Challenge Forge

Concept

Challenge Forge began as a way for me to have fun clearing my backlog, games I otherwise was not going to play. It worked by rotating through multiple titles with escalating constraints, keeping things fresh and giving me a reason to stick with them.

It has since grown into a modular framework & ruleset that can be shaped to fit almost any style of play. Much like a Nuzlocke run in Pokémon, it is a self-imposed challenge designed to make familiar games feel new again, but here the structure is more streamlined and consistent thanks to the app automatically tracking timers, rotations, and handicaps for you.

You can build your own pool of games for any platform or genre. You can create custom handicap lists, split into permanent and temporary rules, which are then pulled at random during play to keep you adapting on the fly. You can adjust rotation rules to swap games after a set time, a death, a level, or any trigger you choose. You can dynamically set different timers for each game, so a speedrun segment might get 15 minutes while a longer endurance section gets an hour. You can export and import seeds so others can run the exact same setup, whether for casual play, community races, or competitive speedruns.

Because the system does not hook into game code, it works with any game. You can apply the same framework to everything you play and customise the rules to fit your style. A long form endurance run might rotate between three RPGs, each with its own 90 minute timer and strict resource limits. A short experimental session could cycle through several platformers in 10 minute bursts with temporary handicaps like "must keep moving" or "no jumping for 30 seconds." A structured speedrun race could give each game a different timer based on its category length, paired with handicaps that force new routes or strategies. A community challenge night might use a viewer submitted seed with a curated mix of games, timers, and rules that everyone can load and attempt.

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Rotation and Sessions

Set up 1-10 slots, each representing one game in your rotation order. The challenge works with any number, but more slots create more variety and allow temporary handicaps to spread across multiple games. Slots can also be used for different categories of the same game, alternate save files, or different difficulty settings.

Each session lasts 1 hour per slot, tracked with the slot's timer widget. The timer length is fully adjustable per slot. You can give a speedrun segment 15 minutes, a grind heavy RPG 90 minutes, or run without a timer for a play until death format.

Progress through slots in order. When the final slot finishes, the rotation repeats. At the end of each rotation, all temporary handicaps are cleared.

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Timer System

Each slot has its own adjustable timer that tracks your session. This is how you progress through the rotation - if you don't die, you will automatically swap to the next game once the timer runs out. Use the timer controls to start, pause, or reset your session. The default duration is 60 minutes, but you can customize this for each slot based on your playstyle.

Timers are perfect for speedrun segments (15-30 minutes), RPG grinding sessions (60-90 minutes), or any custom duration that fits your challenge style. The timer system ensures you rotate through games even when you're playing well, keeping the challenge fresh and varied.

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Deaths and Temporary Handicaps

When you die in a slot, immediately switch to the next slot. You can change this trigger to something else, such as swapping on boss defeat, level completion, or a set number of in game days.

That death also triggers a temporary handicap assigned to a future slot within the same rotation. Only slots appearing after the current slot can receive the handicap. Slot 1 is immune to temporary handicaps caused in prior rotations, since all temps clear at rotation end.

Temporary handicaps always last one session and naturally stack if multiple deaths target the same future slot. In a large rotation, the final slot can end up carrying several temporary handicaps at once.

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Permanent Handicaps

Permanent handicaps are game specific constraints that persist across rotations. You can make these as light or as punishing as you want, from "no fast travel" to "permadeath for party members."

Each game can have a maximum of 3 permanent handicaps to avoid softlocks. The option to raise or lower this cap will be added in a future update.

Rolling a permanent handicap selects from that game's database pool, avoiding duplicates.

At the end of each rotation there is a 1% chance to clear all permanent handicaps. This chance is configurable in the Optional Rules (Settings) page.

Beating a game completely immediately clears 2-3 random permanent handicaps from your active slots, giving a strong incentive to finish titles rather than just rotate through them.

