Solo build · 25,000+ downloads · 2025 - 2026
A real-time GPS hide-and-seek game for iOS and Android, with geofenced play areas and tactical items. 25,000+ downloads.
HideZone turns parks and city centers into playing fields. I built the entire cross-platform stack: real-time GPS geofencing, dynamic boundary zones, and an in-game item system. A later rewrite of the network layer cut database operations by 85%.
Playing hide and seek across a whole park or district needs boundary enforcement, live coordination, and something to keep the chase tactically interesting. Doing all of that on a phone, in real time, without draining the battery is the hard part.
Built a real-time coordination engine on Firebase that syncs player positions with sub-50ms latency, enforces virtual boundaries through geofencing, and processes item triggers like scanners and proximity mines for tactical depth.
Designed, built, and shipped solo to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The game passed 25,000 organic downloads, monetized via ads and a pro subscription tier. A later refactor of the synchronization and polling layer cut Realtime Database operations by 85%, keeping server costs under 20% of the ad revenue alone.
Flutter on both platforms, with the Strategy pattern separating the different game modes. State management runs on Flutter Riverpod for a reactive, testable codebase. Firebase Realtime Database is the single source of truth, synchronizing player roles, locations, and game events across all clients with sub-50ms latency.
Scanners reveal locations, Proximity Mines set traps, Ghost Mode grants stealth, and Zone Movers flush out campers.
Classic, Zombie Infection, Chase, and Sardines, each with its own rules and balance.
Live tracking with geofencing, supporting custom lobbies with multiple concurrent players.
No account registration. All session data is wiped the moment a match ends.
Started mobile development, establishing data schemas and core state structures.
Integrated game modes, the item system, and geographic boundaries.
Tested with local groups to tune GPS precision, battery use, and latency.
Shipped to the Google Play Store and refined systems based on early usage logs.
Rewrote the network polling layer, cutting Realtime Database operations by 85%.
Shipped to the Apple App Store with full cross-platform parity.
