Hi!👋 I'm Desiree Dickerson, CEO of THNDR Games.🎮 AMA!🙋 \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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Hi!👋 I'm Desiree Dickerson, CEO of THNDR Games.🎮 AMA!🙋

44.8k sats \ 100 comments \ @dickerson_des 20 Apr 2022 bitcoin freebie

Hi there! I am Desiree Dickerson, CEO, Dark Lord, and Creative Director of THNDR Games. Welcome to my AMA!🫶

Happy to chat about absolutely anything, but obviously I enjoy chatting about Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, THNDR, and gaming. But you can also ask me about:

BTC/LN ecosystem
Startups
Growing a team
The 'metaverse'
Gamified bitcoin rewards
Mobile gaming and accessibility
Bitcoin onboarding and onramps
Infiltrating and then burning it all down!🔥
Design
Travel
Spiders
Running

view all related items

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 20 Apr 2022

You mentioned on Lightning Junkies that you've found hiring outside of Bitcoin effective. What channels do you use to hire game devs?

Also: if you're looking for somewhere to spend your AMA sats and are hiring, we have a job board: ~jobs.

1000 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

YES! It is much easier to make someone a bitcoiner than it is to make them a great games developer.

We have mostly hired for games developers and it has been through referrals. My favorite way to hire is through the community though. That is how we found our incredible Community Manager, Koty! I always encourage people looking to work in bitcoin to start contributing to a project or community and that will serve as your resume.

When we start hiring again we will DEFINITELY be using the Stake News job board!

17 sats \ 3 replies \ @k00b 20 Apr 2022

What's the most surprising thing you've learned running a gaming company?

31 sats \ 2 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

The most surprising thing I've learned about running a gaming company is how incredibly fun it is!

I obviously imagined this would be a fun job, but I had no idea how exciting it could be. I get up every morning and get to help build games. Whether that is coming up with fun ideas for new games or helping users win their first bitcoin, it is the most rewarding job I've ever had. It honestly couldn't be better.

Alongside the fun, there's a lot of hard work as well, but it is a lot easier to deal with some of the difficult challenges when you're also getting to work on the funnest topics in the world.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @the_bitcoin_bum 20 Apr 2022

There is literally no better way to spend a day than to wake up and build a Bitcoin company. Bonus points if that Bitcoin company helps other builders build Bitcoin companies. (Those bonus points may be biased).

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

I will take all the bonus points I can get!

1000 sats \ 2 replies \ @ThrillerX_ 20 Apr 2022

What advice would you give bitcoin startups in the space?

446 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Bitcoin doesn't always make everything better. Genuinely ask yourself if you REALLY need bitcoin in your product.
Don't hire bitcoin-first. It's much easier to convert employees to bitcoiners, than it is to teach a bitcoin to do X (game development, backend, finance, etc.).
Get outside of bitcoin. We are all doing this to reach bitcoin ubiquity. For THNDR, I am always trying to reach people who are NOT bitcoiners and bring bitcoin to them.
Embrace the community. The bitcoin community can be toxic, sure, but at the end of the day we are all fighting for the same thing. Asking for support or anything from your fellow bitcoiner, no matter how toxic, usually has a positive result. :)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ThrillerX_ 25 Apr 2022

thank you for this! great advice for the startups at PlebLab

436 sats \ 4 replies \ @k00b 20 Apr 2022

Are you getting high today?

22 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

LOLOLOL.

Not today. Somebody has to make sure THNDR stays on the rails! 😜

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @benthecarman 20 Apr 2022

good opsec

12 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xtr 20 Apr 2022

I had to tip so that it was 420 sats, couldn't resist. Do not destroy this anon.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

I like your style!!!

147 sats \ 2 replies \ @zuspotirko 20 Apr 2022

How far can the yield of play to earn be taken?

Zebedee has a game called "wheel of trivia" that is pretty close to watching ads for sats and the game being just a few interruptions to ensure the players attention.

How far can this go? Can I get an app that is literally just 100% ads? Could devs make a game where I can pay to skip ads - or would that be too close to a fiat-Bitcoin exchange that would require kyc?

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Great question! And I'm not sure.

Instead of watching ads you could try doing microtasks on Stak (https://www.stakwork.com/workers). You complete tasks in return for sats! Much better than watching ads imo.

