Introduction
Cosmic Rewind is an interactive year-in-review project. It was created for a company Christmas party with the goal of presenting personal highlights and lowlights of the year in a creative and entertaining way. Instead of relying on traditional PowerPoint slides, the project transforms the year into a playable game experience that can be enjoyed collectively by the audience.
From PowerPoint Karaoke to Game Karaoke
The idea for the project was inspired by the popular concept of “PowerPoint Karaoke.” This idea was reimagined as “Game Karaoke.” Rather than giving a presentation, a colleague plays a game that unfolds the story of the year, while everyone else watches and follows the journey together. This shift from passive viewing to active gameplay creates a more engaging and memorable experience.
Game Concept and Metaphor
The game takes the form of a classic space shooter. The player controls a small spaceship traveling through a starry universe that represents the course of the year. Monthly markers guide the journey from January to December, giving the game a clear structure. Asteroids symbolize challenges, while highlights and lowlights represent positive and negative experiences. In this way, the game becomes a metaphor for navigating through a turbulent year.
Gameplay Experience
The gameplay is designed to be simple and intuitive, so that anyone can quickly understand it. The player must dodge asteroids, collect highlights to gain points and health, and avoid lowlights that cause damage. The main objective is to survive until the end of the year, although the game can end earlier if too many collisions occur. At the end of a run, the player receives a summary of captured highlights and avoided lowlights, turning the game into a playful reflection of the year.
Technical Implementation
From a technical perspective, Cosmic Rewind was developed in Python using the Pygame framework. To ensure easy access for all participants, the game was compiled for the web using Pygbag, allowing it to run directly in a browser without installation. One of the main challenges was achieving web compatibility, which was successfully addressed through this approach. The timing of highlights and lowlights is defined in simple dictionaries in the code, making the game easy to customize for different users or events.
Outcome and Impact
The finished project is more than just a small game. It provides an interactive and entertaining way to look back on a year, combining humor, creativity, and technical skill. The audience is actively involved in discovering the story behind the events, making it a refreshing alternative to traditional presentations and encouraging discussion and engagement.
Conclusion and Future Use
Cosmic Rewind demonstrates how gamification can transform personal reflection into a shared experience. The publicly available source code allows others to adapt the game by adding their own highlights, lowlights, and graphics. As a result, the project serves as both an inspiring example of creative storytelling and a flexible template for anyone who wants to gamify their own year in review.