
Show HN: Open-source online board gaming platform build atop blockchain tech - adrian_saito
https://apps.saito.network/arcade
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adrian_saito
Blockchain is an ideal way to free physical board game makers from the
constraints of manufacturing and big-brand contract conditions.

Here at Saito we have released an online Arcade powered by the Saito Game
Engine (SaGE) — a fully distributed, fully on-chain platform, currently
featuring classics such as Chess, WordBlocks, and Twilight Struggle as
examples of what can be done.

All games run directly in a browser and communicate using Saito’s blockchain
as a peer-to-peer network.

Would love to connect with anyone interested in developing on our platform, or
those open to discussing the use and ideas of blockchain tech more generally.

Thanks for your time, and any feedback or thoughts you can share.

~~~
saintPirelli
Not trying to be a jerk, these are all serious questions and I am thankful for
insights, because I seem to be blind to the benefits of blockchains in that
regard.

How is a Blockchain better here than just a SQL database? How is it the
blockchain exactly that frees you from 'the constraints of manufacturing' a
physical board? How is playing chess on your platform any improvement over
playing it on lichess, chess.com or chess24? Why would a developer of a game
want immutable and distributed data?

~~~
stfwn
Not OP, but I could see the fun and value in an immutable and distributed
record of a board game. Cheating would be very hard, and I imagine a
passionate player feels good knowing the platform will exist for as long as
there are players, and about having an eternal record of all of their games
ever. Pro leagues can refer back to the chain for scores and arbitrage,
customized game clients can hook up to the chain (perhaps tagged with a hash
of the client so players can agree on subgenres of 'legal' clients), players
can easily pick up and play any game in history from any state..

I don't know about being 'freed from the constraints of manufacturing'.. But a
game on a blockchain might be one of the few uses of blockchain I can think of
that actually sounds useful.

~~~
mmmeff
How is a blockchain a practical way to ensure no cheating? Why not just write
software that doesn't let you cheat? Or referees....

~~~
PopeDotNinja
Speculating here... A game with rules encoded in a blockchain is transparent,
and publishing rules clarifications is also transparent. You could play on a
game in the blockchain, have everyone's moves be encoded on the blockchain,
and never have to trust a server wad cheating. A few year's back,
UltimateBet.net, a poker site, was caught rigging the poker games being
played. [1] Even if UltimateBet.net had open sourced all of their software,
one wouldn't be able to trust their servers were actually running that
software. With a game on the blockchain, there is no server to trust.

[1] [https://upswingpoker.com/ultimate-bet-absolute-poker-
scandal...](https://upswingpoker.com/ultimate-bet-absolute-poker-scandal/)

~~~
theamk
From your link:

> The cheaters relied on a superuser account named “Auditmonster2,” that would
> observe tables and was able to see everyone player’s hole cards.

So.. the game was played exactly by the rules, and the full visibility would
not have helped. After all, it was purely info exposure.

But you may say: in blockchain, we'd design special cryptosystem that will
ensure other players do know know cards too early, as well as a verify that
game is played according to the rules

My answer would be that if you have designed such a cryptosystem, you don't
need blockchain anymore! Keep existing infrastructure, but apply encryption
and verification at each client. After all, you do not care about world
consensus for your poker game -- you just care about consensus between
players. You will get all the advantages of centralized solution (high speed,
very scaleable, low device requirements, easy upgrades), and server won't be
able to rig the games.

------
ceejayoz
> Send this address to your opponent for invitation:

How?

> Transfer tokens to this address or fund this address from the main faucet.

How?

