Company
Date Published
Author
Jon Davis
Word count
620
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

At Twilio, they built CommsQuest IV, a retro-style labyrinth game using Twilio Sync, a programmable SMS and real-time state synchronization API. They found an open source JavaScript project called Astray on GitHub and used it as the base for their game. Using Twilio Sync, they were able to ship the game in just a couple of hours by sending text messages from the desktop browser to the mobile phone, which controlled the player character using gyroscope and accelerometer data. The team added four levels to the game, including a "telestone" call, a castle to light up, navigating through global communications infrastructure, and a maze of infinite rainbows. They used Twilio Sync because they needed to move fast and ship the game within a limited time frame. The project was completed in just an hour, and it showcases the possibilities of using Twilio's platform and API for creating new projects.