Burst the Bubble - Lucrative Online Bitcoin Game - Funding Required

[Ancho]

EDIT: I've changed my approach for the collaborative funding of the project. The OP has been edited in accordance.

Hello all!

I would like to create a fun online Bitcoin game that allows players the possibility of winning large sums of btc for a relatively small investment. Unfortunately I do not have the funds to go ahead with development at this point, which is why I opted to use crowd-funding to get the project started.

Anyone willing to contribute btc to the project will receive a stake in the profit that the game generates. Once there are enough contributors to cover the projected development costs of the game, we can get together remotely and decide how to proceed. I am currently trying to find a developer team that will take btc as payment, so we won't have to worry about converting our coins to USD/CAD.

If you have any tips of ideas on how the game could be improved after reading the description below, please share them. Tell us if sounds like something you would be willing to play.

Note: this project has a page on Bitcoin Starter, please ignore it

Here is the description of the project:

GAME DESCRIPTION

The game concept is simple. All registered users who wish to play have to contribute a bitcoin amount of their choosing to a collective pool called the “bubble”. The bubble has a pre-determined maximum size and collapses (“bursts”) once the limit is reached.

The user whose contribution caused the bubble to burst wins 25% of the value of the entire bubble at its peak worth. The four users directly before the first place winner, who added to the bubble get to collect 10%, 5%, 3% and 2%, respectively. These are the second, third, fourth and fifth place awards.

The house collects 5% and the remaining 50% of the bubble's worth spills over to kick-start the next round. If you don't win, half of your investment is still alive in the consequent bubble, allowing you a chance to get it back! Any investments made after the bursting point also spill over to the following bubble, which begins to grow right away!

This is the only game where users have the chance to win large sums of btc by investing micro-amounts. The more players join, the more fun and lucrative the game will be!

The mechanics of the gameplay and the cryptocurrency transactions (payouts) will be entirely automated, highly secure and without fault.

PROJECT MILESTONES

The approximate calculated costs for this project will run to ~20 btc, but the funding will need to be used in increments, so there is no set target amount. Please see milestones below!

First Milestone - 4 btc

If we get to 4 btc, it means there is considerable interest in the game. Once this stage of funding is reached, there will be a major update of the game documentation, with plenty of detail surrounding the gameplay, along with technical details surrounding the payout system and the online wallet functionality.

At this point it will also become clear exactly how much the total development cost will be, and whether an extension will be needed.

Second Milestone - 10 btc

At this point full-time development will begin due to the considerable apparent interest in the game, and the high likelihood that the final funding goal will be reached. Another update will be published, allowing users to see a more polished version of what the final game will resemble.

Third Milestone - 20+ btc

Once the final goal is reached, development will have already started well in advance, with a few months left of development time. A final timeline of the project completion will be posted so that users will know when to expect the rollout.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

1. The size of each bubble is dynamically calculated based on a secret formula which takes into account the number of players, the amount they invest, and adds a small measure of randomness.

[greentea]

why dont you just build it since you have an in-built fee of 5% ...

Why should we donate if there is nothing to gain?

[Ancho]

why dont you just build it since you have an in-built fee of 5% ...

Why should we donate if there is nothing to gain?

Hi greentea, thanks for responding.

Building the game will require a serious software/web engineering effort which doesn't come cheap. The built-in fee is there so I can keep the website afloat and pay the bills, but I won't see any of that money until the game rolls out with full functionality and people start playing.

By donating you can help to make the game a reality. I would like to add additional incentive for pledgers in the way of rewards, but I can't think of anything appropriate. Let me know if you have an idea!

All the best.

[CoryK]

How will you get people to be one of the first into a new bubble when there is very little chance that this new bet will be the popping one?
Fun idea overall though.
CK
 

[olsn]

The idea sounds interesing, and different from all those dice-games.

However I do strongly agree with greentea. Unless you offer shares, there is no real incentive to invest here.
Also the asked amount is a little high if you ask me.
Someone with decent programming-skills could build a working version of that in probably just under two weeks - the fact that you are looking for heavy funding tells me that you are probably not that "someone"?
If that should be the case you will have a tough time before you, but none the less the concept looks good and I wish you the best of luck with it.

My advice: Just do it! The chances of getting funding with not even a working prototype are pretty low.

[Ancho]

How will you get people to be one of the first into a new bubble when there is very little chance that this new bet will be the popping one?
Fun idea overall though.
CK
 

Thanks for the feedback CoryK. What you say is true and I figured that it would be a problem early on. That's why the idea is to have 50% of the last bubble's worth to be transferred to the consequent one to get it rolling. In addition to this there will always be multiple users that wait until the last minute to invest and miss the target, having their investments go into the following bubble. That should be enough to get the next round's bubble well into the low bursting probability range. It's something that will need to be tweaked and toyed with in the alpha build until it's just right.

