If you and your friends are tired of playing the same old boring board games when you meet up, now is the time to shake things up. Thanks to a brand new product, you can educate your friends about Bitcoin while having fun and a few drinks to boot. A Twitter user that goes by the name of Pedro is putting together an epic Bitcoin board game that aims to educate as well as being a source of fun. Dubbed “Hodler of Last Resort” players can make their way around the board, earning sats, mining Bitcoin, and falling for scams – just like the real Bitcoin world.
This game is a huge game, so isn’t for the faint-hearted – there are a lot of moving parts!
I’m working on a board-game to help explain Bitcoin to friends and family.
It aims at creating a playful way for being presented with some novel concepts that Bitcoin proposes while forcing some technical understanding via the game’s mechanics.
Interested? pic.twitter.com/8FfjXcN7KG
— Pedro ?⚡️ (@pedromvpg) July 19, 2019
Electricity Required
Just like with all other Bitcoin-related games, you’re going to need a computer or tablet to play this game. No, not for the board, but instead to handle the accounts. Unlike Monopoly, the accounting system is rather complex, meaning there is a spreadsheet to keep track of each user’s Bitcoin. The sheet will automatically calculate losses, fees, mining rewards, and halving events, as well as keeping tab of which roll of the dice you’re on. The ledger system in Hodler of Last Resort is perfect for board gamers who have that one party member that tries to cheat.
Let’s Run Through the Basics
Each player has a turn to roll the dice and move around the board, landing on new actions with every move. Each turn, every player competes for block rewards by rolling special dice. You can collect more dice by landing on certain tiles or picking up certain chance cards. Dice represent hash power – the more dice, the higher your chances of winning the block reward. The player who rolls the lowest number on a single die is awarded the block reward. The goal is to end the game with all the Bitcoin – or the most when your friends decide that the evening got a little too nerdy.
Games Heading to the Blockchain World
This is one of the best Bitcoin board games we have seen, but sadly we’re still a few months away from seeing units available for ordering. Blockchain technology underpins Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and it’s becoming increasingly prevalent in the gaming world. Enjin recently launched and SDK for game developers, allowing them to add blockchain tech to their games. On console, Plague Hunters was pegged to be the first blockchain-based PS4 game, but it ran into a series of snags that have seen it delayed yet again. For now, it’s unclear as to when it will go live – if it ever does – so blockchain gamers will have to stick with Hodler of Last Resort.
Hodler of Last Resort could very well be a fun way to educate your friends about the wonderful world of Bitcoin, if you have time to explain the rules. While slightly complicated, it looks like it could be the board game of choice for technologically minded groups of friends.