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Synergy System

The Synergy System is an advanced feature that allows handicaps to combine and create powerful new effects. When certain base handicaps are active together, they can unlock special synergy handicaps that provide unique challenges and rewards.

How Synergies Work

Base Handicaps: These are your regular permanent and temporary handicaps that serve as prerequisites for synergies. They must be active in your challenge for synergies to trigger.

Link Handicaps: These are special synergy effects that activate when their required base handicaps are present. They replace the base handicaps with a more powerful combined effect.

Automatic Activation: Synergies are checked automatically whenever handicaps are added or removed. When all requirements are met, the synergy activates immediately.

Creating Synergies

Use the Synergy Builder (accessible from the main Synergy tab) to create your own synergy trees:

• Add Base Handicaps: Create nodes for the handicaps that will serve as prerequisites
• Add Link Handicaps: Create nodes for the synergy effects that will activate
• Connect Handicaps: Use the connection tool to link base handicaps to their resulting synergy
• Set Requirements: Specify how many base handicaps are needed to activate each synergy
• Configure Properties: Set game assignments, rarity levels, and handicap types

Synergy Examples

Synergy Management

Tree Organization: Create multiple synergy trees for different games, themes, or difficulty levels. Each tree operates independently and can be enabled or disabled as needed.

Community Sharing: Upload your synergy trees to the community database for others to download and use. Browse community-created synergies to discover new challenge combinations.

Local Storage: Synergy trees are saved locally and persist across sessions. You can build up a library of custom synergies for different types of challenges.

Visual Builder: The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create complex synergy relationships. Zoom and pan around large trees, and use different workspace sizes for complex designs.

Advanced Synergy Features

Multi-Requirement Synergies: Create synergies that require 3, 4, or more base handicaps for maximum challenge complexity.

Chained Synergies: Build synergies that require other synergies as prerequisites, creating deep dependency chains.

Game-Specific Synergies: Design synergies that only work with specific games, taking advantage of unique game mechanics.

Rarity Integration: Synergy handicaps can have their own rarity levels, affecting how often they appear in random selections.

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Tokens and Achievements

Every achievement earned (in any game) has a 20% chance to grant a token. This chance is configurable in the Optional Rules (Settings) page, where you can also tie tokens to other milestones.

Tokens can clear one permanent handicap.

You may use at most one token per rotation.

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Progress Tracking

Challenge Forge automatically tracks your progress with several key statistics: Total Games in your active rotation, Completed Games you've finished, Active Handicaps across all slots, Deaths across all games, Rotations Completed, and Total Completed Runs for lifetime completed challenges.

These statistics help you track your improvement and see how the challenge system affects your gaming habits over time.

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Rotation End

Finishing a rotation (dying in the final game, or reaching the hour timer) clears all temporary handicaps.

There is a 1% chance at rotation end to also clear all permanent handicaps (configurable in the Optional Rules (Settings) page).

The rotation counter increases by one, and token usage limits reset.

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Database and Game Selection

Build your own game and handicap database with separate pools for permanent and temporary handicaps. You can keep multiple databases for different genres, difficulty levels, or community events.

Adding Content: Use Add to Database to create new games and handicaps, Bulk Add to add multiple handicaps at once, Load Example Seed to start with pre-made content, or Search to find games quickly in your database.

Game Selection: Each slot lets you select a game from your database. Handicaps are automatically pulled for whatever game is actively slotted. You can also manually assign specific handicaps if you prefer curated challenges.

Managing Content: Edit game names, adjust max handicaps per game, or delete content you no longer need. The database grows with your challenge collection.

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Sharing and Saving

Challenge Forge automatically saves your progress, but you can also export and import seeds to share challenges with others or backup your data.

Use Export Seed to save your current challenge setup, Import Seed to load a shared or saved challenge, or Load Example Seed to start with pre-made content.

This makes it easy to share challenges with friends, participate in community events, or backup your progress before trying experimental settings.

