BAMster

A Tetris-meets-platformer game where BAMster (a hamster with a laser pistol) jumps between falling colorful blocks and shoots them. Supports single-player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer.

Quick Start

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build shared package (required first time)
pnpm --filter @bamster/shared build

# Start the game
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Game Controls

Player 1

Action	Keys
Move	Arrow Keys or A/D
Jump	Space, W, or Up Arrow
Shoot	Z or Left Click

Player 2 (Local Multiplayer)

Action	Keys
Move	J/L
Jump	I
Shoot	U

Gameplay

• Blocks fall from the sky and stack up
• Jump on landed blocks to stay alive (falling blocks hurt!)
• Shoot blocks to destroy them and earn points
• Same-color blocks that touch merge together - destroying one destroys the entire cluster for bonus points
• Collect power-ups that occasionally fall:
  • 🌽 Corn - Extra health (permanent)
  • 👟 Sneakers - Jump boost (30 sec)
  • 🔫 Rapid Fire - Faster shooting (30 sec)
  • 🔫 Spread Shot - 3-way shot (30 sec)
  • 🔫 Piercing - Laser goes through blocks (30 sec)

Game Modes

• Single Player - Survive as long as possible, beat your high score
• Local Multiplayer - Two players on one keyboard, last one standing wins
• Online Play - Coming soon (server infrastructure ready)

Project Structure

bamster/
├── packages/
│   ├── client/          # Phaser 3 game (Vite + TypeScript)
│   │   └── src/
│   │       ├── scenes/      # BootScene, MenuScene, GameScene, GameOverScene
│   │       ├── entities/    # Bamster, Block, Laser, PowerUp
│   │       └── systems/     # BlockSpawner, InputManager, NetworkManager
│   ├── server/          # Colyseus multiplayer server
│   │   └── src/
│   │       ├── rooms/       # GameRoom
│   │       └── schema/      # GameState (synchronized state)
│   └── shared/          # Shared types and constants
└── package.json         # Workspace root

Development

# Start client dev server
pnpm dev

# Start multiplayer server
pnpm dev:server

# Start both in parallel
pnpm dev:all

# Type check all packages
pnpm typecheck

# Build for production
pnpm build

Deployment

Build for Production

# Build shared package first (required)
pnpm --filter @bamster/shared build

# Build client
pnpm --filter @bamster/client build

Output will be in packages/client/dist/.

Deploy to Static Hosting

The client builds to static files that can be hosted anywhere:

# Netlify
npx netlify deploy --dir=packages/client/dist --prod

# Vercel
cd packages/client && npx vercel --prod

# GitHub Pages
# Copy dist/ contents to gh-pages branch

# Any web server
scp -r packages/client/dist/* user@server:/var/www/html/

Deploy Multiplayer Server

For online multiplayer, deploy the server to a Node.js host (Railway, Render, Fly.io):

1. Build: pnpm --filter @bamster/server build
2. Set the PORT environment variable
3. Update client's server URL in packages/client/src/systems/NetworkManager.ts

Debug Mode

Press F3 to enable debug mode, then:

• F4: Trigger "Floor is Lava" event
• F5: Trigger random event
• F8: Toggle invincibility (for screenshots/testing)

Tech Stack

• Game Engine: Phaser 3
• Language: TypeScript
• Build Tool: Vite
• Multiplayer: Colyseus
• Package Manager: pnpm (monorepo)

Configuration

Game constants can be adjusted in packages/shared/src/constants.ts:

• GAME_WIDTH / GAME_HEIGHT - Screen dimensions
• GRAVITY - Physics gravity
• BAMSTER_SPEED / BAMSTER_JUMP_VELOCITY - Player movement
• BLOCK_FALL_SPEED - How fast blocks fall
• BLOCK_SPAWN_INTERVAL - Time between block spawns
• POWERUP_SPAWN_CHANCE - Probability of power-up instead of block
• POWERUP_DURATION - How long timed power-ups last