Full Stack Developer for Game Website

We are looking for a skilled and reliable Web Developer to build a new website called Pixel Pirate. The core purpose of this site is to help gamers find free games offered by various digital stores.

We have already created a functional prototype on Replit which demonstrates the core scraping functionality. We will provide you with access to this prototype to serve as a solid foundation and reference for the project.

Project Vision:
Pixel Pirate will be the go-to destination for gamers to see a daily, curated list of free games. Phase 1 focuses on the Epic Games Store, with plans to expand to Steam, GOG, and others in the future. The project should be built with this scalability in mind.

Key Deliverables & Required Features:

Web Scraping Tool: Develop a robust and reliable server-side script that scrapes the Epic Games Store daily to identify currently free games. The script must be stable and handle potential changes in the source website's layout.

Website Frontend: A clean, responsive, and fast-loading website that displays the scraped game titles, their original price (if available), the "free until" date, and a link to the store page.

Email Notification System:

An email signup form on the website for users to join a mailing list.

An automated system that sends a daily or weekly (to be decided) email to all subscribers, notifying them of the newly available free games.

Donation Integration: Integrate a donation button/widget that links to a third-party service (e.g., Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Patreon). This will help fund the future expansion of the tool.

Deployment: Deploy the website and the backend scraper to a hosting environment. We are open to your recommendations for a cost-effective and reliable hosting solution.

Project Scope & Timeline:

Timeline: We estimate this project will take 2 to 4 weeks to complete.

Budget: Proposed

Experience Level: Intermediate to Expert. We are looking for a developer with proven experience in similar projects.

Legal Requirements:
The selected freelancer will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and a Non-Compete Agreement (NCA) before project commencement and access to the prototype is granted.

Future Opportunities:
We are looking for a long-term partner. If this project is completed to a high standard, there is immediate potential for:

Ongoing maintenance and feature expansion for Pixel Pirate.

A new, separate website development project we have in the pipeline.

We are excited to find the right developer to bring Pixel Pirate to life and build a lasting professional relationship.

Skills and Qualifications:
Proven experience in Web Scraping (e.g., using Python with Beautiful Soup/Scrapy, or Node.js with Puppeteer/Cheerio).

Strong Backend Development skills (e.g., Python, Node.js, PHP) for handling scraping logic, databases, and APIs.

Proficient in Frontend Development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and a modern framework like React, Vue, or Svelte is a plus).

Experience with Database Management (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB) for storing user and game data.

Experience integrating third-party APIs (for email services like Mailchimp/SendGrid and donation platforms).

Screening Questions:
Please describe your experience with web scraping projects. What tools and libraries are you most comfortable with and why?

Please provide links to 2-3 live websites you have developed that showcase your skills relevant to this project.

Briefly outline the technology stack (backend language, database, hosting) you would recommend for this project to ensure it is reliable and scalable.

To confirm you have read the entire post, please start your proposal with the word "Ahoy".