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Community Database

The Community Database is a comprehensive sharing platform that lets you discover, create, and share handicaps and complete challenge seeds with other players. Access community-created content and contribute your own creative challenges.

Discovering Content

Community Handicaps: Browse handicaps created by other players, organized by game, type (permanent/temporary), rarity, and difficulty. Use advanced filters to find exactly what you're looking for, from speedrun challenges to creative roleplay constraints.

Community Seeds: Download complete challenge setups that others have designed and tested. Seeds include all settings, games, handicaps, and notes - everything you need to run the exact same challenge. Perfect for community events, races, or trying new challenge styles.

Search and Filter: Powerful search tools let you find content by keywords, game names, difficulty levels, or categories. Filter by speedrun, endurance, creative, or beginner-friendly content to match your playstyle.

Handicap Collections

Steam Workshop-Style Collections: Create and manage collections of handicaps, similar to Steam Workshop collections. Organize handicaps by theme (e.g., "Speedrun Challenges", "RPG Constraints", "Platformer Rules"), difficulty, or game type.

Persistent Storage: Collections persist across app updates and are stored locally. Build your own curated lists of the best handicaps you've discovered for easy access during challenge setup.

Collection Management: Add handicaps to multiple collections, edit collection names and descriptions, and organize your favorite content for easy access during challenge setup.

Community Interaction

Voting System: Rate handicaps and seeds with likes, dislikes, and download counts to help others find the best content. Your votes help the community identify the most popular and effective challenges, creating a quality-driven ecosystem.

Content Moderation: All user-submitted content is automatically filtered for inappropriate language and reviewed by administrators to maintain a positive community environment.

User Profiles: Track your contributions with detailed statistics showing how many handicaps and seeds you've created, and how popular they are with the community.

Smart Integration

Fuzzy Game Matching: When downloading handicaps, the system automatically matches them to similar games in your local database. If you have "Minecraft" locally and download a "MineCraft" handicap, it will ask if you want to match them, preventing duplicate games.

One-Click Import: Download handicaps directly to your local database or import complete seeds with all settings intact. The system handles all the technical details, so you can focus on playing.

Saved Seeds: Keep a personal library of downloaded seeds for easy access later. Seeds are stored locally and persist across sessions, so you can build up a collection of your favorite challenges.

Creating and Sharing

Handicap Creation: Share your creative handicaps with detailed descriptions, difficulty ratings, and proper categorization. The creation form guides you through adding all necessary information to help others understand and use your content.

Seed Upload: Export your current challenge setup as a community seed, complete with all settings, games, handicaps, and notes. Add a compelling title and description to help others discover your challenge.

Content Management: Edit and delete your own submitted handicaps and seeds. All edits require admin approval to maintain quality, but you maintain full control over your content and can update it as needed.

Getting Started

Authentication: Sign in with Google to access community features. Your Google account provides secure authentication while keeping your personal information private.

Username Setup: Create a custom username for privacy and community identification. Your username appears on all your submissions and helps build your reputation in the community.

First Steps: Start by browsing the community content to see what's available, then try downloading a few handicaps or seeds to see how the system works. Once you're comfortable, consider sharing your own creative challenges!

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Steam Integration

Connect your Steam account to automatically import your game library and create challenges from your existing collection. This eliminates the need to manually add games one by one.

Library Import: Access your entire Steam library directly within Challenge Forge. Games are automatically added to your database with their proper names and can be used immediately in challenges.

Playtime Filtering: Filter your Steam games by playtime to focus on specific types of challenges. Create challenges from games you've barely played, or exclude games you've already completed extensively.

Steam Game Selection: Choose games directly from your Steam library when setting up slots. The integration ensures game names match exactly between your Steam library and challenge database.

Privacy: Steam integration only accesses your public game library data. No personal information or private data is shared with Challenge Forge.

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Advanced Features

Challenge Forge includes several advanced features for experienced users who want more control over their challenge experience.

