up Mechanics
- Unpredictable Waves
- Escalating Difficulty
- Randomized Patterns
No two runs feel the same.
🌗 Smooth UI Transitions
Everything flows — no janky reloads. From menus to game over screens, transitions are built manually with clean DOM logic.
🗂️ Persistent Browser Storage
Your progress is saved in local Storage. No logins. No servers. Just load and play.
🆕 What’s Coming?
💰 Coins System
Coins are earned through gameplay and used for upgrades and boosters — integrated across mechanics.
⚡ Boosters
Add tactical variety and life-saving options:
- Health+: Instantly gain +20 HP
- Booster-1: Full health restore
- Booster-2: Wipe every enemy on screen (panic button!)
📸 Sneak Peek
🎥 Gameplay Video
🔧 Built With
- JavaScript (Classes + DOM)
- HTML5 Canvas
- CSS for UI polish
- Object Pooling for performance
- LocalStorage API
- Alibaba Cloud OSS + Domain Service
Alibaba was a big part of deployment. I used OSS for storage and domain setup — but GitHub Pages is the backup due to DNS propagation delays.
🧠 Key Challenges
No Frameworks, Full Experience
UI states, transitions, and logic — all custom-built with JS.Cooldown Bullet System
Bullets refill based on type, managed through object pooling.Hosting Delays
Alibaba deployment worked, but DNS lag led me to use GitHub Pages to avoid demo downtime.
📚 What I Learned
- HTML Canvas + JS = Powerful combo
- Browser storage is excellent for solo-dev games
- Deployment = more than uploading files
- Performance tuning matters even in small games
🚪 What’s Next?
- Leaderboards + difficulty scaling
- More robots, bullet types, and boosters
- Mobile version with Capacitor
- Possibly co-op mode 👀
❤️ Final Thoughts
This was only my second time coding this year, and building Nova Invaders reignited my drive. I didn’t just code — I engineered. I thought through systems, wrote maintainable logic, and leaned on AI tools to refine my problem-solving process.
“Logical thinking is what takes you from a coder to an engineer — solving problems and bending AI tools to your belt.”
Judges & DEV team: racing against the clock meant I pushed deployment and docs to the wire—and my Alibaba link still catches up—but Nova Invaders delivers an OOP‑fueled engine, evolving levels, strategic bullets, and browser‑saved progress. Please look past the deadline’s rough edges and reward the creativity and passion driving every line of code.
If you enjoyed it, hit the ❤️, drop a comment, or star the repo — it fuels the journey. 💬
🔗 Quick Links
🎮 Play Nova Invaders
💻 GitHub Repository
☁️ Alibaba Hosting (Coming Soon)
