Discover Lightning Gaming with Alby
Lightning Network opens a new era of digital services. Bitcoin is not just about storing money - but using it. And using it is now possible in ways not even imagined before. Thanks to a growing ecosystem of creators, developers, designers, and users, now it is possible and useful to perform programmatic microtransactions in bitcoin, receive loyalty rewards, exchange values in social networks, pay for content directly to the authors (without intermediaries or ads), send 'fair spam', use AI in a pay-per-request models, earn donations on streams and many more. All 24/7, without a bank account, credit card details, political gatekeepers or forfeiting your data. Thousands of possibilities.
On getalby.com/discover, we are curating the most comprehensive list of appz - Bitcoin, Lightning, and Nostr mobile and web applications that you can use with Alby. This is your place to collect and discover what you can do today with your bitcoin on the Lightning Network. The list of possibilities and usecases grows. Bitcoin on the web can be used for shopping, music, podcasting, finance, social media, gaming… the limits are yet to be discovered.The latter category - gaming - is actually one of the earliest Bitcoin usecases in webapps, quite rapidly evolving month by month. The Lightning Network is a perfect method to add real stakes to the game and enable digital, programmatic transfer of value. Below, let’s explore 6 platforms - unique examples, proving that there is and grows an interesting industry in cyberspace: Bitcoin Lightning Gaming.
Chainduel
Everyone remembers the classic “Snake” game, especially from earlier generations of mobile phones. You used arrows to move the Snake on a grid, where from time to time, new food appears that the snake should eat. Eat it and your snake grows, leaving a trace behind. The goal was to survive as long as possible (you die when you hit the wall or your own tail), maximizing the length of your snake.
Now, on Chainduel you can play against another player on the same map, eating… blocks with transactions, appearing randomly on a screen. The winner is the one who builds a longer blockchain—by eating blocks and avoiding hitting walls or the opponent. But the most important catch is—there are sats at stake.
To join the game, you need to deposit a certain amount of sats. Your opponent does as well, and the bet is simple—whoever wins the game takes the pool. There are interesting perks within the game—like Nostr integration (for identity and publishing results), “double or nothing” to increase stakes, or synchronization with the Bitcoin network—so actual blocks can appear on screen as bonus points when mined.
Put your chain on a duel at https://game.chainduel.net/
Nothing beats the excitement! The game has been quite popular among attendees of Bitcoin conferences around the world.
Clinch
Another online game where you could win or lose sats from your friends comes from Bitcoin gaming company THNDR Games (https://www.thndr.games/). Clinch is about putting random cards in a proper structure - like in a classic Solitaire. This time, two players play the game asynchronously, then a player with higher score wins the pool.
The website has a handy global chatbox, and even a Telegram group, as the community around the game slowly grows. Those serve also as a convenient place to find your next opponent.Clinch did to Solitaire what Chainduel did to Snake. A classic game, adapted to the Bitcoin cyberspace, where points got married with sats and put on stake - sounds like a recipe for success! Such remakes do not only appeal to every generation, but definitely make games more competitive.
Clinch utilizes hodl invoices for non-custodial wagers and provides API to its system - so other game creators could use it in their projects. Clinch is only the beginning of wager gaming.
Try your luck and skills at https://clinch.gg/
Tic-tac-toe
Lightning tic-tac-toe takes the paper game we all know and enhances it to another level. This time the map isn't ordinary 3x3 grid, and obviously - moves cost and sats are on stake. Players join one of two teams and battle it out on a grand board made up of nine smaller, nested tic-tac-toe games. Each turn, teammates suggest moves, and the most popular choice becomes the official play.
The goal? To win three smaller boards in a row or grab the majority in a full grid. But here's the catch – your opponent's last move decides where you can play next.
The game's design makes it easy to follow along. Different colors show recent moves, possible plays, and team suggestions. And of course, there are sats at stake. Players chip in a small fee to join, creating a prize pool for the winning team.
Visit https://lntictactoe.com/ for a clever mix of collaborative gameplay, tactical thinking, and the use of Bitcoin microtransactions.
