A self-aware PWA dopamine machine. Pull the lever, collect pixel-art creatures themed to the atoms of the dopamine molecule, fill the reservoir. Honest about being a Skinner box.
Status: Pre-development — design docs in progress.
C₈H₁₁NO₂ is the molecular formula for dopamine. This app is a slot/loot-box mechanic dressed up as a chemistry lab, where each pull yields a pixel-art creature themed to one of the atoms — Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen — or, occasionally, the full molecule itself (Mythic tier).
Currency is dopamine molecules. Collect 10,000 to fill the reservoir. Multiple editions per creature. Badges for both compulsion and restraint.
The mechanic is the satire. We use real variable-ratio reinforcement patterns and show the user the strings. No money changes hands. No FOMO. Reset is one tap away. See docs/ethics.md for the line.
All planning lives in docs/:
| Doc | Purpose |
|---|---|
| PRD.md | What we're building and why |
| GDD.md | Mechanics, drop rates, economy |
| card-bible.md | Every creature, every edition |
| ethics.md | What we will and won't do |
| visual-style.md | Palette, typography, motion |
| audio-design.md | Sound catalog & sourcing |
| wireframes.md | Screens and IA |
| tech-spec.md | Stack, architecture, data model |
| roadmap.md | Milestones and anti-roadmap |
| game-design-future.md | v1.5 game layer (speculative) |
| v0.1-audio-spike.md | Audio-first prototype spec + dev handoff prompt |
| decisions.md | Running log of design decisions |
Each doc includes a template usage prompt at the bottom for working on it with an AI assistant.
Not yet — design phase. Stack will be Vite + React + TypeScript + IndexedDB. See tech-spec.md.
TBD (probably MIT).