yellow-olive 0.1.0

A terminal-native retro Kubernetes adventure inspired by Pokemon Yellow.

Project Yellow Olive

Pokémon Yellow, but you tame Kubernetes clusters instead of Pokémon.

A terminal-native retro adventure designed to make infrastructure learning feel fun, nostalgic, and a little less overwhelming.

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Index

• The Motivation
• An Honest Take
• Setup and Run (Local)
• Meet the Characters
• From Yellow Olive to Kubernetes
• Gameplay Commands
• Project Yellow Olive in Action
• Contributing
• What's next in the roadmap?

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The Motivation

Kubernetes is everywhere...  
Kubernetes runs the modern world...  
And yet, for many of us, learning it feels confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes just plain boring :(

Project Yellow Olive is my personal, experimental attempt at changing that.

I grew up on a GameBoy, lost in the world of Pokémon. Even today, a single chiptune note takes me straight back to those golden childhood days. I know I’m not alone in that feeling.

Nostalgia has a strange power - it lowers resistance, sparks curiosity, and makes difficult things feel lighter.

Yellow Olive is built on that belief: combine nostalgia with motivation, and even something as complex as Kubernetes can become approachable.

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An Honest Take

I’ve attempted the CKAD and CKA certifications - and I didn’t clear them.

Not because I didn’t understand the concepts, but because I didn’t practice enough. Platforms like Killer.sh demand consistency and repetition - and like many of us, I underestimated that discipline.

This project isn’t a replacement for serious exam prep.

It’s a practice ground - a way to build confidence, stay engaged, and keep the adrenaline slightly elevated while solving real problems.

Not every day is productive. Not every day is high-energy.

This is just my attempt to make the hard days a little easier to push through.

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Setup and Run

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Docker Desktop or Docker Engine (required)
• minikube (required)
• kubectl (required)

Project Yellow Olive uses Minikube to create and manage the local Kubernetes cluster used during gameplay, so Docker and Minikube must be installed before starting the game.

Install Minikube and Kubernetes Tooling

1. Install Docker and make sure it is running.
2. Install Minikube by following the official guide: Install Minikube
3. Install kubectl by following the official guide: Install kubectl

You can verify the setup with:

docker --version
minikube version
kubectl version --client

Install from PyPI

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install yellow-olive

Start the Game from PyPI

yellow-olive start

When the game starts, Project Yellow Olive creates a yellow-olive-lab/ folder in your current working directory and places the editable challenge manifests there.

Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/Anubhav9/Yellow-Olive.git
cd Yellow-Olive
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Start the Game from Source

python app.py

When you start the game and proceed through initialization, Yellow Olive will start a Minikube profile and switch kubectl context automatically.

Helpful Tip for Gameplay

Keep two terminal tabs open:

1. Game terminal -> run yellow-olive start or python app.py
2. Command Chamber terminal -> run your kubectl commands for challenge fixes

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Meet the Characters

Professor Bald Uncle

The classic mentor archetype. Calm, experienced, slightly intimidating at first glance.

He steps in when you’re stuck, nudges you in the right direction, and reminds you that debugging is part of the journey.

Strict on the outside, generous at heart.

Electromon

Your closest companion. Quiet by nature, but restless at heart — he doesn’t like being confined for long.
 
When something feels off in the cluster, he’s usually at the center of it. Shy, but loyal through every broken deployment.

PsyQuack

He doesn’t talk much. He watches.  
You think you fixed the Deployment? He checks.  
You’re confident the Service works? He verifies.  
If something’s still off, PsyQuack will let you know - in his own slightly unhinged way.  
He doesn’t reward effort. He rewards correctness.

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From Yellow Olive to Kubernetes

Every character, keyword, and challenge maps directly to a real Kubernetes concept.

Yellow Olive Concept	Kubernetes Equivalent	What It Means in Practice
Posemon	Container	A single runnable unit inside a workload
Pokepod	Pod	The smallest deployable unit - houses Posemons

(And many more coming — every mechanic is built to teach something real.)

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Gameplay Commands

Quick in-game commands you’ll use often:

• psyquack validate → Invokes PsyQuack to evaluate your solution for the current challenge.
• psyquack hint → PsyQuack calls Professor Bald Uncle for a nudge (without spoiling the answer).
• psyquack back → Returns to the previous challenge screen.

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Project Yellow Olive in Action

Full gameplay walkthrough (2 min): Watch on YouTube

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Music Credits

All music files used in Project Yellow Olive are sourced from OpenGameArt, shared under the CC0 license, and the relevant creators are credited below.

Music File	Music Name	Author Name	License	Source
screen_1_opening_song.mp3	JRPG Piano	Joth	CC0	OpenGameArt
screen_2_music.mp3	Town Theme RPG	CynicMusic	CC0	OpenGameArt
battle_music.ogg	8 bit RPG Battle Encounter Theme	Ted Kerr	CC0	OpenGameArt
battle_music_2.mp3	8 bit Chiptune Encounter Theme	Shiru8Bit	CC0	OpenGameArt
win_music.ogg	Win Jingle	Fupi	CC0	OpenGameArt
loose_music.ogg	Lost Game Short Music Clip	Robin Lamb	CC0	OpenGameArt

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome, especially for adding new challenges.

If you'd like to contribute:

1. Open an issue with the challenge idea and learning objective.
2. Add/update challenge text in challenge_files/.
3. Add/update corresponding manifest files in challenge_files/{type}-q*.yaml.
4. Add/update challenge validation rules in core_logic/challenge_validation.py.
5. Submit a pull request with a short demo of the challenge flow.

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What's next in the roadmap?

This is currently a work in progress. Planned milestones:

Roadmap Stage	Planned Feature	Why It Matters
Phase 1	Save/load game progress and jump directly to a specific challenge	Lets players resume quickly and practice targeted scenarios
Phase 2	Add more challenges focused on Kubernetes Services	Expands learning beyond Pods into core networking concepts
Phase 3	Package and publish Project Yellow Olive on PyPI	Makes installation easier for the community