Stock Option

In August 2015, I attended Join, a conference about local multiplayer games. Gregg Tavares presented his latest project, SuperHappyFunTimes, which is a NodeJs-based module for massive multiplayer local games. The idea is that you can run a nodejs server in your computer, running the game. This server creates a captive portal in your local wifi network, which other devices in the same network can access by opening a browser and going to the direction http://happyfuntimes.net . The idea is that these other devices will be smartphones. The server gives them a simple web page that will be a custom controller for the game. In other words, as many as 100 players at the same time can connect to the same game, via their smartphone, and use it as a controller.

I found it very interesting, and at the following mini game jam that month, I made a little game called Stock Option. It’s a very much simplified “simulation” of the stock market, with only one single type of stock. The players only have two options, “buy” and “sell”. The rule is that each time one player “buys”, the price increases by 1 euro, so the next buyer will find it more expensive. Each time a player “sells”, the price decreases by 1 euro. All players trade with a “central bank” with a virtually infinite supply of such stocks, the price is only directed by their actions.

If you want to play it yourselves, you’ll have to download and install SuperHappyFunTimes. Then you can get this game directly from the official site, in addition to other games that are made available in that system.

Notes: The screenshot is of a lower quality this time because it’s ripped from the presentation video below. Still, I wanted to use it because it shows more players connected. If I was creating my own screenshot at home I wouldn’t be able to easily reproduce 16+ players connected.

Have fun!