Inspiration
We've always been drawn to social strategy games where not only do players have to work as a team, but they also have to try and predict other players' behaviour, to a certain extent. This always adds a whole new exciting layer to an otherwise run-of-the-mill game. We wanted to use this idea and explore what could happen when an entire community is to be held responsible for the fate of a game, through the simple action of voting for equilibrium. Thus we created Don't Tip It, a game where thousands of players unknowingly influence the same hidden balance. Instead of revealing a numerical score, the game provides only environmental clues and immersive lore, encouraging players to trust their instincts, cooperate with others, and discuss strategies within the community. Every click matters, but no one truly knows whether they're helping or making things worse, until they finally vote.
What it does
Don't Tip It is a collaborative Reddit game built with Devvit where every player contributes to a single hidden global balance. Players have only two choices:
- Push North
- Pull South Each vote changes a hidden equilibrium stored in Redis, but the actual value is never revealed. Instead, players receive a stability level and immersive lore describing the world's condition.
The game also features: -Hidden Stability Meter -Random World Events -Achievements -Dynamic World Lore -Activity Feed
The objective is simple in theory but surprisingly difficult in practice: Work together to keep the world's equilibrium intact before it spirals into chaos.
How we built it
We built Don't Tip It using the Devvit Web SDK, allowing the game to run natively inside Reddit.
Tech Stack: -Devvit Web SDK -TypeScript -React -Tailwind CSS -Redis
Redis serves as the backbone of the game, storing data like hidden equilibrium and daily game state.
The backend performs all gameplay calculations, including stability evaluation, event handling, achievement unlocking, and lore generation, while the frontend displays only derived information. This server-authoritative design ensures players can never discover the hidden equilibrium directly, preserving the mystery and collaborative nature of the game.
Challenges we ran into
One of our biggest challenges was designing a game around hidden information. Players needed enough feedback to make meaningful decisions without exposing the actual equilibrium.
Balancing randomness was another challenge. Random world events needed to keep gameplay fresh while remaining fair and enjoyable. Likewise, achievements and progression systems had to reward participation without revealing internal game mechanics.
Managing a shared global state also required careful consideration. Since every Redditor influences the same hidden world, ensuring consistent updates and preventing conflicting state changes was essential.
We also ran into difficulties while trying to upload onto devvit due to versioning problems.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
-Built a collaborative game where thousands of Redditors influence the same hidden world. -Designed a hidden-state gameplay system that rewards intuition over perfect information. -Created dynamic world events that change gameplay in real time. -Developed an achievement system that encourages long-term engagement. -Added immersive lore that transforms simple balance updates into an evolving narrative. -Built moderator-configurable gameplay settings for community customization. -Created the entire experience using the Devvit platform and Redis.
What we learned
Building Don't Tip It taught us that multiplayer games don't always require direct interaction to foster collaboration.
We gained valuable experience with: -Building applications using the Devvit Web SDK -Designing server-authoritative game logic -Managing persistent shared state using Redis -Creating responsive React interfaces within Reddit -Designing engaging mechanics around incomplete information
Our biggest takeaway was that what players don't know can be just as engaging as what they do know.
What's next for Dont Tip It
We're excited to continue expanding the game with even more community-driven experiences, including: -Seasonal world events with unique mechanics -Multiple regions with independent equilibria -Community leaderboards based on helpful contributions -Expanded achievement collections and cosmetic rewards -Persistent world lore that evolves based on player actions -Advanced moderator tools for creating custom events and challenges -Community analytics to visualize how collective decisions shape the world
Our long-term vision is to transform Don't Tip It into a persistent social experiment where every Reddit community contributes to a living, evolving world, one vote at a time!
