Cryptopoly: Using Ethereum State Channels for Decentralized Game Applications
Description
All modern multiplayer games are administered by having players connect to a remote server which is used to provide the ground truth for game state and player actions. This use of a central server provides a simple and intuitive way to administer game servers but also provides a single point of failure, as each server must be able to process all actions coming in and make a decision on whether the action is allowed or not, and how to update the game state accordingly. In cases where the server is under significant load, either from a very popular game release or from a deliberate attack, the game slows down or completely crashes. When there is a server action backlog, this can allow malicious actors to perform previously impossible actions. By instead using a decentralized platform, we can build a robust system that allows playing games through a P2P manner, filling in the need for central servers with consensus algorithms that provide the security on the part of a central authority. This project aims to show that a decentralized solution can be used to create a transparent, fully playable game of Monopoly with complex features that would be more scalable, reliable, and cost-effective compared to a centralized solution; meaning that games could be produced that costs pennies to publish and modify, taking seconds to propagate changes globally, and most importantly, cost nothing for upkeep. The codebase is available here: https://github.com/SirNeural/monopoly
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2020-12
Agent
- Author (aut): Xu, Yun Hui
- Thesis director: Boscovic, Dragan
- Committee member: Foy, Joseph
- Contributor (ctb): Computer Science and Engineering Program
- Contributor (ctb): School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College