🦕 Dino Runner Game Tutorial

A comprehensive step-by-step tutorial series for building a Dino Runner game using Deno and TypeScript. Learn modern web development by building a complete game from scratch!

Quick Start

You can either clone this repository with all submodules to explore the code, or start with a specific stage. We've created easily deployable starter kits for each stage, allowing you to focus on learning without worrying about setup. We've also provided the finished packages if you'd rather see the completed code and read through it yourself.

We want to make this tutorial as accessible as possible, so you can choose your own adventure! Choose the approach that suits you best from below and start building your Dino Runner game today!

Option 1: Using the starter kits

Each starter kit is designed to be easily deployable on Deno Deploy. You can start with any stage, but we recommend starting with Stage 1 to build a solid foundation, then progress through the stages sequentially, the readme files in each stage will guide you through the process.

Option 2: Using the finished code

If you prefer to see the completed code for each stage, you can deploy the finished packages directly. This allows you to explore the final implementation and understand how each part of the game works. The readme files in each stage will provide insights into the code structure and functionality.

Stage	Focus	What You'll Learn	Get started
Stage 1	Foundation & Setup	Basic web server, static files, API endpoints
Stage 2	Enhanced Features	Canvas setup, drawing shapes, handling input
Stage 3	Advanced Gameplay	Game logic, score tracking, advanced mechanics
Stage 4	Database Integration	PostgreSQL, leaderboards, user customization

Option 3: Running the stages from this monorepo

If you'd rather clone this repo and see all the code in one place, you can run the stages directly from this monorepo. Each stage is organized as a submodule, allowing you to work on them independently while sharing the same workspace configuration.

git clone --recurse-submodules
cd game

Quick Commands (from root directory)

# Development mode (auto-reload on file changes)
deno task dev:stage1    # Stage 1: Foundation
deno task dev:stage2    # Stage 2: Enhanced Features  
deno task dev:stage3    # Stage 3: Advanced Gameplay
deno task dev:stage4    # Stage 4: Database Integration

# Production mode
deno task start:stage1  # etc...

Alternative: Navigate to individual stages

cd packages/stage-1
deno task dev

Production Mode

# Stage 1
deno task start:stage1

# Stage 2
deno task start:stage2

# Stage 3
deno task start:stage3

# Stage 4
deno task start:stage4

Tutorial Stages

Stage 1: Foundation & Setup

• Basic web server setup with Oak
• Static file serving
• Simple API endpoints
• Health checks

Stage 2: Enhanced Features

• Environment configuration
• Improved error handling
• Extended API functionality

Stage 3: Advanced Gameplay

• Game logic implementation
• Score tracking
• Advanced game mechanics

Stage 4: Database Integration & Global Leaderboards

• PostgreSQL database integration
• User customization features
• Global leaderboard system
• Data persistence

Dependencies

• @oak/oak: Web framework for Deno
• pg: PostgreSQL client (Stage 4 only)

All dependencies are managed at the workspace level in the root deno.json.

Working with Submodules

This repository uses git submodules to organize each tutorial stage. Here are some useful commands:

Updating all submodules to latest

git submodule update --remote

Or if you have local changes to preserve:

git submodule foreach --recursive 'git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/main || echo "Could not reset $name"'
git add .
git commit -m "Update all submodules to latest versions"

Updating a specific submodule

git submodule update --remote packages/stage-1

If you cloned without --recursive

git submodule update --init --recursive

Checking submodule status

git submodule status

Each stage is maintained in its own repository, allowing for independent development and version control while keeping the tutorial organized in a single place.

Development

Each stage can be developed independently while sharing the workspace configuration. The stages are designed to be educational, showing progressive enhancement of the game from basic setup to full database integration.