You can pay for 'No Ads' in Bitcoin Bounce and Turbo 84!

7 sats \ 0 replies \ @zuspotirko 20 Apr 2022

Well, the profit for the developers has to come from somewhere - and the players either pay or recieve. If players want to recieve the options left are fairly limited...

52 sats \ 1 reply \ @starbuilder 20 Apr 2022

Why four separate apps on app/play store? is it by design or due to some limitation?

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

IIRC you cannot have games within a game on the App Store. @jackeveritt can explain in greater detail.

But we are working on some fun stuff to tie the experience together across games!

41 sats \ 2 replies \ @bitcoingraffiti 20 Apr 2022

Your favorite myth story and why?

32 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

My favorite clapback when someone calls me a bitch is: "Was it not a bitch that nursed Rome?"

So I guess the Roman Foundation Myth where Romulus and Remus were left to die in the wilderness as babies and a she-wolf (bitch) nursed them and saved them looool.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @bitcoingraffiti 20 Apr 2022

Haha, very original answer appreciate it. Show 'em who got their myths down!

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @the_bitcoin_bum 20 Apr 2022

Seems like most people are asking about gaming; naturally. I see you listed travel as a topic. Do you have any moments from travel experiences that were really impactful?

41 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr 20 Apr 2022

What is the most misunderstood aspect of the metaverse?

79 sats \ 2 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

That is has to exist in VR or AR, or in any one place, in any one form.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 20 Apr 2022

How deeply will Bitcoin be integrated into your vision of the metaverse?

Do you think all metaverse commerce will be denominated in sats?

74 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

My vision is that sats are the standard in the metaverse. Unfortunately I do think there will be numerous competing currencies in the beginning, which will set progress back quite a bit. But ultimately bitcoin will win out.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 20 Apr 2022

What's up with spiders?

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

I love tarantulas

35 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 20 Apr 2022

Are you focusing only on building games, or are you looking into going in direction of integrations for existing games? Why? :)
Seeing the composition of people at Bitcoin 2022, do you think we are excluding some groups of people with our behaviors? Is there anything Bitcoiners are especially bad about in this sense?

36 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

For the rest of the year we are largely focused on building out our portfolio of THNDR originals. We are also working with indie developers to help them add bitcoin to their games. But as I mentioned in another comment, we are taking this slow and doing it intentionally so it ADDS to the game, rather than just serving as a marketing tool.
IMHO the more people using bitcoin, the better. This is why I frequently make appearances on altcoin, NFT, etc type podcasts. It is our responsibility to bring bitcoin to the world. And this won't happen through exclusion. At the end of the day though, I don't judge others. Not everyone can be an evangelist, and we all serve our own role in the ecosystem. Ima do me, and I hope others can do the same WHILE inspiring others to come to bitcoin.

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @rheedi0 20 Apr 2022

What is your general approach when it comes to taking to newbies about Bitcoin?

210 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

I like to keep it as simple as possible. I don't try and get it into the technical details or explain why bitcoin is going to save the world. The easiest way to do this is just to give them some bitcoin. This is why what we are doing at THNDR is so important.

Most people who come to our games don't care about bitcoin and have never used or owned any bitcoin before. They play the games because they are fun and end up winning bitcoin in the process. They then have 'skin-in-the-game' and are very unlikely to delete the game. They end up eventually downloading a lightning enabled bitcoin wallet. From here they end up falling down the rabbit hole!

22 sats \ 4 replies \ @creativowinder 20 Apr 2022

hi a pleasure, a question, it would be possible to buy in the sets of cars with sats in the thunder game of Turbo 84

1 sat \ 3 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

So buy multiple cars at once? Or purchase the card with sats?

We are working on enabling in-game asset purchased with sats! We have to work within the bounds of the App Store and Google Play on this, so it will have to be done on our website.

But this should be coming SOON^TM.

