Bouncing Balls Game++: My Delightfully Useless Combo Chaos Simulator

Bhavin Sen — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:03:39 +0000

This is a submission for the DEV April Fools Challenge

What I Built

I built Bouncing Balls Game++, a gloriously unserious browser game where your “main job” is to pop colorful balls… but it slowly turns into a combo-chasing chaos simulator.

What started as a simple canvas toy now has:

Combo multiplier scoring (up to ×5 if you pop quickly)
Pop particle effects for juicy feedback
Golden bumpers that deflect balls and make each run feel different
Gravity toggle, color picker, size slider, random ball spawn, and high score saving
It is delightfully useless, mildly addictive, and perfect for pretending you are “testing physics” during work hours.

Demo

Code

bhavinsen / ball_game

ball_game

View on GitHub

How I Built It

I used plain web tech on purpose:

HTML/CSS for UI panels, controls, modal, and responsive layout
Canvas API (JavaScript) for rendering balls, particles, bumpers, and game loop
Simple 2D physics math for collisions and bounce response
HiDPI scaling for crisp rendering on Retina displays
Accessibility touches: aria-live updates for score stats
localStorage for persistent high score
Most improvements came from “play like a human, then fix what feels off”:

clearer controls text
better feedback when popping
meaningful score progression (combo system)
more interesting arena dynamics (bumpers)

Prize Category

Community Favorite

Because this project is lightweight, playful, and easy for others to remix into weirder versions (which feels very April Fools energy). It is less about utility, more about shared “why is this fun?” vibes.

Forem: Bhavin Sen