Anyone interested in on-chain Russian roulette (non-violent ofc)?

[Solodev]

Im a software developer who recently got laid off, as the company managers think AI can do my job (I strongly disagree, but what can you do). Now as I have a bit more free time, I want to spend it on learning more about blockchain and web3 development. I was thinking of starting by making a blockchain adaptation of classical game of Russian roulette, but instead of bullets and violence, the game would be about picking a numbers.

My draft for the MVP would be something like players join a table and play their turn one-by-one. They start by placing a bet and picking a random number between 0-9, the contract then generate a random number using VRF. If the numbers match, that player is out. The last player “alive” in the table wins and walks away with the pot. This could then be later extended with additional functionalities like more dynamic betting ranges, custom rules for creating tables, private tables etc. The smart contract code would of course be open source, verified and audited.

Do you know if a service like this already exists or would you be interested in trying it out, if it did?
Also if you have ideas for features you want to be included or any other suggestions for a relatively small scale web3 project (that can be developed by a solo developer), I would be extremely happy to hear them!
I want to point out that this project would be completely non-profit and the goal is just to get more experience in web3 development that I can add to my resume.

[bitbollo]

For sure there are services and way to use this idea.
Probably I would use something less cruent like "lottery blockchain" or "last digit game"
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5375499.msg58627080#msg58627080
I have tried an experiment with " blockchain panic game" but due to time required I don't follow this activity...
There are gambling websites like "blocksrace" that offer the chance to bet on the next mining. The "Russian Roulette" option is funny for BTC enthusiast, just have a look in collectibles, this is the way used for assigning a prize/item.
Talking about crypto there are many faults on this probably and this is also one of the reasons there is not too much hype on "betting on chain".
In 2012 there was the first site for gambling in bitcoin blockchain - satoshi bones.
After 2015 there was even a sport betting game based on bitcoin blockchain! A game like that with bitcoin (and confirmation) requires time. It could be easily time consuming and mostly players would just get bored...
... would you use a shitcoin for this betting? Exchange? Use their wallet? Risk a 51% attack while gambling or in general something that could be easily rigged with nicehash? Gambling requires a kind of suspence...probably "blocksrace" has been the first one to provide a commercial platform and not just a basic product based on blockchain.

[Solodev]

Thanks for the reply.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but by my understanding you can not rely on blockhashes for a service that requires true randomness? That is why I was planning to use a verified VRF provider, such as Chainlink to get the contract side random numbers. I have not yet fully decided the technical details for hosting the contract (as im now just trying to find out if a service like this would have any interest among users), but my rough plan would be to use some L2 Ethereum chain, e.g. Arbitrum, for deploying the contract and some stable coin like USDC as game currency. This is mainly just because those are the tools I have used earlier and are familiar with. I have already tried building some lottery like games just for testing purposes, but those are a bit too simple and I would want to focus my time on some a bit more complex system architectures. I used to work with building pretty complex systems for casinos, airlines and even banks (all ofc fiat based), so im pretty confident that I could manage a simple smart contract like this (even though my web3 experience is still quite much more limited) In the end, smart contracts are just state machines, just like any other software

[Hispo]

I think I have seen similar versions of that game you describe, but they were not Blockchain versions and they were rather multiplayer games available on Steam and other online store-fronts.

I think it could work as an idea, but it would need to be a very visual and appealing experience for gamblers to try and get hooked on it.
If the interface is raw and it happens to only be a console displaying numbers and results in the form of text, then I am afraid there would not be many gamblers interested in participating for much time.

Even in the simplest casinos games like dices, plinko, and blackjack there is a minimum attention to detail on interface and animations. This project of yours cannot be the exception.


Also, I am sorry you got laid off because your company believe you can be replaced, it sucks.

[Alphakilo]

I only know so little about being a developer, but it makes sense to not just develop a game, instead build and develop a working and efficient protocol that may offer users a better gaming experience like adding verify fairness button as stake newly introduced in its platform to enable users get a better explanation of the math with proof.
This is actually a satisfying thought from you and it makes you look more professional in every way since Ai may take your job but not your intelligence and knowledge.
I have to ask though, do you intend to keep it a zero fees survivor game?

[Solodev]

I think I have seen similar versions of that game you describe, but they were not Blockchain versions and they were rather multiplayer games available on Steam and other online store-fronts.

I think it could work as an idea, but it would need to be a very visual and appealing experience for gamblers to try and get hooked on it.
If the interface is raw and it happens to only be a console displaying numbers and results in the form of text, then I am afraid there would not be many gamblers interested in participating for much time.

Even in the simplest casinos games like dices, plinko, and blackjack there is a minimum attention to detail on interface and animations. This project of yours cannot be the exception.


Also, I am sorry you got laid off because your company believe you can be replaced, it sucks.

I think you are right, building the user interface is going to be a major part and require a lot of effort. Im definitely more of a system engineer than a graphics designer But a bit ironically, that might actually be something the AI could help me with! Afaik these have evolved quite much recently, as Claude Design was released. Maybe if I managed to build a fast, scalable and secure smart contract engine for the system, I could pull off the visual UI with the help of AI + test user feedback. Maybe…

Thanks for the reply and support! Who knows, this could all just be a new start on a new field!

[Solodev]

I only know so little about being a developer, but it makes sense to not just develop a game, instead build and develop a working and efficient protocol that may offer users a better gaming experience like adding verify fairness button as stake newly introduced in its platform to enable users get a better explanation of the math with proof.
This is actually a satisfying thought from you and it makes you look more professional in every way since Ai may take your job but not your intelligence and knowledge.
I have to ask though, do you intend to keep it a zero fees survivor game?

Thanks, that is a great suggestion!
Well that would mainly depend on the eventual costs for running the game.
I guess in general the expenses for running a web3 service are quite low, as you “backend” is hosted on the blockchain, so you don’t need to pay for servers and cloud architecture etc., which usually is the most expensive part of traditional services. But ofc you still need to buy the domain, host the user interface, pay for the on-chain event indexing, gas fees etc. All of these tend to get grow with the amount of users, so in the end all systems with a large enough user base will end up having to come up with some kind of monetizing plan eventually, if they want to keep running the service. But that is the least of my worries right now, as at this time I don’t yet have the service available or a single user;D