Forge Rating
Forge Rating™ is a browser draft game built around 226 legendary characters from comics, fantasy, anime, and more. Spin universes, fill roles, build chemistry, and chase a perfect Forge Rating. Share your results with friends to encourage competition.
Why I built it
A fast, shareable drafting game where the scoring model (the Forge Rating™) is the product. Players assemble a five-legend squad across roles and universes, and the engine grades power, balance, chemistry, and identity into a single 0–100% score built to be screenshotted and challenged.
Problem it solves
I wanted a legend draft that felt like building a team, not naming the strongest characters. Quick basketball roster pickup games showed me how fun that kind of short, shareable competition can be with friends. I wanted that same energy for comics, fantasy, and anime legends: roles, balance, chemistry, and modes for both spreadsheet brains and gut instinct.
Research
The core question was what makes a squad feel great versus merely strong. That pushed the design toward a scoring engine that rewards role balance and thematic chemistry, and toward multiple modes (stats-visible vs. instinct) so both min-maxers and casual fans have a way in.
Solution
Forge Rating 2.0: draft five legends into Tank, Bruiser, Blaster, Support, or Assassin. Classic shows full stats; Instinct hides them. Gauntlet limits who appears each spin; Daily Challenge gives one attempt per day. Chemistry (same-universe, hero/villain alignment) and specialization (Durability, Speed, or Intelligence) push the meter toward 100%.
Architecture
React · TypeScript · Vite · Tailwind frontend with a deterministic client-side battle engine shared with the server for score validation. Express + Prisma + PostgreSQL power REST APIs for leaderboards, saved teams, and async head-to-head. localStorage and shareable URL encoding keep the core draft fully playable client-only without the API. Frontend on Cloudflare Pages; API and Postgres on Railway.
Screenshots
Challenges
- Tuning the rating curve so a perfect 100% is rare but attainable.
- Keeping the battle engine deterministic and identical on client and server for trustworthy scores.
- Making the draft fully playable offline via localStorage and URL encoding, with the API as an enhancement.
Lessons learned
- Modes matter: stats-on vs stats-off changes who the game is for without changing the core loop.
- Chemistry and role constraints create strategy depth beyond “pick the strongest names.”
- A clear 100% goal and a shareable result turn a draft into a habit and a challenge.
Future improvements
- Seasonal and themed rosters to keep the Daily Challenge fresh.
- Head-to-head tournaments and shareable brackets.
- Expanded universe roster and richer chemistry rules.
How it’s offered
Free to play at forgerating.com. Classic, Instinct, Gauntlet, and Daily Challenge modes. Share your result with friends, or come back for another run at the daily board.