Deckbound: collectible card games based on bitcoin

[garethjenkins]

I've developed a design, architecture and set of services to support playing collectible/trading card games (like Magic the Gathering, Hearthstone, Netrunner etc) using digital identities based on Bitcoin transactions. I'm a games developer and Bitcoin enthusiast and am thrilled to be able to be able to leverage my experience with both to launch Deckbound.

The Deckbound website is here: https://www.deckbound.com/

There's an introduction to the Deckbound Explorer from Jan '15 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_5GhGhI-k

https://www.deckbound.com/extimg/bct-video-preview.png

I've built a public service to allow tagging and object tracking on the blockchain: https://bitbind.io/ -- i've posted about that previously here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=708517.0

The business that runs both is EVA Plexus Limited, which is incorporated in the Isle of Man with the support of the IOM's Department for Economic Development.

The first game based on all of this is called Deckbound Heroes and launches in test alpha soon. You can get early access, sign up for the mailing list and more at the site https://www.deckbound.com/earlyaccess

I'm a passionate believer in the value of skilled play, and want to offer something that allows gamers and the gaming community a way of building meaningful, persistent collections of digital assets by using Bitcoin as a platform. The Deckbound architecture has been designed to allow others to build on top of the same cards and services -- I'd love to hear from people who are interested in doing the same. You can read more about how it works at https://www.deckbound.com/howitworks

[gordoh]

This is very interesting!

I would really like to be a part of this but right now my wallet is a little slim... I love these strategic card games, Im a huge fan of hearthstone and magic: the gathering. I even used to play yu-gi-oh and the pokemon trading card game. I think with the right marketing, this could become HUGE!!!

I don't suppose there is any way I could get involved that wouldn't require me to spend Bitcoin?

[garethjenkins]

@gordoh -- thanks, pretty interested myself... obviously

I don't suppose there is any way I could get involved that wouldn't require me to spend Bitcoin?

Best thing to do at the moment is sign up for both the general and fundraising mailing lists (both available from https://www.deckbound.com/contact), as alpha invites and other news will go out to those before they're more widely available (though in some cases early access customers will get access before that).

As we launch the first Heroes test alpha (which is gameplay focussed on fixed cards) and move on to the first card-based alpha we'll be looking for testers, especially those who've got experience with other CCGs and are willing to participate in our forums (http://meta.deckbound.com -- active but pretty vacant right now) -- it'd be great if you could get involved in that. I'll be sure to post updates to this thread as well.

G.

[W-M]

Wow. This is an amazing idea. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

I'll definitely try to get in the alpha tests. This is very interesting !

[Emerger]

Very interesting idea, you seem to have thought out the technology aspects very well! I'm eager to see how the games will progress, especially with some (eventual) fancy graphics and artwork. All the best with the alpha tests and development.

[Mabsark]

I'm a passionate believer in the value of skilled play, and want to offer something that allows gamers and the gaming community a way of building meaningful, persistent collections of digital assets by using Bitcoin as a platform.

Games like this don't rely as much on skill as they do on wealth and luck of the draw. Do you honestly believe that a free player could compete with an Ultra bundle player? You could easily make it fair though by restricting the types of cards allowed so that players are evenly matched. For example, if an ultra bundle player was going up against a free player, the ultra bundle player's cards would be restricted to the same type of cards the free player has - Nomad cards only.

[Emerger]

I'm a passionate believer in the value of skilled play, and want to offer something that allows gamers and the gaming community a way of building meaningful, persistent collections of digital assets by using Bitcoin as a platform.

Games like this don't rely as much on skill as they do on wealth and luck of the draw. Do you honestly believe that a free player could compete with an Ultra bundle player? You could easily make it fair though by restricting the types of cards allowed so that players are evenly matched. For example, if an ultra bundle player was going up against a free player, the ultra bundle player's cards would be restricted to the same type of cards the free player has - Nomad cards only.

As someone who has played a lot of these games in the past I feel there is a *lot* of skill required to play well. Sure, it is true that an investment in the product can give you the upper starting hand but it is no substitute for the knowledge of game play and rules that can only come through lots of practice and a good understanding. Nevertheless, your suggestion for rules that help players be more 'evenly matched' is great, and I am sure that different rules covering this could become available so that players will know what limitations they are playing by before they enter a match (it could even be cryptographically verified that nobody was cheating!). On one hand, players could knowingly enter an 'open' game where all cards were permissible, and on the other hand players could enter games where only certain cards and quantities of them were allowed...

Also, I envision that this system whereby cards are considered unique and linked to a real Bitcoin asset can give rise to situations where cards can be 'escrowed' and won in games, providing the possibility to play for 'ante' (http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Ante). This would provide avenues for skilled players to increase the quality of their card decks without being forced to ever make a large investment - by winning repeatedly against less skilled players. Winning cards by playing against opponents who are willing to play for keeps was always something that appealed to me when I played, allowing me to develop my collection purely by skill against tougher opponents (and also not to mention the skill in trading the cards as well!).

I am sure the Deckbound dev would have much more to say on this topic. Just some thoughts. Of course, if one does not like this style of collectible trading-card game then they are free to play more skill-based game such as connect4 or chess

[gordoh]

I am registered and I posted on the forum 

[garethjenkins]

Games like this don't rely as much on skill as they do on wealth and luck of the draw. Do you honestly believe that a free player could compete with an Ultra bundle player? You could easily make it fair though by restricting the types of cards allowed so that players are evenly matched. For example, if an ultra bundle player was going up against a free player, the ultra bundle player's cards would be restricted to the same type of cards the free player has - Nomad cards only.

