makarov.ceo
Overview
My other landing page — a portfolio built as a video game pause menu, with a loadout wheel and a “Mission complete” screen.
- Year
- 2026
- Type
- Portfolio · Website
- Role
- Design and full-stack development
- Link
- makarov.ceo
- 8
- tools on the loadout wheel
- 7
- menu sections
- 0
- UI frameworks
Challenge and solution
The challenge
Make a developer portfolio people remember, instead of one more scrolling page of cards.
The solution
A static Astro page styled as a video game pause menu. GSAP drives every transition, the whole thing works from the keyboard, and visiting sections earns in-game money that stays saved in the browser — all without a UI framework.
Screens
What it does
- “Now Loading” splash with a progress bar
- Pause-menu lobby: about, skills, projects, experience, services, contact
- Keyboard controls: arrows to move, Enter to open, Esc to go back
- Loadout wheel of 8 tools on Tab
- Game status bar with a clock, money and the current objective
- “Mission passed” toasts and a “Mission complete” ending
Under the hood
- Wheel items are placed on a circle in code and pop in with a staggered GSAP animation.
- Visited sections are stored locally, so progress survives a reload.
- With reduced motion: no splash, no tweens, the counter jumps straight to its value.
- Sections switch as screens without page loads; a map marker moves to each one.
- Astro
- GSAP
- TypeScript