Abstract Play Developer Docs

Abstract Play is an open-source platform for playing abstract strategy games online.

The backend is TypeScript on AWS: Cognito for accounts, DynamoDB for data, Lambda and API Gateway for the API, and supporting services for bots, crons, and static assets. The front end is a React SPA served through CloudFront. Game logic lives in gameslib; board rendering in renderer; batch ratings and record schema in recranks.

We welcome contributors. Ask questions in Discord #dev-curious.

Documentation

Games Library

Game API, authoring guide, helpers, meta-game catalog, categories, and how to add new games.

Renderer

JSON schema for board representations, rendering engines, and interactive examples.

Backend

Serverless API, DynamoDB schema, bot framework, and subsystem guides.

Crons

Scheduled Lambdas: DB exports, static records, analytics, tournaments, and standing challenges.

Records & Rankings

Game record format, rating engines (ELO, Glicko-2, TrueSkill), and schema reference.

Front

React client: architecture, local dev, API usage, subsystems, and deployment.

Repositories

Repository Docs Role
front /front/ React play client
gameslib /gameslib/ Game implementations and registry
renderer /renderer/ SVG board renderer
node-backend /backend/, /crons/ API, DynamoDB, bots, and scheduled jobs (crons/ in the same repo)
recranks /recranks/ Records and rating engines

The former backend-crons repository is archived; crons code and docs now live under node-backend/crons/.

Related projects: Ai Ai bot (Java), community sites designer and zendo (Svelte) for experiments outside the main play stack.

Tooling references: Meta-game catalog (uids for integrations), Categories & tags.

Resources