SecretSafe was a social game app I built during lockdown, designed to give friends a lighthearted way to stay connected. The idea was simple: you could receive anonymous messages from your friends and respond to them, turning everyday interactions into a kind of guessing game. On launch, the app saw a surge of users that was far beyond what I expected, and the sudden demand even caused the website to crash. I had to quickly upgrade the servers to keep it running, which was both stressful and exciting.

Looking back, building it so early in my programming journey meant I focused more on the fun concept than the safeguards. For instance, I didn’t consider moderation features that could have prevented rude or hurtful messages from slipping through. If I were to revisit it now, I’d build in stronger protections to keep the experience safe and positive, especially for younger users. Even so, SecretSafe was an important step in my development — it showed me how quickly I could create something that people actually used and enjoyed.