Rumor Has It: Dossier-Inspired Card-Game Landing

Project Overview

Rumor Has It is a party card game that turns wild conspiracy theories into a fast-paced social experience.
The marketing site had one job: convert curious scrollers into early supporters before the first print run.
We leaned into a “declassified dossier” aesthetic so every scroll feels like peeling back redacted intel on a secret project.

Technical Implementation

• Astro static generation keeps time-to-first-byte tiny even on 3G.
• TailwindCSS utility classes allow rapid design tweaks without bloating the stylesheet.
• Vercel Edge Functions handle the contact API close to users.
• Nodemailer delivers messages to the founder’s inbox with reCAPTCHA v3 and a five-request-per-hour throttle.
• Playwright test suite guards the entire funnel from hero CTA to email send.
• Analytics script loads only in production, preserving clean Core Web Vitals on preview links.

Content Architecture

Pages are written in Markdown and composed of reusable Astro blocks for hero sections, image carousels, quote bubbles, and FAQ accordions.
Non-developers can update or reorder sections by editing a single .md file, then submitting a pull request.
This approach cut new-content turnaround from days to hours.

Key Features

• Folder-style navigation drawer that mimics a manila file tab sliding open.
• Hero images optimised through Vercel’s <Image> component, dropping payload while retaining grit.
• GDPR-compliant cookie banner that appears only when analytics is enabled.
• Rate-limited contact form with instant success feedback and graceful error states.
• Dark, grainy texture pack giving every element a FOUO* (For Official Use Only) vibe.

*Purely for fun, not a real classification level.

User Experience Design

The UI borrows cues from spy cinema: courier-style headings, off-white paper cards, and red stamp accents.
Interactive states use subtle motion to suggest paper sliding or ink appearing.
Accessibility checkpoints covered contrast, keyboard focus order, and screen-reader roles from the first commit, not as an afterthought.

Collaboration and Process

• Weekly in-person workshops to review Figma experiments and prioritise backlog items.
• Daily async stand-ups on Confluence for blockers and design hand-offs.
• All user-facing copy drafted in shared Confluence pages, then ported to Markdown once signed off.

Results and Next Steps

The landing went live on Vercel without downtime and passed accessibility reviews out of the gate.
With the content model in place, the team can now extend the site for future beats like a Kickstarter embed or merch store without a ground-up rebuild.