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I built a platform where users buy pixels to represent their countries

1 points by fragaldor 2y ago

fragaldor 2y ago
Hi HN, I’m an indie developer, and I wanted to share a small experiment I built. The idea behind Pixel Wars was to see how far I could take a simple concept: letting users "buy" a pixel and assign it to a country. The platform tracks which countries have the most pixels, creating a sort of global leaderboard. The biggest challenge was designing the backend to efficiently handle millions of individual pixels and dynamically update the country rankings. I used FastAPI, and I learned a lot throughout the process. I’m curious to hear your thoughts: What do you think about gamification mechanics in small projects like this? Are there interesting ways to scale an idea like this or make it more engaging?
- talldayo 2y ago
  If you're keeping the money spent on each pixel, then this is a for-profit business appropriating Nintendo's license to the Super Mario franchise. Either change the background, or stop charging people money - doing both will put you in legal hot water if this becomes popular.
  - fragaldor 2y ago
    Thank you for the heads-up! I’m already working on replacing the background with original artwork to avoid any issues. If you have any advice on how to make this project more popular (while staying legally safe), I’d love to hear it!
not_your_vase 2y ago
Due to being only Spanish (?), I can't grasp everything. But is it basically a ranking of countries from where people paid you the most money, for "fun"? If yes, then I would rather buy some NFTs.
- fragaldor 2y ago
  Thank you for your comment! To clarify, it's not just about ranking countries based on money paid—it's more of a fun, interactive experiment where users can buy a pixel and assign it to a country. The idea is to see which country can accumulate the most pixels, not just money. It’s not really focused on profits; it's more about the concept of global collaboration and gamification. I understand that NFTs are an interesting option for many, but this project is a bit different in its approach. If you have any thoughts on how to improve it or make it more engaging, I’d love to hear them!

1 points by fragaldor 2y ago

Hi HN, I’m an indie developer, and I wanted to share a small experiment I built. The idea behind Pixel Wars was to see how far I could take a simple concept: letting users "buy" a pixel and assign it to a country. The platform tracks which countries have the most pixels, creating a sort of global leaderboard. The biggest challenge was designing the backend to efficiently handle millions of individual pixels and dynamically update the country rankings. I used FastAPI, and I learned a lot throughout the process. I’m curious to hear your thoughts: What do you think about gamification mechanics in small projects like this? Are there interesting ways to scale an idea like this or make it more engaging?

talldayo 2y ago
If you're keeping the money spent on each pixel, then this is a for-profit business appropriating Nintendo's license to the Super Mario franchise. Either change the background, or stop charging people money - doing both will put you in legal hot water if this becomes popular.
- fragaldor 2y ago
  Thank you for the heads-up! I’m already working on replacing the background with original artwork to avoid any issues. If you have any advice on how to make this project more popular (while staying legally safe), I’d love to hear it!

not_your_vase 2y ago

Due to being only Spanish (?), I can't grasp everything. But is it basically a ranking of countries from where people paid you the most money, for "fun"? If yes, then I would rather buy some NFTs.

fragaldor 2y ago
Thank you for your comment! To clarify, it's not just about ranking countries based on money paid—it's more of a fun, interactive experiment where users can buy a pixel and assign it to a country. The idea is to see which country can accumulate the most pixels, not just money. It’s not really focused on profits; it's more about the concept of global collaboration and gamification. I understand that NFTs are an interesting option for many, but this project is a bit different in its approach. If you have any thoughts on how to improve it or make it more engaging, I’d love to hear them!