https://youtu.be/CbmFC74hDtQ

WONDERHOY!!! — Hackathon Write-Up

WONDERHOY!!! is a fast-paced, rhythm-based whack-a-mole game featuring chaotic fun and iconic characters like Emu, Pandui, Robone, and Fishkasa. The gameplay challenges players to whack the correct moles (who are, naturally, our charming characters) in sync with the beat—combining reaction speed with musical rhythm to achieve high scores and unlock bonus interactions!

🎮 What Our Product Does

Players are immersed in a colorful, musical carnival where hit objects appear in time with the beat. Each mole that pops up represents a character with their own unique animations and sounds. The game rewards accuracy, timing, and combo streaks — all while keeping players entertained with expressive character reactions and flashy effects.

Key gameplay features include:

🎵 Beat-matched mole spawning for rhythmic play
🕹️ Combo streaks & scoring system to encourage skill
🎭 Animated characters reacting to whacks — from Emu's cheer to Fishkasa’s pout

🛠️ Technologies We Used

To bring WONDERHOY!!! to life, we leveraged the following technologies:

🎮 Unreal Engine 5 — our core platform for game development, chosen for its powerful Blueprint system, audio syncing capabilities, and rapid prototyping of rhythm mechanics.
💻 Visual Studio — our integrated development environment (IDE) for scripting, debugging, and managing build processes for our Unreal project.
🌐 GitHub — used for version control and collaboration. With branches for gameplay logic, UI design, and asset integration, we ensured safe merges and efficient teamwork across the board.

💡 Technical Highlights

Implemented beat synchronization using Unreal’s Tick system for precision timing
Created custom C++ to spawn hit targets and register player inputs with time windows
Used Unreal’s animation system to rig and trigger character expressions based on player actions
Developed our own rhythm chart parser to make level design customizable and scalable

🎯 Final Thoughts

WONDERHOY!!! combines energetic gameplay, lovable characters, and rhythm game flair in one polished package. Our use of industry-grade tools like Unreal, Visual Studio, and GitHub empowered us to build, iterate, and jam in record time — just like a well-timed combo streak! 🎉

We hope you enjoy whacking to the beat as much as we enjoyed creating it —
and remember: