crypto game idea

Crypto-Magic: The Gathering

I was recently introduced to the card game Magic: The Gathering.  Today  
over lunch, I realized that this game could be transformed into an ideal  
networked crypto-game.  Why ideal?  Magic is a really popular game right  
now and a network version would require a lot of the crypto technology  
discussed on this list.  So, it's ideal for the purpose of getting crypto  
into popular use.

Brief description of game:  Magic is entirely based on cards.  There's no  
dice or board or game pieces.  Each card represents a creature, an  
artifact, a magical ability, or something else (like land).  Some cards a  
common, some uncommon, some very rare.  Players each have their own deck  
of cards which they assemble from a larger collection of cards before the  
start of the game.  They take turns drawing cards from their deck,  
revealing some (invoking their power), keeping others in their "hand"  
until later.  A player wins when they kill their opponent's "army" (or  
render it leader-less). 


Where's the crypto?

In my mind, the cards must be handled kind of like digital money.  You  
have to have a way of authenticating cards (can't have players forging new  
creatures) and you have to have a way of preventing players from  
duplicating powerful, rare cards.

These constraints imply there is some bank-like agency that creates and  
signs "official" game cards.  They could sell them for real digital cash,  
or Tacky Tokens, or whatever.  The "bank", or another third-party service,  
might have to participate in the play of a game to enforce the  
constraints.

It's not really like digital money, of course, but it would require  
protocols at least as sophisticated.

I haven't thought about this beyond what I've just described, but it seems  
like a promising idea.  Somebody could probably make money at it, if they  
wanted to.  Too bad I'm to busy.


Jim_Miller@suite.com

Jim Miller writes:
> 
> Crypto-Magic: The Gathering
[making an online version of the game using crypto tools...]
> 
> I haven't thought about this beyond what I've just described, but it seems  
> like a promising idea.  Somebody could probably make money at it, if they  
> wanted to.  Too bad I'm to busy.

Don't worry, someone is already working on it...  :)

You will probably see an online version of the "soon to finish printing and
finally ship so now we can have a life again" Illuminati: New World Order
game first.  Depending on how long it takes to get Wizards of the Coast
interested (they are tight with SJGames so it should not take long) an
online version of Magic may be on a web server by the end of the year.

jim, sysadmin and crypto-hacker of the Illuminati...

These constraints imply there is some bank-like agency that creates and  
   signs "official" game cards.  

Cards are a conserved quantity, and digital money protocols apply to
any conserved quantity.  You would need one currency for each card type.

Another interesting thing about MTG is that since each player has a
separate deck, and not a single shared deck, all the problems of
dealing out of a shared deck are gone.  In fact, you can play the game
entirely with one-way functions, I'm pretty sure.

Eric

Wasn't somebody working on a card-protocol about 6 months ago?  What
happened to it?  (Or is it rude to ask?)
-- 
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