During the AWS Summit in New York, I learned about the AWS Builder opportunity and the Build Games Challenge powered by the Amazon Q Developer CLI. The challenge invited developers to recreate retro games using AI-assisted tools — a perfect chance to blend nostalgia with innovation.

I chose to build a tribute to a game I played in second grade back in the mid-90s: Number Munchers. My version, Cyber Munchers, puts a modern spin on the original by focusing on cybersecurity education. Instead of solving math problems, players now identify and “munch” tiles containing PII (Personally Identifiable Information) — like Social Security Numbers, phone numbers, and addresses — while avoiding harmless decoys like “banana” or “puppy.”

The goal is to introduce concepts of cyber hygiene and help players better understand how to recognize sensitive information. I can already envision expanding this MVP to include roaming hackers on the grid, similar to the “Troggles” from the original game, to increase challenge and engagement.

This project is just a proof of concept, but it was a great experience to build something fun, meaningful, and retro — with help from AI. Big thanks to AWS for the opportunity!