A Passion Project, Years in the Making: The Journey Behind Backlog Boss V2
Today, I’m proud to share BacklogBoss V2.0.0! A full-stack MERN app that began as an idea four years ago. Built from the ground up, it’s a gaming passion project that has brought me joy and played a huge role in sharpening my skills as a developer. And I’m excited to keep improving it as far as my imagination takes me.
Jorge Duarte
5/27/20253 min read
A four-year journey of learning, building, and coming back stronger with Version 2.0.0
From Dream to Deployment: How I Built and Relaunched BacklogBoss and became a Developer
Four years ago, I only knew Python. As someone who grew up gaming, video games have always held a special place in my heart. I’ve long had the desire to catalog my gaming journey because hearing a game’s theme or watching gameplay takes me back to happy moments in the same way music or food can. Backlog Boss was just an idea in my head at the time and I didn’t even consider it possible for me to build it myself.
A year later, I had some skills under my belt. I had become intermediate in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python, but building even a basic portfolio site felt challenging. The idea of creating a full-stack application was overwhelming. I didn’t even understand the difference between a website and a web application.
Fast forward another year, and I had completed a MERN bootcamp on Udemy. I had become a more confident developer, but building something like Backlog Boss entirely on my own still felt out of reach. I struggled to connect the dots between the client and the server, but I stayed determined to grow as a developer.
Another year passed, and I was wrapping up my second coding bootcamp with five collaborative projects behind me. I finally felt like a "real" developer! That’s when I pitched Backlog Boss as my final group project. I had more experience than my teammates, and thus I saw this as the perfect opportunity not just to build something from scratch but also to lead a project from concept to MVP. I came prepared with a full wireframe and a clear vision, and my team was fully on board.
Over the next two intense weeks, we brought it to life. From nothing, we built a functioning app with reviews, profiles, game libraries, and social features. Every line of code was written from scratch. No tutorials, no copy-paste solutions. Through building, teaching, and pushing further than I ever had before, I came out of the experience a stronger developer. Now, coding no longer feels daunting or impossible. It feels exciting. The rush I get from making a new feature work is just as satisfying as playing a great video game.
As team lead, I laid the foundation for the server (routes, models, schemas, etc.), built the login and signup flow, handled authentication, and assigned each teammate a page or two to own. I personally developed the profile and social pages end-to-end, helped shape the search logic, and guided the structure of the library page. I gave my best to deliver a project we were genuinely proud of.
The challenges I faced during this project pushed me to grow and allowed me to learn from so many brilliant mentors and programmers along the way (Bobbi, Erik, Nick, Farish, Jesus, Meg - Thank you!). The lessons I gained during that time still guide me today, both in how I approach problems and in how I continue to improve as a developer.
BacklogBoss was far from complete, but it was real. I still find it incredible that it was born from empty folder in my VS Code. Below are the original screenshots (Old video coming soon)!
One Year Later: The Relaunch
After taking a year off to focus on launching my web development business, I returned to Backlog Boss to give it the Version 2.0.0 upgrade and elevate it closer to the application I always wanted.
What’s New in Version 2.0
Rebuilt Home Page
Now showcases recent reviews with user cards, ratings, likes, and links to game detail pages.
Game Detail Page
Fully functional review form, real-time review updates, and dynamic game status buttons (Backlog, Favorite, Completed, etc.)
Library Overhaul
Moved from horizontal scroll to responsive grid, added sorting, and redesigned UX for clarity.
AI Art Generator
Users can now generate art, set it as their profile pic, and save it to their gallery. Includes smart UI states for feedback and completion.
Social Page Finished
Friend requests, suggestions, and friend lists now work end-to-end via GraphQL. Added in-line UI validation and better state handling.
These are just some of the changes and I am very excited for all of the updates to come! Below are some the changes (before and after) while I get video demo out!
