Matchmaking Game Server

The problem

Design a game server that many clients can use at the same time: authenticate players, match them into games in casual or ranked mode, and stay correct when clients are slow or disconnect.

What was built

• 01TCP server that hands each client connection to its own handler thread.
• 02Shared matchmaking queues guarded by explicit locks to avoid race conditions.
• 03Ranked mode only pairs players whose ranks are within a fixed threshold; a casual queue matches on arrival.
• 04Session tokens let a disconnected player rejoin and resume a match found while they were away; timeouts keep slow clients from blocking others.
• 05Credentials stored as SHA-256 hashes; games are played as Tic-Tac-Toe over the terminal.

My role

Group project for the Parallel and Distributed Computing course.

Technologies