Hi Dev fam!
I’m Maya, a 15-year-old dev building a global anonymous chat app called Worldwide Chat. Recently, I launched a new game mode inside it called Mafia — and I wanted to share the journey and how I built it.
👾 What Is WWC Mafia?
It's a fast-paced, real-time social deduction game inspired by classics like Mafia and Werewolf — but with a twist:
🔁 No logins or signups
👥 Instant matchmaking
💀 Eliminated players can only talk to other ghosts
⏳ Waiting room chat for players between games
You just jump in and play.
🔧 How I Built It
Here’s a quick look at the tech stack and logic:
Frontend: [React/Next.etc]
Backend: [Node/WebSockets/Express/etc]
Real-time logic: Used [custom matchmaking logic] for assigning roles and managing turns
State management: In-memory store for now, might move to Redis later
Moderation: Lightweight message filtering + vote-based kick system planned
It was a fun challenge to handle real-time updates, waiting lists, and smooth transitions between game states.
💬 Lessons I Learned
Don’t overcomplicate — build the basic game loop first
Real-time multiplayer games are way more chaotic than they seem
An idea can become real if you just ship
💡 Would Love Feedback!
I’m still improving WWC Mafia and would love any ideas — design, moderation, game flow, scalability, anything.
Thanks for reading! 👋
Top comments (3)
awesome, could probably add some bots to the game
Totally agree, adding bots sounds awesome! thx for the comment....will get to work on it
Sorry i forgot to add the website : (worldwidechat.vercel.app)