One important element that the UI mock-up I posted lacks is a visual feedback on the likelihood of the bubble bursting. This will be included in the final game.

The idea sounds interesing, and different from all those dice-games.

However I do strongly agree with greentea. Unless you offer shares, there is no real incentive to invest here.
Also the asked amount is a little high if you ask me.
Someone with decent programming-skills could build a working version of that in probably just under two weeks - the fact that you are looking for heavy funding tells me that you are probably not that "someone"?
If that should be the case you will have a tough time before you, but none the less the concept looks good and I wish you the best of luck with it.

My advice: Just do it! The chances of getting funding with not even a working prototype are pretty low.

Thank you for the feedback olsn! You raise some important points.

What would give people good incentive to support this? When you say shares, do you mean a percentage of the revenue that the website generates? That might be a good idea.

I realize that I'm asking for lots of btc, but this is the range that most software/web development companies have quoted me after hearing my idea. They normally say that around $10,000 to $15,000 will be required for the project. I wish I could code this thing on my own but I don't know the first thing about programming, nor do I have the time and resources to learn. I'm just the ideas man.

Are you sure that two weeks is a reasonable time frame? Based on the feedback I've received from several developers, I feel like the project would be a bit more involved than that. It would be wonderful if someone with programming skills could clarify this for me.

All the best! 

[olsn]

Are you sure that two weeks is a reasonable time frame? Based on the feedback I've received from several developers, I feel like the project would be a bit more involved than that. It would be wonderful if someone with programming skills could clarify this for me.

Of course - I would also charge you something around that sum, but that'll be to get a finished version. - So the quotes from others sound about right. But if I'd do it as my own project, it'd take me about 2 weeks to get the first version up - from there on I'd extend it step by step.
But I would NEVER encourage anyone to buy a developer for this kind of project, because the initial funding will only get you so far ... and trust me - there WILL be lot's of additional work to be done, you'll need money for that as well, and that's not going to come fast. And you will always have to rely on someone else to do the coding, if you can't do it.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you are not the guy developing this, I give you about a 3% chance of this project to be happening.
I'm giving my honest opinion, not trying to discourage you and I'd love to see you proove me wrong, so the best of luck with it.

[Ancho]

I have just made a similar game that cost 60k USD. I will financially gain from it so there is no way I can ask the community to donate. Its just wrong   
Get a loan and believe in your idea. I have done Mine is in Beta testing at moment

Good luck with it. I hope you make that money back!

[bogi203]

Brilliant idea and sounds fun too...I can decrease your worries by 5 coins for only 10% stake

rgds and good luck
203

[ecto]

if you really wanted to see this in the world you would just make it instead of asking for 15kUSD.

@ 4 btc update docs "with plenty of detail surrounding the gameplay"

needed in advance

"bubble"

why

"secret formula"

no

"highly secure"

how

[Ancho]

I would be prepared to help you for a stake maybe?

I will keep you in mind, thanks for the offer. If I can find enough potential supporters who are willing to contribute for a stake, I will contact you to see if you are still interested.

Brilliant idea and sounds fun too...I can decrease your worries by 5 coins for only 10% stake

rgds and good luck
203

Sounds great, I will keep you in mind as a contact. If I can find more supporters like you we could make this happen. I've never collaborated on something like this with other people remotely, so it might be an interesting (and probably challenging) task. If you have friends that might be interested in contributing, please let them know.

One thing I am worried about, if this ever gets to a more advanced stage, is how we will convert the btc to USD/CAD. Any ideas? I apologize if the question is dumb, I'm just very new to this.

if you really wanted to see this in the world you would just make it instead of asking for 15kUSD.

I can't code, nor do I have the financial means to hire coders. I already made this clear. This is why I'm looking for collaborative funding. My initial approach wasn't well thought out and people pointed that out. My new aim is to try to find enough people that are willing to give btc for a stake in the game.

I understand that people will want to see advanced documentation before they contribute, but to get to that stage involves collaborating with a software developer. That costs money.

The game's theme is economical in nature, which is why I thought the term "bubble" would be suitable. As in a stock bubble... get it? Point about the secret formula taken. It would be better if the mechanics are fully transparent.

[b!z]

Is it something like Bitcoin Gem?

[Ancho]

Is it something like Bitcoin Gem?

I hadn't heard about Bitcoin Gem until now. I just looked it up, and based on the short description I found there does appear to be some similarity. Unfortunately I couldn't open the game's website for some reason, so I couldn't examine it in detail.