Game Dev Tycoon Meets Vitalik Buterin
A New Roguelike Game Lets Players Assume Vitalik Buterin’s Role in Creating Ethereum
An Israeli developer has released Vitalik.run, an endless roguelike runner that tasks players with recreating the journey of Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, but with pitch-black humor and a chaotic twist.
Created by Ruby Edelstein, the game launched just before Ethereum’s 10th anniversary. Edelstein described it as an attempt to tell the “epic” story of Ethereum in a fun, accessible, but certainly less somber manner than usual narratives.
As described, the player must battle enemies representing various obstacles in Ethereum’s development – from writing the initial whitepaper, pushing through the ICO mania, fixing bugs, and navigating internal debates, all while constantly battling distractions.
King Warcraft is one highlighted distraction, cleverly referencing Buterin’s real-life obsession with World of Warcraft. Legend has it Buterin co-founded Ethereum partly due to feeling “betrayed” after a preferred character in the game was nerfed, an experience he allegedly felt crypto protocols should guard against.
Edelstein drew inspiration from both the Buterin bio (“Real Life Game Dev Tycoon“, he quipped) and games like Game Dev Tycoon. This influence is evident in the game’s progression, taking players through key milestones, according to Cryptoslate reporter Ruby Edelstein (the person).
One player’s high score of 12,778 “shows how dense and maybe tedious the grind is,” Edelstein noted – a point reiterated in sales pitches about the game being “easy to pick up, but difficult to master.”
Control is simple: arrows for movement, space for attack, keys for power-ups, memorized elements within community limits. Failure here is terminal – refreshingly, there are no checkpoints, only endgame. Despite being a self-described “nerd kid” tribute to Buterin, Edelstein makes it clear the inspiration was focused, dedicated Buterin.
A key point in Vitalik.run’s defence centres on its crypto roots yet no blockchain elements. Unlike crypto gaming often defined by NFTs or tokens, Vitalik.run eschews this.
Explained Edelstein, “Crypto games try too hard to be financial products first and actual games second. Games are supposed to be fun.” The “earn” pressure surrounding too many NFT and crypto game projects creates stress and detracts from play. Vitalik.run “cleverly presents a true gaming challenge without crypto skin.”
This stance contrasts sharply with the challenges facing many prominent crypto gaming projects who’ve folded in 2022/23, often citing lack of funding or “token paralysis” – the community focus shifting from gameplay to speculation. “Issuing tokens brings immense pressure,” observed a gaming insider cited by Edelstein. “It’s a fucking nightmare.”
Nonetheless, Edelstein leaves the door open for future blockchain integration, if it proves core to better gameplay. For now, Vitalik.run focuses on an explicit joke, parody, and tribute, existing as a self-aware stand against many trends defining crypto gaming, itself a unique offering glancing across cryptocurrency history.
