A single-file HTML/JavaScript game designed by Wes Fryer and collaboratively "vibecoded" with Gemini, the AI assistant.
Packet Defender is a fast-paced, educational, single-player game created to help middle school students understand fundamental networking and cybersecurity concepts through interactive gameplay.
The core objective is to gamify essential Internet terminology and processes:
- IP Addressing: Students must correctly identify and enter IP addresses for successful transmission.
- DNS Resolution: Every packet displays a Domain Name, requiring the student to look up the corresponding IP Address using the on-screen DNS Lookup Table.
- Packet Transmission (Routing): Players match packet details (Origin IP, Name, Destination IP) to successfully route the data.
- Cybersecurity Defense: Students must identify "under attack" packets (colored red) and use the Defend Server action to earn higher points, simulating a firewall or mitigation response.
- Single-File Deployment: The entire game runs from a single HTML file (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript contained within), making deployment instant.
- Difficulty Modes: Students can select Easy (60s refresh), Intermediate (45s refresh), or Hard (30s refresh) timers.
- Overall Game Timer: A 5-minute timer encourages competitive play and score tracking against classmates.
- Persistent Score: The player's score is saved in their browser's local storage and persists across page reloads until they choose to restart the game.
- Visual Feedback: Includes colorful packet queuing, a visible countdown, and a simple ASCII animation upon successful action.
Use the link wfryer.github.io/packet-defender to directly play the latest version of the game.
Good luck with your students! I hope they enjoy the game and the improved features.
Check out more of my AI coding experiments, blog posts and videos on ai.wesfryer.com