Student-Life Guessr

Full-stack interactive guessing game based on UIC events!
Built with Django and React + Vite

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Demo Video

Watch app tutorial here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HGE4qitowqzsCjBbtz92oiViupdxlNW1/view?usp=share_link

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How to Run Project

Backend Setup (Django)

cd backend
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate    # Mac/Linux
# On Windows: venv/Scripts/activate

pip install -r requirements.txt
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py loaddata games/fixtures/uic_events_with_images.json    # Loads game event data/pictures
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

After running runserver, open backend at:
http://127.0.0.1:8000

To access Django Admin:
Go to: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin Log in using username & password you created with createsuperuser

In admiin panel:

• Accounts -> User Profiles - View emails, best scores, games played, signup date
• Games -> UIC Events - Add/edit campus events for the game (with images + answers + point value)

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Frontend Setup (React)

Open a second terminal:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend will launch via Vite at:
http://localhost:5173

The application includes:

• Login Page: Register/Sign in with an email + password
• Main Menu: View logged in user + Log out + View leaderboard + Sync data + Start new game
• Game Screen: Guess UIC events based on pictures + Gain points + Return to Main Menu to end early
• Game Over: View points earned + Reason game ended + Guess accuracy + Start new game or returt to Main Menu

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Data Structures & Game Logic

Trie + Fuzzy Searching (IDDFS)

The gameplay engine includes:

• Trie Data Structure: For fast lookup of valid event names and prefixes
• IDDFS Algorithm: Fuzzy matching for partial credit when users are close

Relevant Files:

backend/games/utils/trie.py
backend/games/utils/fuzzy_finder.py

Scoring Logic:

1. Exact match -> Full points
2. Prefix match -> Partial points
3. Name is close (fuzzy match) -> Some points