✅ Project Status Report
Multiplayer Tic-Tac-Toe Platform
To: CTO & Technical Interview Panel Date: November 29, 2025 Version: v1.0.0
1. Objective
Design and implement a scalable, server-authoritative multiplayer game system using Nakama + custom Go plugins, featuring:
- Authentication
- Matchmaking
- Authoritative gameplay
- Leaderboards
- A production-ready UI
- Fully automated CI/CD and Docker deployment pipeline
The system is now deployable on any ARM or x86 infrastructure, including Google Cloud.
2. Current Completion Summary
| Requirement | Status |
|---|---|
| Install Nakama + PostgreSQL | ✅ Completed |
| Custom Go server plugins (ARM compatible) | ✅ Completed |
| Server-authoritative Tic-Tac-Toe | ✅ Completed |
| Real-time WebSocket communication | ✅ Completed |
| Device-based authentication | ✅ Completed |
| JWT-based session management | ✅ Completed |
| Match creation & joining | ✅ Completed |
| Matchmaking queue support | ✅ Completed |
| Game state validation & turn enforcement | ✅ Completed |
| Leaderboard system | ✅ Completed |
| UI Game Client (production build) | ✅ Completed |
| Google Cloud deployment | 🟡 Pending |
| Drone CI/CD build & deploy pipeline | ✅ Completed |
Backend is fully authoritative and stable. UI is production-ready but needs polish and error recovery improvements.
3. Core Technical Architecture
- Backend: Nakama 3.21.0 (ARM build)
- Runtime Logic: Go plugin (built with Go 1.21.6 for ABI compatibility)
- Frontend: React + Vite + Nakama JS
- Database: PostgreSQL 16
- Networking: WebSockets (secure / insecure configurable)
- Authentication: Device-ID auth → JWT session
- Deployment: Docker images with Drone CI/CD
- Production UI Deployment: BusyBox static server
4. Authentication
Backend
- Device authentication
- Automatic account creation
- JWT session handling
UI
- Generates device UUID
- Uses
client.authenticateDevice() - Session stored in context
- Reconnect logic planned
5. Game Server Logic (Go)
✔ State Initialization
- On second player join, server broadcasts full authoritative state.
✔ Turn Validation
Rejects:
- invalid coordinates
- occupied cells
- wrong turn
- malformed payloads
✔ Forfeit Detection
- Disconnects → match ends
- Final state broadcast to opponent
✔ Server Authority
- No client trust
- All moves validated server-side
- Structured logging everywhere
Result: Deterministic, authoritative, cheat-proof gameplay.
6. Real-Time Networking
Validated end-to-end:
- Match creation/join
- Matchmaker queues/matching
- OpCode 1 → player move submission
- OpCode 2 → authoritative board broadcast
Python simulator & UI both confirm:
- correct turn ordering
- full sync
- stable sockets
7. Matchmaking System
Backend
-
MatchmakerMatchedhook ensures:- valid mode
- same mode for both players
- exactly two players
-
Server creates authoritative match
-
RPC
leave_matchmakingimplemented
UI
- Mode selection (classic / blitz)
- Queue → ticket → matched → auto-join
- Uses Vite-driven environment variables for dynamic host/port selection
Status: Fully functional
8. Leaderboards
Backend
- Leaderboard created on startup
- Win → +1 score
- Metadata logged
UI
- Leaderboard display works via API
Remaining UI polish:
- improved styling
- sorting
9. UI Implementation Status (React + Vite)
✔ Implemented
- Authentication
- WebSocket session handling
- Matchmaking integration
- Full gameplay loop
- State updates
- End-of-game status
- Leaderboard viewing
- Environment-configurable host, port, SSL, server key
🟡 Partially Implemented
- Error handling (WS failures, move rejections)
- Resume/reconnect logic
- UI layout consistency
- Mobile/responsive UI
- Animation/transition polish
🔴 Missing / Planned
- Rematch flow
- Lobby navigation
- Disconnect-recovery UX
10. Testing & Validation
Backend
- Test coverage for win/loss/draw
- Illegal moves scenarios
- Disconnect behavior
- Matchmaking scaling
UI
- Verified across full flow
- Missing stress and mobile testing
11. Google Cloud Deployment Plan
| Component | GCP Service |
|---|---|
| Nakama server | Compute Engine VM (Docker) |
| PostgreSQL | Cloud SQL |
| Game UI | Cloud Run / Firebase Hosting |
| Networking | HTTPS Load Balancer + Static IP |
| Secrets | Secret Manager |
Estimated time: 6–8 hours
12. Risks & Considerations
| Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| UI lacks reconnect logic | Add retry + resume capabilities |
| No rematch flow | Add match lifecycle management |
| Minimal mobile UI | Add responsive layout |
| Cloud deployment pending | Prioritize next sprint |
| Missing polish in UI flow | Add app shell + transitions |
Backend has no major technical risks. UI polish is the only remaining area.
13. New CI/CD Enhancements (v1.0.0)
✔ Fully Automated Drone Pipeline Added
- Fetch & validate latest Git tags
- Skip image build if tag already exists
- Build production UI image with correct Vite env
- Push to private registry
- Stop old containers and auto-run the new one
- ARM-compatible builds
✔ New Frontend Dockerfile
- Multi-stage build using Node → BusyBox
- Extremely small production image
- Environment-driven configuration
✔ Go Plugin Build Fix
- Updated to Go 1.21.6 to match Nakama
- Fixes plugin ABI mismatch:
internal/goarch
✔ Improved Repository Hygiene
- Added
.dockerignore - Eliminated unnecessary build context
14. Executive Summary
Issues Encountered
Several areas required deep debugging, adding roughly +1 day of engineering time:
- Aligning UI matchmaking with authoritative server systems
- Handling Nakama JS socket lifecycle, ticket flow, and session timing
- OpCode synchronization and state update mapping
- Environment variable mismatches between Vite and production builds
- WebSocket connection reset issues and CORS origins
Current State
The platform is now:
- Fully playable
- Authoritative
- Stable across backend + UI
- CI/CD automated
- Docker deployable
Any remaining work is purely UI/UX polishing and cloud deployment.
Conclusion
The system is production-ready at the backend level and feature-complete at the gameplay level. With UI refinements and deployment, the platform will be fully presentation-ready.
The project is now stable, secure, and demonstrates full multiplayer systems engineering capability end-to-end.