12 sats \ 2 replies \ @creativowinder 20 Apr 2022

I mean to buy the cars with sats, because it only leaves with the google payment method

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Yup! It is coming :)

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @creativowinder 20 Apr 2022

perfect would be excellent

22 sats \ 1 reply \ @Valley_D0g 20 Apr 2022

whats your highest score on satsss🐍

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022 freebie

LOL so bad. 740 🐍

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @pseudozach 21 Apr 2022

big fan of what you're doing with thndr.

what other apps can we build as (LN) app developers? What do you wish existed other than games that would introduce billions to bitcoin?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 28 Apr 2022

I would love to see a service that makes it possible to stream from any streaming service per minute with sats. Want to watch something on Peacock, no monthly subscription necessary, simply stream sats per minute watched.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @koty 21 Apr 2022

I'll reply this one because I want to see it a reality... I'd love to see a Patreon like platform that can be paid in sats only. :3

Thank you for the words about THNDR.🧡

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinosphere 21 Apr 2022

I'm still waiting for a true fantasy RPG with a sats-based in-game economy.

Something like Runescape where you could battle, mine, & fish or something to earn the sats and then there are stores in every village to spend them on items needed.

The only acceptable use I can think of for an NFT is to make certain items in these games unique, like to have X number of the Wand of Merlin, etc. Naturally those should be tradeable for sats between players.

I realize that there is the issue of not being able to print sats on demand to use as booty, but surely the game designers can overcome this by selling NFT skins & other items, and then letting those sales fund the booty?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 28 Apr 2022

I think Taro opens up a lot of possibilities here!

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @Drew 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Greetings Dark Lord Des. Love the energy you brought to the stage down in Miami 🤘🏻. Curious, from whence doth fiery zeal floweth? Also, what's your morning routine like, I imagine you wake up to some death metal and a shot of whisky... am I correct?

20 sats \ 3 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

🪳🪳🪳🪳GREETINGS!!!!!🪳🪳🪳🪳

Thank you for joining us in Miami. I reckon some of the fiery zeal was inspiration from the Florida-man vibez I was feeling from being in the Sunshine State.

Morning routine:

Wakeup
Flesh sacrifices to the gods
Mushroom coffee
Scowl at neighbors
Regular coffee
Overeasy eggs and foie gras
Death and industrial metal throughout the day

And THEN I wrap it up some some Japanese whiskey.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @zuspotirko 20 Apr 2022

Japanese Whiskey? Hibiki? Yamazaki 12?

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Yess! Love Yamazaki 12. Nikka Coffey is what I keep in my office ;P

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Drew 20 Apr 2022 freebie

fuck yea that's what I was hoping to hear.

20 sats \ 3 replies \ @DarthCoin 20 Apr 2022

When World of Warcraft with sats on THNDR Games ? :)
I have a young niece that loves games and bitcoin. She learned some programming. What kind of team she can join at THNDR?
When we will have the legendary Tycoon Transport game with sats?
Is your income 100% in BTC?

103 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Good question! Add it in the #ideas channel in our Discord ;P (https://discord.gg/chAwSQFU9Z)
Hah! How old is she? If she's building games, we would love to help her with adding bitcoin! If she's over 18, connect us and we would love to chat about open positions.
We are only focused on mobile atm, but this isn't out of the question!
Personal income? I do convert a lot of my paychecks into bitcoin, but unfortunately I haven't convinced my nail tech to accept btc, so I have to keep some fiat handy ;P

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 20 Apr 2022

sidenote: +1 to OpenTTD. Let's get cities to actually pay the industries with sats :)

I love that game, back in the day I did some of the graphics in it...

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 20 Apr 2022

haha I am still playing it, when is really boring and my eyes are ok. I am old, I can't play too much anymore.

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @the_bitcoin_bum 20 Apr 2022

What is your favorite gaming system? Mine was SNES.

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Definite N64! So many good games -- GoldenEye, Ocarina of Time, Conker's Bad Fur Day, etc.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @the_bitcoin_bum 20 Apr 2022

Wow. N64. Didn't see that coming.

20 sats \ 3 replies \ @koty 20 Apr 2022

Will we ever see a Fashion Design game on THNDR? Imagine stacking sats for designing pink animal print boots for your Twitter avatar!👀

122 sats \ 2 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

It is not out of the question! I am actually incredibly embarrassed to admit this, but I used to be a huge fan of the Kardashian mobile game. It was a paper doll kind of game where you would dress up your character and hang out with the Kardashians.

I know it sounds incredibly ridiculous but it was super fun and I believe there was a lot of social sharing capabilities that made it fun to play with friends and share on social media.

THNDR x Kardashian collab? Lol I am 100% kidding, but I do love fashion, design, and bitcoin -- so I think we can come up with something fun here!