As someone who has played a lot of these games in the past I feel there is a *lot* of skill required to play well. Sure, it is true that an investment in the product can give you the upper starting hand but it is no substitute for the knowledge of game play and rules that can only come through lots of practice and a good understanding. Nevertheless, your suggestion for rules that help players be more 'evenly matched' is great, and I am sure that different rules covering this could become available so that players will know what limitations they are playing by before they enter a match (it could even be cryptographically verified that nobody was cheating!). On one hand, players could knowingly enter an 'open' game where all cards were permissible, and on the other hand players could enter games where only certain cards and quantities of them were allowed...

Totally agreed on both points here -- matching options are important, but the core feature of any quality CCG has to viable play with asymmetrical decks and collections. I'm not avoiding that players will need to buy cards to engage fully in the game, but the Nomad system allows new players a way to experiment before making a purchase. It's also a useful way of buying specific cards (you can buy specific Nomad cards directly or buy card packs).

Specifically on the match-making thing, we will be allow for custom matchmaking options, and one of those will be "play against Nomad decks only". There will also be AI opponents to specifically cater for players who have a limited collection or deck. Eventually the matchmaking and related systems will be opened up via a public API so the community can construct other systems as desired.

Also, I envision that this system whereby cards are considered unique and linked to a real Bitcoin asset can give rise to situations where cards can be 'escrowed' and won in games, providing the possibility to play for 'ante' (http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Ante). This would provide avenues for skilled players to increase the quality of their card decks without being forced to ever make a large investment - by winning repeatedly against less skilled players. Winning cards by playing against opponents who are willing to play for keeps was always something that appealed to me when I played, allowing me to develop my collection purely by skill against tougher opponents (and also not to mention the skill in trading the cards as well!).

Yea, I've thought about this a lot. Not specifically announcing anything at this stage, but intentionally giving ourselves plenty of options at the technical and commercial level. Of course because the cards are just tracking Bitcoin transactions, this could be handled outside of Deckbound. But I expect we'll get to constructing and organising a variety of tournament systems once the games and cards setups are stable.

[kronicblazer]

Do you have an ETA of when the first game will become available to play?  How long do we have left for early access?

[LitcoinCollector]

Not familiar with these kind of card games, bit I'm intrigued, gona look in to it.

[garethjenkins]

Do you have an ETA of when the first game will become available to play?  How long do we have left for early access?

Hey -- you've got a while left yet for early access. Basic outline of releases for Heroes (the first released game) is as follows:

1. Test Alphas (these will use a fixed set of test cards) -- coming in the next few weeks

2. Alpha releases (these will use actual cards, but there'll be room for change in incepted abilities and card attributes -- i.e. the inception algorithms may change a lot in this period, so any redeemed or purchased cards will change) -- I expect this will be around Oct/Nov time, but that's very much TBC until we get through (1)

3. Beta releases (this is primarily a systems release, not a game one -- i.e. making sure card purchase and inception, account management, player levelling etc is properly functioning)

4. General (and ongoing) releases -- the games will all be updated on an ongoing basis, but at this point the game is considered "final", and the releases are more like patches and feature releases than the phases above

Insofar as early access (and more specifically heavily discounted card packs and guaranteed access to other pro and test features) is concerned, this will be available until right up until the start of phase 4. At the very earliest, I expect that this would be Jan/Feb, but i'll obviously keep this thread and the website up to date with more information as and when we have it.

G.

[subSTRATA]

Does game rellies on some website or it could be played with standalone local software, without ever connecting to anything but Bitcoin blockchain (centralized vs decentralized)?

[garethjenkins]

Does game rellies on some website or it could be played with standalone local software, without ever connecting to anything but Bitcoin blockchain (centralized vs decentralized)?

Hi. The current games (Heroes & Land Grab) do rely on connecting to a web service, and are played in a browser. The underpinning card architecture is all part of the data we write to the bitbind.io API, which will eventually have it's own instance-able node, so theoretically you could run it offline.

The types of games we're making are inherently multiplayer (though AI play is supported from the outset with all of them) so we don't see offline play as something that's critical. Having said that we're also keen to not introduce unnecessary dependencies, so, for example, unless you're creating new cards there's no need to run from a live bitcoin node (though you do require a node and an instance of the bitbind.io API to retrieve the card data).

G.

[bbit]

If you need funding check out BitcoinStarter.com for Bitcoin Crowdfunding needs!

Cool idea  

[IamNotSure]

Cool idea indeed ! Will follow

[snailbrain]

good idea - in fact we have been thinking about this for some time..

we were/are contemplating whether the game should take place entirely in the chain and have coins as well (the coins/cards are the same)

or we would use namecoin for the cards and then play externally on sites as suggested

edit: cards/names can be traded safely  in namecoin (or fork) -- https://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1701

[cloverme]

Very innovative, I think this type of development is where we will see bitcoin start to grow. I think the days of mining, deep web, and so forth are going away faster and faster. While this type of game isn't for me, I think it will be big in a minecraft sort of way.

[Canen]

I was looking for someone to make a card game with the blockchain. I can't wait to try this out.

[garethjenkins]

edit: cards/names can be traded safely  in namecoin (or fork) -- https://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1701

Thanks -- have been considering options for card vocabulary (i.e. mapping of "names" to incepted identity IDs) and this could be an approach.