AWS BuilderCards: The Game Changer for Learning AWS

AWS Community Day Belfast

Last week I spoke at AWS Community Day BelfAWSt, sharing my journey from fresh graduate to Junior Software Engineer at Hamilton Robson.

It’s been just over a year since I joined. In that time I’ve been immersed in AWS, a platform I never touched at university and only met once I started with the team here.

Diving into the World of AWS

What struck me first was the sheer scale. With 200+ services, AWS is daunting to take in.

That weighs on everyone: new engineers entering the field, and experienced ones moving across from GCP or Azure.

So I set out to make AWS more approachable, for myself and my team, through a fun way of learning.

The Complexity of AWS – And How We Make It Fun

In my talk I ran a simple but revealing experiment: 12 AWS icons, one a subtly altered fake of the Amplify logo. Spotting the imposter was the hook; the point was how easily you get lost in the sea of services.

But AWS isn’t about recognising icons or names. It’s about connecting services meaningfully, especially when you hit a real architectural challenge.

To ground that, I showed a simplified version of Marvel, a media platform we built at Hamilton Robson for uploading and storing audio and images.

It runs on the essentials: API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, and CloudFront. These form the backbone, but we added another layer to learning them: AWS BuilderCards.

Introducing AWS BuilderCards

BuilderCards have transformed how we learn cloud architecture at Hamilton Robson. Each card represents a service and helps you visualise and piece an architecture together.

A card names the service, its primary and secondary effects, and carries a QR code linking to the AWS docs for a deeper read.

We went further and built custom games around the deck. A favourite is AWS QuickDraw: you draw a random card, then give a one-minute talk on that service later in the day.

It’s fast-paced, and it makes the service stick.

Taking Learning to the Next Level – AWS Battle of the Architects

Beyond QuickDraw we built AWS Battle of the Architects. The challenge: design the best architecture for a given technical spike using only the cards you’ve drawn.

Strategy lives in the justification, especially when a hand of cards forces an unconventional solution.

The best part is the retro at the end, where the team debates the ideal services and architecture for each spike. It sharpens our technical knowledge and our collaboration at once.

Making Learning Fun and Effective

Turning AWS into a game built an environment that rewards active participation and critical thinking.

The cards have become essential, not for learning services in isolation, but for seeing how they work together in real scenarios.

I also shared the fun we’ve had bending the deck into a game of Uno. It’s the least educational of the lot, but it’s a great twist on learning cloud services.

Wrapping Up

Presenting at the event was a great chance to share how we’re pushing learning at Hamilton Robson. Through BuilderCards and custom games, we’ve turned a daunting ecosystem into a collaborative journey.

If you’re starting out with AWS, it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. With the right approach and tools like BuilderCards, learning it can be both manageable and enjoyable.

I’d love to talk through any of these ideas, so feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.