Wii-like web game ... no server ... no install ... is it possible?

Let me talk about how everything began. There was a day when i was searching game jams, i found Lost Relic Games - GAME JAM and the theme was "connection". I originally didn't plan to send time on any game jam. But this theme attracted my interest.I have experience making projects that user needs to connect their phone to a big screen in an exhibition and remote control games on it. These projects usually were based on WebSocket and required setting up a small server. However, for a one-time casual project like a game jam, it's unsuitable to set up server. So, i shift my focus on WebRTC, which connects two devices and there are public servers for pairing. And I discover an interesting library  Bugout.

This WebTorrent-based library has api that looks like socket.io for me. The demo seems working easily for my device. I open the host page, i open the client page in another device, and the just connect and communicate. Everything is so straightforward. Maybe it will work for remote control? That question push me to create a submission for the Lost Relic Games game jame.

So, after the game jam submit period already passed half of it, i decide to make a game for it. To minimize complexity, it should be just single player game so that it's easy to test alone. but it has to show the potential about using phone to remote control a pc webgame. I decide to use its gyroscope and touch screen feature to make a game ,which end up a ninjs star throwing minigame.

--> Click here to check the game submission <--

So how is the result? It's kind a mix. For my devices (iphone 8 and pc), it works perfectly. But after some public test, it seems some people is facing problems that i can't recreate with my devices. One of the problems is the orientation doesn't work right. This is not a too big deal. because i can borrow more device to test, and maybe add some recenter feature. The bigger problem is that some people can't connect their phone to pc, and i can't find the cause. I know that WebRTC doesn't work in some network setup, and it needs a TURN server as a backup solution.  Under same wifi, some of the testers succeed to conenct and play, while some doesn't. And the bugout library doesn't return much information for to check the problem

If there is another chance, i may just directly use WebRTC  api and see if it's better. And if you want to guarante your clients device able to connect to your webgame, i think WebSocket is still a safer choice.