The Story of Ethereum: A New Game Lets You Assume the Role of Vitalik Buterin
An Israeli developer has created a new game that allows players to step into the shoes of Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. In this game, players must help Buterin write the Ethereum whitepaper while navigating through various challenges and distractions. The game, called Vitalik.run, was launched just a day after Ethereum celebrated its 10th birthday, aiming to tell the story of Ethereum in a fun and chaotic manner.
According to the creator, Ruby Edelstein, Vitalik.run is an endless roguelike runner where players must fight enemies, avoid distractions like World of Warcraft, and progress in the Ethereum storyline. The game is filled with references, memes, and a deep love for the crypto space.
Buterin, who is known to be a fan of World of Warcraft, was reportedly inspired to create Ethereum after his favorite character in the game was nerfed. This event led him to realize the importance of decentralized networks over centralized services.
Fight enemies, power up, and create Ethereum. Image: Decrypt.
Edelstein stated that Vitalik.run takes players through Buterin’s journey of writing the whitepaper, assembling a team, launching mainnet, and navigating through the ICO craze. The game is reminiscent of Game Dev Tycoon and aims to showcase the epic story of Ethereum.
Players can use the arrow keys to switch between lines, the space bar to attack enemies, and number keys to choose power-ups. However, the catch is that players only have one life, and if they die, they are sent back to the beginning.
The game is designed to be easy to pick up but challenging to master. The current high score on the leaderboard is 12,778, with the developer estimating that it takes around 45 minutes to complete the entire story.
“Vitalik is THE GUY, his journey of building Ethereum is the hero journey, he’s a total nerd kid with a dream, building in public, facing doubt, distractions, and still pushing through, getting shit done,” Edelstein explained.
Despite being rooted in the love for the crypto scene, Vitalik.run does not incorporate any blockchain features. The developer wanted to focus on creating an enjoyable gaming experience but did not rule out the possibility of adding crypto elements in the future.
The gaming industry has seen its share of challenges, with many projects shutting down due to funding issues. The pressure of issuing tokens or NFTs can often distract from the core gaming experience, causing some projects to struggle.
“I didn’t want to overcomplicate things with crypto. Asking someone to connect a wallet requires a lot of trust, and that’s not the point here,” Edelstein added. “If there’s demand, I might add some on-chain elements later, but only if it makes it a better game.”