Yahtzee-Multiplayer

Real-time multiplayer Yahtzee where strategy meets speed. Play with Reddit Friends, roll smart, score big, and climb the leaderboard. Classic rules, modern competition, instant matchmaking.

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🎲 Yahtzee Online for Reddit

💡 Inspiration

We wanted to bring the classic dice game Yahtzee into Reddit in a way that feels native to the platform. Instead of just recreating the traditional game, we asked: What if Redditors could create rooms, invite friends, and compete in real-time directly inside their favorite subreddit? Our goal was to combine nostalgia, strategic gameplay, and community engagement into one seamless experience.

🚀 What it Does

Yahtzee Online is a real-time multiplayer dice game built specifically for Reddit using Devvit.

Key Features:

  • Flexible Play Modes: Play solo, against AI opponents, or with friends in local multiplayer.
  • Real-Time Rooms: Create online game rooms for 2–4 players or join available lobbies.
  • Global Competition: Track performance on global and daily leaderboards.
  • Social Integration: Set custom usernames and request rematches instantly after a game ends.
  • Authentic Rules: Full Yahtzee rulebook support, including bonus Yahtzees, upper section bonuses, and the Joker rule for strategic depth.

🛠️ How We Built It

The experience was built using React and Devvit with interactive UI components. To ensure fairness, the architecture is fully server-authoritative:

  • Anti-Cheat: Dice rolls are generated on the server.
  • Validation: Scores and turn orders are calculated and managed server-side.
  • Sync: Game state is synchronized across all players using Devvit’s real-time messaging.

Technical Stack:

Component Usage
Redis Persistent storage for rooms, player stats, and leaderboards.
Realtime Channels Instant state updates for synchronized multiplayer.
Devvit API Reddit integration and serverless backend logic.

🧠 Challenges We Ran Into

Building real-time multiplayer inside a Reddit-integrated environment introduced unique constraints:

  1. State Synchronization: Ensuring all players see the same dice animations and "held" states simultaneously.
  2. Room Management: Handling edge cases like host disconnections and ensuring proper room cleanup in a serverless context.
  3. Complex Logic: Implementing the nuanced Joker and Bonus rules server-side to prevent client-side manipulation.
  4. Dynamic Player Counts: Allowing games to continue if one player leaves, as long as the minimum player count is met.

🏆 Accomplishments We're Proud Of

  • Successfully transformed an offline classic into a competitive Reddit experience.
  • Built a robust cleanup system to handle the "messiness" of web-based multiplayer.
  • Achieved a smooth, responsive UI that feels right at home within Reddit's webview.
  • Implemented a comprehensive dual-leaderboard system (All-time & Daily).

📖 What We Learned

We mastered architecting real-time systems within Devvit’s serverless environment. Key takeaways include:

  • Optimizing Redis data structures for high-speed game state management.
  • Handling disconnections and "ghost" rooms gracefully.
  • Balancing UI performance with server-side validation.

🔮 What's Next for Yahtzee Online

  • Matchmaking: An automatic pairing system to jump into games faster.
  • Ranked Mode: ELO-based ladders with seasonal resets.
  • Subreddit Pride: Community-specific leaderboards and tournament brackets.
  • Spectator Mode: Letting other Redditors watch high-stakes games live.
  • Achievements: Unlockable badges for perfect games or massive winning streaks.

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