You should be able to just run
npm install --python=python2.6
And everything should be peachy. Then run:
npm run dev
to get the development server running. That should pop up a webpage to:
http://localhost:8080/
which will have the interface running.
npm run build
To run at http://localhost:3000/ (note the different localhost port) for the gaming session, AFTER building, run:
npm run server
The server will always log to a new file every time it's run, named with the UNIX timestamp of when it started. They are under ../node/logs.
Great tutorial for React+webpack: https://medium.freecodecamp.org/part-1-react-app-from-scratch-using-webpack-4-562b1d231e75