
Explore Nepal virtually: Introducing "Visit Nepal"
Inspired by the beauty and rich culture of Nepal, "Visit Nepal" offers a unique way to experience this incredible country. Join us on a virtual journey through iconic locations, and discover the wonders that await in this digital tribute to the Himalayas.
Published Jan 14, 2025
Last Modified Jan 16, 2025
The seed for "Visit Nepal" was planted by a simple, yet powerful idea: to share Nepal's breathtaking beauty and rich culture with the world in a truly engaging and accessible way. We envisioned a virtual experience that would transport users to iconic locations, allowing them to explore and interact with the landscapes as if they were there. This sparked the creation of an adventure that would become "Visit Nepal."
Nepal, with its majestic Himalayas, vibrant cities, and diverse ecosystems, served as our primary source of inspiration. We wanted to capture this incredible country's essence, from Kathmandu's bustling streets to the serene tea plantations of Ilam, the underwater mysteries of Dolpa, and many more. Our goal was to create an experience that would not only entertain but also educate and inspire a deeper appreciation for Nepal's natural and cultural heritage.

The game itself takes players on a journey through seven distinct locations, each carefully modeled after real-world wonders:
- Kathmandu: A bustling introduction to Nepalese urban life, capturing the energy and cultural richness of the capital.
Kathmandu Dharahara - Janakpur: A challenging quest involving rescuing Goddess Sita, collecting coins, and battling demons within a setting inspired by the ancient city's architecture and mythology.
Lord Ram on the way to rescue Goddess Sita, Janakpur - Ilam: Serene tea gardens are modeled after the tea plantations of Ilam, offering a peaceful and scenic experience.
Illam Illam Tea Leaves - Pokhara: A thrilling boat race on a virtual recreation of Phewa Lake, complete with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.
Pokhara boating - Chitwan: A test of agility as players ascend a virtual mountain inspired by the terrain of Chitwan National Park.
Chitwan National Park Chitwan Mountain Climbing - Dolpa: An underwater treasure hunt within the crystal-clear depths of a digital Shey Phoksundo Lake, capturing the beauty of this high-altitude wonder.
Dolpa Diving - Mustang: The final destination, where players interact with NPCs to uncover the final clues and complete their adventure within a landscape inspired by the unique desert environment of Mustang.
Mustang
Developing "Visit Nepal" wasn't without its challenges. Our major challenge was creating engaging and meaningful interactions within the game environment. We wanted to avoid simply creating static scenes. Instead, we focused on creating interactive elements, puzzles, and mini-games that would truly immerse players in the experience. Deploying the game with AWS amplify, S3, and CloudFront also had some issues, we continuously went through the header problem, to deliver the .br (brotli) file. We fallback to S3, and manually managed the header for each file and meanwhile, failed to use CloudFront to deliver the files (yes, CloudFront and S3 are connected, but content-type for .js.br is "application/javascript", which gets delivered as "application/octet".
We came to know about this hackathon a week before the deadline. The development of "Visit Nepal" was a whirlwind of learning and innovation. We embraced the power of Amazon Q Developer, an AI-powered code generation tool, which proved to be a game-changer. It provided real-time code suggestions, allowing us to rapidly prototype and iterate on our ideas. This significantly accelerated our development process, enabling us to focus on crafting the immersive gameplay and intricate details that bring "Visit Nepal" to life.



Building the Digital Expedition:
Our technical foundation rested on the robust AWS ecosystem. We utilized AWS Amplify to host the application, providing a serverless backend that ensures scalability and accessibility for players around the world. All game assets, from stunning landscapes to intricate 3D models, were securely stored and efficiently served through Amazon S3. This combination of Amplify and S3 allowed us to deliver a seamless and performant gaming experience.
Despite the challenges, the creation of "Visit Nepal" has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We learned the power of collaborative development, the potential of AI-assisted coding, and the importance of creating meaningful and engaging experiences. We are excited to share this digital expedition with the world and invite everyone to discover the magic of Nepal through "Visit Nepal."

- Enter your Name and Team Name (You can enter any, this will be shown in the leaderboard).
- This game is story-based. Talk to the Non-Playing Character(NPC) navigate around, and read the instructions, and you may need to find different persons like Kali who are present on the map, you just have to navigate around.
- You will find the portal to go to the next level or places after talking to the NPC, so interaction is a must.
- You will also get challenges for each place.
- Enjoy every challenge! You can also submit the score to find the leaderboard.