CHAD CABLE

Play a selection of classic games with friends, even while far away! Select from Taboo, Scattegories, Pictionary, and Liar's Dice - with more on the way.

When playing, make sure that everyone is using the same build (Currently Version 0.62). Playing in browser is the fastest way to get the game working, but if you're playing on an older machine you might have more luck with the downloadable version (Windows and Mac links are above).

This prototype was the result of chatting with friends online during Covid-19. As fun as it is to just talk and hangout, which is good and right, it felt like there was something missing! Namely, all of the games we'd normally play in person when getting together. A prime opportunity to put my specific, limited skillset to use (With the benefit of a much needed distraction from Covid news).

Since time was of the essence, I implemented the game using Unity and a "offline" randomization scheme. With no idea how long quarantine would last (or for that matter the impromptu game night), it made sense to get it working ASAP. While none of the games need a 3D game engine, implementation is significantly faster than learning how to implement natively in browser. The "offline" randomization has players manually input the same randomization seeds. Far from elegant, but useful for the task at hand!

As it became clear that quarantine (and game night) were here to stay, I started the process of properly networking the games - and a good excuse to try my hand at online games! After some searching I decided to use Photon, with native Unity integration and fairly straightforward documentation. Being my first networked prototype, it was handy having the core gameplay already working - though the transition required lots and lots and lots of rewrites to the existing code. Thankfully Taboo and Scattegories are turn based, making the task of syntonizations significantly easier! Great first steps.

Having proper online gameplay meant including games that would be impossible to do simply through selecting the same random seeds...Pictionary, anyone? I also ended up moving the word databases online - since I found the word databases on the internet, they're filled with, you know, pretty low quality (and often offensive) words. Having the database online means the words can get flagged and filtered out of the game.

Considering the circumstances, this has proved to be a fun side distraction! And a great opportunity to try out some new techniques and technologies (Looking at you Photon). Definitely let me know if you end up using this with your friends, or have any suggestions!