Infinite Card Stack

Creating an infinite card stack component was one of those projects that started simple and quickly became fascinating.

The idea was straightforward: a stack of cards that users could swipe through, with smooth animations and a sense of depth. But as I dug deeper, I realized how much nuance goes into making something feel truly infinite.

The first challenge was the physics. How do you make a card feel like it has weight when you drag it? How do you create that satisfying snap when it reaches the threshold? I spent days tweaking spring animations and easing curves.

Then came the stacking logic. Each card needs to know its position in the stack, its scale, its rotation, its z-index. The cards behind need to grow slightly as the top card moves away, creating that depth illusion.

But the real breakthrough came when I started thinking about the infinite part. How do you make it truly endless? The answer was a circular buffer. As cards move off-screen, they get recycled and placed at the back of the stack with new content.

The component ended up being used in several projects, and each time I learned something new about how users interact with it. Some prefer swiping, others prefer clicking. Some want faster animations, others want more control.

What I love about this component is how it demonstrates that even the simplest interactions can have layers of complexity underneath. Every detail matters when you're trying to create something that feels magical.

The code is clean, the animations are smooth, and most importantly, it feels good to use. That's what makes a component truly successful.