From Gamer to Software Developer: How Kevin Built Stratus – Game Wiki
Sigma School
12th June 2025
For many, video games are a simple hobby. But for Kevin, they were the spark that lit his passion for technology. Growing up, gaming didn’t just entertain him — it taught him. From learning English as a child to developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, video games became more than play; they became preparation.
As Kevin immersed himself in the complex systems behind different games, he began to see a parallel between gaming and coding: both have steep learning curves, but both are deeply rewarding when you "level up." That mindset led him to Sigma School, where he embarked on the journey to become a full-stack software developer.
As someone who plays a wide variety of games across multiple platforms, Kevin often wished for a personal tool to track his gaming life — from games he’s played, to ones he wants to try, to reviews and reflections. Existing platforms felt too generic or cluttered.
So for his Sigma School capstone project, Kevin decided to build exactly what he wanted: Stratus – Game Wiki. A clean, simple, easy-to-use platform where gamers could:
More than just a project, Stratus is Kevin’s vision of how gaming can be both fun and meaningful — a space for reflection, learning, and community.
To bring Stratus to life, Kevin used a modern full-stack tech stack:
The result? A polished, mobile-responsive app that balances clean design with rich functionality — perfect for gamers on any device.
Like any big game, this project came with tough boss fights that tested Kevin’s skills and patience.
One major challenge was syncing multiple systems: Kevin’s own ExpressJS API, Firebase Authentication, Firestore, and a third-party game database API. Getting all these services to play nicely, especially when managing user IDs and syncing data across platforms — required breaking problems into smaller chunks and returning to core fundamentals when things got messy.
Building dynamic filters for the Explore page seemed simple… until it wasn’t. When users selected multiple filters (e.g., PC and Mobile), the app combined results instead of switching between filters as expected. After plenty of React state management debugging, Kevin restructured the filter logic to make sure users always got accurate, real-time search results.
At one point, profile pictures were rendering poorly, showing default placeholder icons and breaking the clean UI. Instead of forcing premature rendering, Kevin added a click-to-reveal interaction, ensuring the profile picture loaded smoothly only when fully ready.
Throughout these challenges, Kevin relied heavily on two trusty companions: Google and ChatGPT — his "support team" when he hit dead ends. With their help and a ton of trial and error, he was able to problem-solve his way through each obstacle.
Reflecting on his journey, Kevin admits the process was more time-consuming and challenging than expected. Even small features often took hours of debugging and reworking. But this is exactly where the real growth happened.
By returning to the basics, breaking complex problems down into simpler parts, and being willing to “start from zero” when needed, Kevin built not only Stratus – Game Wiki — but also the developer mindset that will serve him for years to come.
Today, he walks away from Sigma School with more than just a capstone project. He’s gained resilience, confidence, and a deep understanding of how real-world development works.
At Sigma School, we help students like Kevin turn their passion into real-world tech skills. Whether you're a gamer, creator, or entrepreneur, your coding journey starts here.