Flagship Mobile x Web3 DeerHacks V (2026)

Campus Quest

One-line summary: CampusQuest turns your campus into a game: explore events, complete challenges, earn XP, badges, and Solana rewards, connect with clubs, and innovate campus life while having fun.

Core framing: Turning UTM into a Living Innovation Game World. Built at DeerHacks 2026 (36-hour hackathon). Focus: Web3 + Gamification + AR + Community Impact.

Team

Rizul Sharma
Eva Rosati
Daniel Felipe Mena Andrade
Anhad Chawla

Demo Video

OPEN .MOV DOWNLOAD VIDEO

Primary source is .mov. If your browser cannot play it reliably, use the direct open/download links above.

Browser support check loading...

If you later export a compressed browser-friendly MP4, place it beside the MOV and wire it as an additional source.

Inspiration

Campus life at UTM often drives one-time event attendance: students show up once and leave with no persistent engagement loop. We wanted ongoing participation to create identity and reputation across clubs.

Problem frame: static events produce one-off attendance; challenge-based progression produces recurring curiosity, cross-club exploration, and verifiable recognition of effort.

What It Does

Student Side

Open app and navigate a milestone-based campus map.
Discover club micro-quests at real campus locations.
Scan QR codes to unlock challenges.
Submit responses for XP and Campus Coins (Solana).
Unlock and equip avatar cosmetics in wardrobe.
Build a verifiable innovation identity over time.

Club Side

Publish custom challenges without high event budget overhead.
Chain challenges across clubs for cross-disciplinary progression.
Track engagement quality and submission performance.

Innovation Chain

Challenge chaining is the differentiator: instead of isolated tasks, students traverse a connected innovation graph across clubs and disciplines.

System effect: discovery, solve, progress, and repeat loops become persistent across campus rather than bounded by one event.

How We Built It

Frontend

React Native + Expo architecture.
react-native-maps custom styled map.
Animated pulsing quest markers + dashed trail paths.
Milestone progression UI.
Pixel avatar renderer (8x18 code grid, layered cosmetics).
Real-time wardrobe preview.

Backend

Node.js + Express REST API.
MongoDB + Mongoose models.
Challenge lookup, QR verification, completion recording, reward distribution.
User profile, completed challenges, XP, Campus Coins, wardrobe, reward history.

Blockchain

Solana devnet payouts in Lamports per challenge.
Treasury wallet signing reward transactions.
Reward logs with signatures + Solana Explorer URLs.
RewardProfile tracks total lamports and completion history.

Challenges

Solana wallet initialization: rent-exempt constraints and account bootstrap handling.
Pixel avatar rendering: layer ordering, transparency, and fast state updates.
QR scan debouncing: prevented repeated backend hits from rapid scan frames.
Data model bridge: merged RewardProfile (on-chain rewards) with UserProfile (app progression).
Auth0 constraints: scope/time limitations during a 36-hour build window.

Accomplishments

Functional blockchain reward system shipped in 36 hours.
Fully code-driven pixel avatar engine with no external sprite assets.
Innovation chain model connecting club challenges.
End-to-end flow shipped: map, profile, wardrobe, QR, blockchain rewards.

Lessons Learned

Solana devnet tooling is practical for rapid prototyping.
Behavioral design quality is as critical as technical architecture.
Constraints can force stronger implementation creativity.
Cross-disciplinary challenge design drives sustained engagement value.

What's Next

Soulbound achievement NFTs.
Club challenge creation dashboard.
Collaborative multi-student quests.
Stake-to-create mechanism for clubs.
Seasonal challenge system with themed cosmetics.

Bigger Vision

Campus Quest evolves into a persistent innovation transcript visible to students, campus community, and potentially employers and graduate schools.

Built With

expo.io expogo express.js figma git/github javascript lamports mongodb mongoose node.js python react-native react-native-maps rest-api solana typescript web3.js

Copy for LinkedIn

Campus Quest: Turning Campus Life into a Live Game Map

What if campus events felt less like one-time check-ins and more like a game you can keep leveling up in?

Campus Quest turns UTM into a persistent mobile game world where clubs publish real challenges across campus, students scan QR codes, solve creative tasks, and earn XP, avatar cosmetics, and on-chain Solana rewards.
Instead of static event culture, it creates an innovation loop: discover, solve, progress, repeat.

Students can:
- Explore milestone-based map nodes tied to real campus locations
- Complete cross-club innovation quests
- Earn Solana-powered Campus Coins and track reward transactions
- Customize their character through a code-driven wardrobe system

Clubs can:
- Publish and chain challenges into cross-disciplinary paths
- Drive engagement without large event budgets
- Build a more interactive campus culture

We built this at DeerHacks 2026 with an amazing team: Rizul Sharma, Eva Rosati, Daniel Felipe Mena Andrade, and me (Anhad Chawla).

Tech stack:
React Native, Expo, Expo Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, REST API, MongoDB, Mongoose, Solana, web3.js, Lamports, React Native Maps, Figma, Git/GitHub, Python.

This project pushed us deep into mobile app architecture, behavioral product design, and real blockchain reward systems.
If you're building mobile x Web3 products, I'd love to connect and exchange ideas.

#MobileDevelopment #ReactNative #Expo #Solana #Web3 #Blockchain #Nodejs #MongoDB #TypeScript #SoftwareEngineering #UTM #DeerHacks #HackathonProject