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Clicker MMO

Date: Dec 2025 - Jan 2026 Category: Game Development, Full-Stack Web Development, System Architecture Technologies: Node.js, Socket.io, MySQL, Nginx, NSSM, Certbot, JavaScript, HTML5/CSS3

This project is a substantial multiplayer browser-based game featuring real-time cooperative gameplay. Built from the ground up, the game relies on a Node.js server utilizing Socket.io for instantaneous client-server communication. To ensure robust performance and data integrity, I architected a high-performance data layer using a MySQL database, incorporating a write-behind caching strategy to optimize throughput within an MVC framework. The application is locally hosted and securely served using a custom-configured infrastructure.

Features

  • Real-time cooperative multiplayer gameplay mechanics.
  • Instantaneous bidirectional client-server communication using Socket.io.
  • High-performance MySQL database integration for persistent player data.
  • Custom write-behind caching strategy to optimize database throughput.
  • Secure client connections handled via an Nginx reverse proxy.
  • Automated SSL/TLS certificate management utilizing Certbot.
  • Background service management implemented using NSSM for continuous uptime.

Gallery

Desktop view of the main game interface
Players cooperating in real-time
You can visit other players' stations and click in them to help them out
Players can work together to buy collaborative upgrades that benefit everyone

Technical Details

The backend architecture is built on Node.js, leveraging Socket.io to facilitate real-time, event-based communication between the server and the web clients. The data layer utilizes MySQL, structured around an MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern. To handle the high frequency of database writes typical in a clicker game, a custom write-behind caching strategy was implemented, significantly reducing database bottlenecking. The deployment environment was configured locally from scratch, utilizing Nginx as a reverse proxy to route traffic securely, Certbot for SSL management, and NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager) to run the Node.js application smoothly as a Windows service.

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