Fastabiqu: a quiz game for the whole family, built by one person
Fastabiqu is a free Arabic quiz game about Islamic knowledge. Families pass one phone around and race to answer, and every answer comes with an explanation and its source. I did all of it: the name, the design, the code, the testing and the release.
Live on the web. The Android version finished closed testing, and the Google Play release is being prepared.
- 2 to 6players on one phone
- 375questions, each one reviewed
- 5 × 3categories and levels
- 12+people in the closed test
Who it is for
Fastabiqu is for families and friends who want a game that also teaches something true. The competition is what brings people to the table. What they take away is the knowledge: each answer shows an explanation, the verse or hadith behind it, and the exact reference.
There are no ads and no accounts. The game works offline, and everything a player does stays on their own device.
One phone before online play
Multiplayer started with the Majlis (المجلس): 2 to 6 players, alone or in teams, sharing one device. Playing on one phone keeps the game's promises. It needs no server, no sign-in and no internet connection.
There is also a daily challenge, where everyone gets the same 10 questions, and a progress system with points, levels, mastery rings and achievements. Online rooms are in development now. The game does not offer them until they work.
New questions without a new app release
The questions live in their own public question bank, separate from the app. That means new questions reach players without waiting for an app update and a store review.
If an update is broken, players never see it. The app keeps using the last set of questions that passed every check.
- Question bankA public repository. Every question is checked for format and duplicates before it is published.
- Cloudflare WorkerServes the questions with a version number and an integrity check, so the app knows exactly what it received.
- The appDownloads new questions when it is online and keeps the last good set for offline play.
Arabic first, not translated
Arabic is the game's first language. Every screen was laid out right to left from the start, the questions are written in formal Arabic, and Quran and hadith text always appears with its exact reference.
Testing before release
One TypeScript codebase runs on Android, iOS and the web. The game rules are kept apart from the screens and the storage, so they can be tested on their own, including tests that throw many random inputs at them.
Every change passes automated checks on GitHub before it can ship. Before the Google Play release, more than 12 people played the Android version in a closed test.
What I did
- The name and the rebrand (it started life as Arkan)
- The scope, the user flows and the written design decisions
- The design system and every screen
- The code, the tests and the release builds
- Finding testers and making the videos
A trade-off I chose
No accounts. Nobody has to sign up, which keeps the game private and quick to start. The cost is that progress lives on one device and does not move to a new phone.
Tools
Expo and React Native, TypeScript, Expo Router, NativeWind, Zustand, Reanimated, Jest, Testing Library, fast-check, GitHub Actions, EAS Build and Cloudflare Workers.
Have an idea like this?
I can take it from the first conversation to the store, in Arabic, English or both.