Zappy Bird
Another remake? Well, it’s not hard to guess who’s a bitcoin cousin of Zappy Bird. This game brings the classic bird-flapping action to the Lightning Network, adding financial twist in a pay-to-play model.
The concept is simple – fly your bird through gaps between pipes by clicking and flapping little wings to push the air down and move the bird up. But here's where it gets interesting: each jump costs 1 satoshi. As you fly your bird, keep an eye on your sat balance. The game pulls from your Lightning wallet in real-time through Bitcoin-Connect. Don't worry, though – those sats aren't disappearing into thin air. They're going into a community prize pool, waiting for the highest scorer.
Are you ready to zap and flap your way to victory? Then visit https://rolznz.github.io/zappy-bird/! Zappy Bird is a fun way to dip your toes into Lightning gaming being a great simple demo of Bitcoin micropayments programmed into web app.
Bitcoin Scratchcards
Bitcoin Scratchcards is not really a game - but more like a crowdfunded lottery. The website offers daily free scratchcards, allowing users to win real bitcoin.
Try it! You can log in to https://lnscratch.com via Bitcoin Lightning by either scanning the provided QR code or using the Alby extension or another Lightning Wallet for authentication. Then you are faced with the grey scratchboard - similar to the ones sold at offline kiosks. The goal is to scratch them out with their mouse, revealing icons below. If you are lucky - you might get the same icons in one of the rows - which means: prize. Each user can play up to 3 fee scratchcards every day and win up to 2.100 satoshis.
The faucet balance is displayed on the website to check if prize payouts are available. Odds of winning are also nicely explained. But where does the balance come from, if you can only win? The site is supported by donations, with the goal of funding the prizes solely through the community. You can become a supporter and put your advertisement on the platform. Bitcoin Scratchcards basically acts like a crowdfunded lightning faucet with a lotter - great for beginners, and with some emotions involved.
The website was created by Alby user and open-source contributor, @1of21mil, and it’s nice enough to provide log of winnings, the leaderboard and clear explanation of game’s terms & conditions.
Good luck!
Satoshi’s Place
This is also not a game. This is a Lightning Network enabled online collaborative artboard. Satoshi's Place is a multiplayer painting platform, inspired by Reddit Place, and the Million Dollar Homepage. Basically, all users get is a set of basic digital painting tools and a global canvas with 1 million pixels. Each pixel costs 1 satoshi to paint and pixels can be painted over indefinitely.
Satoshi's Place is a great way to experience the power of micro-transactions through the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Is there competition? Of course! Website is visited by quite some users every day, which can be observed by constantly changing canvas. Each of them compete for pixels, trying to have his message on top. Satoshi’s place has seen political announcements, QR codes asking for donations, companies’ advertisements, shitcoin battles as well as pieces that one might call a ‘digital vandalism’.
Go and show your art or meme skills yourself. One sat per one pixel, sounds fair! https://satoshis.place/
The result is not yet final
As we've explored, the world of Bitcoin Lightning Gaming is already a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Creative developers are pushing the boundaries of what's possible when you combine gaming with programmable money.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Lightning Network's potential for gaming extends far beyond what we've covered here. Imagine Minecraft servers where in-game economies run on real bitcoin, or high-stakes poker games played with sats. Oh, that is already happening! Picture sports betting platforms that leverage Lightning's abilities, or blackjack where every hand has real-world value, and legacy financial system is not involved. That is also, already a reality.
The beauty of Lightning Gaming lies in its limitless potential. As platforms like Alby continue to make Lightning integration easier, we can expect to see an explosion of creativity in this space. With each satoshi acting as a programmable unit of value, game developers have an entirely new toolkit at their disposal. The only limit is their imagination – and the imagination of the Bitcoin community is boundless.
The world of Bitcoin Lightning Gaming is worth exploring - and the best place to start is Alby Discover Page, with a section dedicated to this growing industry.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your sats, fire up your Lightning wallet, and lose or win sats on this exciting frontier. The future of gaming is here, and it's powered by Bitcoin.
Let the games begin!