Building a provably fair Online Casino

Lxne - December 18, 2024

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Creating an online casino from scratch is no small task. In this post, I'll share my experience developing a complete online casino platform — from front-end and back-end development to game design and 3D graphics. My inspiration came from working with provably fair cryptographically random number generation, a fascinating concept that ensures transparent and secure gameplay in online gambling environments. This blog post is a deep dive into my journey, the technologies I used, and the lessons I learned along the way.

A Clear Vision: Simple, Colorful, and Fair

The primary goal of the project was twofold: to explore how cryptographic randomness could create a transparent gambling experience and to design a visually appealing, user-friendly online casino. I focused on creating a simple and colorful design style that was fun yet professional. My goal was to create a platform where players could see all available games at a glance and start playing with a single click — all while complying with industry regulations, such as clearly displaying bets and payouts.

Designing the User Experience

When designing the landing page, I wanted users to be immediately drawn into the platform's offerings. The key idea was to showcase all games and active promotions the moment users arrived. Every game needed to be visible and playable with a single click, eliminating unnecessary navigation steps.

Balancing design with compliance was a constant consideration. Online casinos are subject to strict regulations that require clear and transparent displays of bets, odds, and game mechanics. Ensuring the platform was both engaging and legally compliant guided many of my design choices.

Here's a look at the landing page I created:

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Developing the Games: Blackjack, Dice, and Roulette

The heart of any online casino is its games. I designed and developed three classic games: Blackjack, Dice, and Roulette. Each game had its unique challenges, especially when it came to balancing visual appeal with functionality.

For the Blackjack game, I created smooth animations for card dealing and flipping, ensuring the gameplay felt dynamic and realistic.

I deliberately kept the animations simple yet dynamic, ensuring they contributed to the gaming experience without overwhelming or distracting players.

A detailed blog post about the Blackjack game can be found here.

The Tech Stack Behind the Platform

Creating the platform required a powerful and flexible tech stack. The entire front-end was built using Node.js, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, with a focus on responsive design. I continuously tested the site on mobile devices and tablets to ensure a seamless experience across all platforms.

The back-end was developed using pure Node.js with Express.js as the web framework. This setup allowed me to efficiently handle the server-side logic, including user authentication and game management.

User Authentication was a particularly tricky aspect. I implemented a system that allowed users to log in using various social media platforms, with Discord emerging as the most popular login option. Ensuring secure authentication involved extensive research into OAuth protocols and token management.

Payment Integration was designed with cryptocurrency in mind. The platform was set up to generate unique deposit addresses for each user and continuously monitor the blockchain for incoming transactions. This allowed deposits to be credited automatically without relying on expensive third-party APIs or specialized wallets. Unfortunately, due to limited time and resources, this feature was never fully implemented.

Ensuring Fairness with Cryptographic Randomness

One of the defining features of the platform was its commitment to provably fair gameplay. This system uses cryptographically secure random number generation to ensure game outcomes are completely transparent and cannot be manipulated.

Here's how provably fair works:

  • Server Seed: Before the game begins, the platform generates a secret server seed, which determines the game's outcome.
  • Client Seed: Players can enter their own seed for additional randomness and to make sure the results are not solely based on the server seed.
  • Verification: After each game round, the platform reveals the next server seed, allowing players to verify that previous results were fair and unchanged.

This transparency builds player trust, a crucial factor in online gambling platforms.

Challenges and Solutions

Like any complex project, this one came with its fair share of challenges.

User Authentication was particularly difficult, especially when integrating multiple social media platforms. After extensive research, I implemented a secure OAuth-based login system, ensuring encrypted communication and token validation.

Another significant hurdle was payment integration. Since I couldn't afford third-party APIs, I built a custom solution that monitored blockchain transactions directly. Each player had a unique deposit address, and the system continuously checked for incoming transactions, crediting deposits automatically. This innovative approach helped bypass costly services while maintaining reliability.

Looking Back: Lessons Learned

The project spanned nearly a year, from January 2024 to December 2024, during which I learned an incredible amount about the online casino industry, cryptographic randomness, and building secure systems. I gained hands-on experience in areas like:

  • Provably Fair Systems: Implementing secure and transparent game logic.
  • User Authentication: Strengthening login protocols with social platform integration.
  • Back-End Development: Managing complex server-side processes with Node.js and Express.js.

Looking back, there's a lot of code I would refactor or improve if I had more time and resources. The project still hasn't launched, but the development process itself was invaluable.

What's Next?

Though I don't currently have the time or resources to continue developing the platform, I would absolutely consider expanding or updating it in the future. There's so much more that could be added, from more games and improved graphics to a fully functional payment system.

This project pushed me beyond my limits as a developer and taught me lessons that will shape my future work. It was an unforgettable experience, and I'm excited about what similar challenges the future might hold.