This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam
What I Built
Light Chaser is a story-driven endless runner inspired by the June Solstice, Pride Month, and the legacy of Alan Turing.
In Light Chaser, players explore a world slowly being consumed by darkness. As a Light Chaser, your mission is to collect fragments of lost light and restore color, memory, and hope to the world before the longest day comes to an end.
The game combines three major June themes:
🌞 The June Solstice
The entire game is built around the passage of daylight. Players begin their journey at dawn and progress through morning, noon, golden hour, and eventually sunset. As daylight changes, the world evolves visually and mechanically, creating a constant sense of movement and urgency.
🌈 Pride Month
The world initially appears almost completely colorless. By collecting Light Orbs, players gradually restore vibrant colors across the environment. Each restored color unlocks new stories, visual effects, and interactions, representing self-expression, identity, and authenticity.
🔐 Alan Turing
Hidden throughout the world are Turing Fragments, encrypted messages inspired by codebreaking and cryptography. Players solve cipher-based mini-puzzles to reveal pieces of a larger message honoring Alan Turing’s contributions to computing and artificial intelligence.
Along the way, players meet travelers who have lost important memories. By restoring light, players help these characters recover forgotten pieces of themselves and their stories.
The goal was to create a game that feels hopeful, colorful, and reflective while remaining fun and accessible.
Video Demo
Code
https://github.com/StephCurry07/Light-Chaser/
Play Online
https://light-chaser-june-solstice.vercel.app/
How I Built It
Light Chaser was built using Phaser 3 and TypeScript.
Core Gameplay
The game uses an endless-runner architecture where the player automatically advances through a procedurally generated world. The player can jump, slide, and collect Light Orbs while avoiding hazards created by spreading darkness.
Dynamic Solstice System
One of the most important systems in the game is the Solstice Cycle.
The environment transitions through multiple daylight phases:
- Dawn
- Morning
- Noon
- Golden Hour
- Sunset
Each phase adjusts lighting, colors, obstacle density, and difficulty, helping the player feel the passing of time throughout a single run.
Color Restoration System
The world starts in grayscale.
As players collect Light Orbs, saturation gradually increases across the environment. Additional particle effects, environmental details, and visual enhancements unlock as more color returns to the world.
This mechanic became the visual heart of the project.
Turing Fragment Cipher System
To honor Alan Turing, I implemented collectible encrypted messages.
Players discover fragments hidden throughout the world and solve simple cryptography puzzles inspired by historical codebreaking techniques. Successfully solving puzzles reveals pieces of a larger hidden message that can only be assembled at the end of the game.
AI-Powered NPCs
Travelers encountered during gameplay are generated using Google’s Gemini API.
Each NPC has:
- A unique name
- A personal story
- A lost memory
- Dialogue before and after memory restoration
Rather than using AI as a novelty feature, I wanted it to reinforce the game’s themes of identity, memory, and self-discovery.
Generated content is cached before gameplay begins to ensure smooth performance and avoid interruptions during a run.
Prize Category
Best Google AI Usage
Light Chaser uses Gemini to generate unique travelers and memory recovery stories.
Every generated character represents someone who has lost a meaningful part of themselves to the spreading darkness. Players help restore those memories through gameplay, creating personalized stories that connect directly to the game’s themes.
Rather than generating content for the sake of using AI, Gemini serves as a narrative system that helps make each playthrough feel unique and personal.
Best Ode to Alan Turing
Alan Turing’s work in codebreaking and computing inspired the Turing Fragment system.
Players collect encrypted messages throughout the world and solve cipher-based challenges to uncover a hidden tribute. The puzzles draw inspiration from historical cryptography while remaining accessible to players unfamiliar with encryption.
By combining codebreaking mechanics with themes of memory and discovery, the game aims to celebrate both Turing’s technical achievements and his lasting impact on modern computing.
Thank you for playing Light Chaser.
May your path always lead toward the light. ☀️