Manual Handicap Assignment: Override automatic handicap selection by manually choosing specific handicaps for slots. This is useful for curated challenges or when you want to test specific handicap combinations.

Timer Expiration Handicaps: Add handicaps when timers expire instead of just on deaths. This creates time pressure challenges where you must complete objectives before the timer runs out, or face additional constraints.

Custom Max Permanent Handicaps: Set custom limits for how many permanent handicaps each game can have. This prevents softlocks in games that might break with too many constraints while allowing more flexibility in others.

Rotation Timer System: Automatically rotate temporary handicaps after a set time, even in single-game challenges. This keeps the experience fresh when focusing on one title.

Custom Mechanic Names: Rename core mechanics like "Deaths", "Rotations", and "Achievements" to fit your challenge theme. These custom names update throughout the entire application.

Rarity Weight Customization: Adjust the probability weights for different handicap rarities (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, Mythic). Fine-tune the challenge difficulty by making certain rarities more or less likely to appear.

Automated System Controls: Disable automated handicap gains or removals for complete manual control. This experimental feature lets you manage all handicaps manually without any automatic additions or removals.

Settings Lock System: Password-protect your challenge settings to prevent accidental changes during community events or when sharing your setup with others.

Challenge Notes Generator: Automatically generate formatted challenge descriptions that you can share with others. The generator creates professional-looking documentation of your challenge setup.

Session Duration Tracking: Track how long you've played each game across all sessions. This helps you understand your play patterns and optimize your challenge timing.

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Goal

The core objective is to clear all games in the fewest rotations possible. Fewer deaths, smarter plays, faster clears. This creates a natural progression where each completed game makes the remaining challenge easier by clearing 2-3 random permanent handicaps, rewarding skill and persistence.

Primary Challenge Goals

Backlog Elimination: The most common use case - systematically work through your game library with escalating constraints that keep each title fresh and challenging. Watch your backlog shrink as you complete games and clear handicaps.

Skill Development: Use the handicap system to force yourself out of comfort zones. Learn new strategies, master different playstyles, and develop adaptability across multiple games and genres.

Efficiency Mastery: Optimize your play to minimize deaths and maximize progress. Each rotation becomes a puzzle of resource management, risk assessment, and strategic decision-making.

Alternative Challenge Formats

These are just examples of what you could do with the system - adapt it to fit your own goals and playstyle:

Speedrun Gauntlets: Set short timers (15-30 minutes) and focus on making rapid progress across multiple games. Perfect for speedrunners who want to practice different categories or break up long runs.

Variety Streaming: Create engaging content by rotating through different games with themed handicaps. Great for streamers who want to showcase multiple titles while maintaining viewer interest.

Community Events: Use shared seeds for races, tournaments, or collaborative challenges. Everyone runs the same setup, creating a level playing field for competition and comparison.

Learning Challenges: Focus on games you've never played or genres you're unfamiliar with. Use handicaps to guide your exploration and force you to engage with mechanics you might otherwise ignore.

Personalization and Adaptation

Customizable Challenge Levels: Adjust the system to match your skill level by modifying handicap counts, timer lengths, and rarity weights. Start with 1 handicap per death and 60-minute timers, then increase to 2-3 handicaps and shorter timers as you improve.

Theme Challenges: Create themed runs around specific concepts - "No Magic" RPG runs, "Pacifist" action games, or "Speed" platformers. Use custom handicap lists to enforce your chosen theme.

Progress Tracking: Monitor your improvement over time through detailed statistics. Track completion rates, handicap management, and personal bests across different challenge types.

Custom Handicap Button

Create a customizable button for generating or managing handicaps exactly how you want. Choose what type of handicaps to add, how many, whether to target specific slots or random ones, and add optional token costs.

Full Control: Choose handicap types, quantities, target slots (random or manual), and optional token costs. Perfect for creating custom challenge mechanics or external motivation systems.

Challenge Examples

Here are some completely different challenge experiences you can create by adjusting the settings: