Dark2Light launches online game, lets users write their own questions

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Dark2Light, the “democracy card game” that polls players for fun and controversy, now has an online version. The online game runs on blockchain transactions, paying players to vote and giving them a chance to submit their own questions for others.

Apart from being an entertaining party game and conversation starter, the online version of Dark2Light also demonstrates the role opinion polls play in social media and how adding micropayments can make them part of the digital economy.

The physical game’s instructions lay out its purpose as such:

“Our ambition is to get people asking questions about the world they live in and deeply consider their answers,” read the game’s instructions. “If we can do this then people might discover where their lines are and how that lines up with the rest of the world’s. How far can we go? As far as the world needs, and with your help just a little bit further.”

The Dark2Light card game is pretty simple: you gain points by correctly guessing what the result of a vote will be. Player groups decide for themselves how many points are needed to win and how long the game runs.

The fun lies in the questions ranging from thought-provoking to frivolous, everyday to controversial. There are two versions of the physical game: basic and an optional “NSFW” expansion pack, which promises edgier questions for those who can handle a bit more.

One player asks a question, and then everyone votes “yes” or “no.” Whoever predicts the result correctly “wins” that question. The online version of the game is slightly different: players earn micropayments denominated in USD for answering others’ questions and can pay to submit their own original ones.

The online game: similar but different

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To play online, you’ll need to create an account with an email address and password, then connect that account to a HandCash wallet for payments in and out.

After logging in, you’ll see a screen with options to either ask a question yourself or vote on one of the 2000+ questions people have already asked.

Speaking to CoinGeek, Dark2Light Chief Question Master Alex Fauvel said new features would be added to the online game soon:

“We are excited to launch and see the system working well. Over the next few weeks, we will be increasing functionality of some of the key features that will make it easier to share with others while promoting your own questions across the web.”

As is the case with so many other apps running on BSV, much of the content is Bitcoin-related as early adopters sign up and pick their favorite topic for polls. Questions can be anything you like, though, and hopefully, the variety will improve as the game becomes more popular. That said, there are still plenty of questions on topics ranging from politics and society, religion, conspiracy theories, morality, and current affairs.

Currently, you’ll earn around $0.001 as a gift for voting on a question. This is the best way to get started since you can answer questions with a zero balance. Note: the voting buttons are “press and hold,” so don’t be disappointed if you click once and nothing happens.

There are other options too. You can skip a question if you don’t feel like answering, or red-flag it if you think it shouldn’t be there. The lightning bolt button “boosts” a question ($0.25), which gives you a referral link to post elsewhere and helps pay for others to vote.

You’ll need to pay a small amount to ask a question. The exact price depends on length (1 cent per character) plus $0.50 to “mint” it on-chain. There’s also the option to bump your question with extra votes to get things moving ($0.001 per vote). The system then gives you a transaction ID for the question, which you can check on-chain.

“We have plans to register votes on the blockchain but partly due to privacy reasons we haven’t started progressing in that direction yet,” Fauvel added. “However, with BSV, we can charge as little as a single cent per action directly on the blockchain.”

When asking questions, remember that players can answer only with Yes or No (after clicking through them for a while, you’ll see a few who didn’t understand the instructions). Although questions are anonymized to everyone else, when logged in, you’ll be able to see a history list of your own questions and all its stats, including voting results. Like the physical card game, answers are also anonymous. Balances can be cashed out to a connected HandCash wallet at any time.

Dark2Light has a Telegram group for those who’d like to discuss it, make suggestions, or report bugs. The game will likely evolve to include additional options and incentives as time goes on. “Lots of options when each button can be a payment,” Fauvel wrote in the group.

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