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @koty 20 Apr 2022

Honestly, why not? 💯 I just checked and Project Makeover Game has around 50M downloads on PlayStore🥵

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

LFG FAM

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xtr 20 Apr 2022

Hi Desiree, thanks for doing this AMA!

What is your top 3 favorite video games?
How is the sats rewards funded? How do you as a company earn money while sending sats to everyone?
What is something that you are excited about in the Bitcoin/LN space besides your own awesome games?
What does the future of gaming and LN look like in your opinion?
Top 3 music artists you listen to right now

60 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Animal Crossing Wild World. Farmville. Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Right now through tradition mobile advertisements, in-app purchases, and sponsorships. My other comments have some fun hints around how we are shaking this up!
DLCs for esports and pvp wagering. Microtasks for a new-age gig economy.
Sats will become the standard in-game currency empowering players financially for their time spent in-game. The advent of sats as the defacto interoperable virtual currency across games will set the foundation of a true 'metaverse' and allow all people to tap into a true global economy.
RN: Ministry. Fugazi. Napalm Death.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @alex_lewin 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Are there any games that SHOULDN'T be bitcoinized?

12 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Perhaps most of them. It is a mistake to just think you can take any game and stick bitcoin into it. That is why we keep most of our bitcoin tools closehold atm. Games are very delicate ecosystems of play and reward. Blindly adding real-world value is more likely to disrupt the balance of the game than improve it. We are VERY intentional about how we add bitcoin rewards to our games and will continue to do so as we help other developers add bitcoin into their games.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 20 Apr 2022

Does THNDR have any ideas around moving away from an ad-based revenue model? I imagine coin-operated pay-per-play-like gameplay could work, but that'd limit the audience of the game significantly.

1021 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

We do have some exciting ideas around monetization that departs from ad-based revenue models. Whether this is pay-per-play, wagering, subscriptions, etc. However, I anticipate we will, for the time being, include free2play modes with advertisements because that is the standard the mobile industry has set, and mobile gamers are used to accessing play in this manner.

I actually recently discuss this topic with someone who is very big into mobile games and they said that they don't mind the ads at all and sometimes even enjoy them. This was a huge surprise to me.

I personally hate ads, so I would love to completely revolutionize the way mobile games are monetized. But we need to first work within the framework that we're given before we have the opportunity to totally re-invent the way that things are. As I said in Miami, first we infiltrate and then we burn it down!

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheBTCManual 21 Apr 2022

What would be your key tips for someone looking to start a bitcoin-focused business/pivot their business towards being bitcoin-focused

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @tomlaies 20 Apr 2022

Do you see bitcoinization as a wider culture shift that could penetrate the whole internet and not just gaming? If yes, which things could also be bitcoinized? And which cannot?

Do you see value4value podcast players and things like SN as allies? Or competitor?

27 sats \ 1 reply \ @timedwrds 20 Apr 2022 freebie

As a fan of both frogs and snails, which would you most like to see feature in a future game at THNDR?

23 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022 freebie

How can one truly pick?!? 🐌 🐸

I think we will have our amazing THNDR fam community pick! If you have a strong opinion, jump in our Discord and let our incredible game devs know! 👇👇👇

https://discord.gg/chAwSQFU9Z

11 sats \ 5 replies \ @shaunpmartin 20 Apr 2022

What other monetization models have you considered or are you thinking about? While I don’t begrudge anyone making money, if I’m being honest some of the ads can feel pretty cringe.

43 sats \ 2 replies \ @paul 20 Apr 2022

how about the option to do a few microtasks ? :)

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

SOON™️ SOON™️ SOON™️ SOON™️ 😜😜😜

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @matthewdelly 22 Apr 2022 freebie

I like where this is heading :)

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

We are working on it! I alluded to some fun stuff in a separate post, but it is a bit theme in our roadmap at the end of this quarter and Q3.

Peep @paul's comment below ;P

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @paul 20 Apr 2022

Just a random stacker news user asking innocent questions... move along

13 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 20 Apr 2022

As an experienced manager, what's the biggest mistake inexperienced managers make? (Asking for a friend ;))

1031 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Ha ha well I don't know how experienced any manager can ever be. I am definitely always learning! But one of the biggest mistakes that I've made in the past is lack of delegation and failure to trust my team and those around me.

Some of the wisest advice I've been given in business is:

Hire people that are better than you, and 2.Trust those people to make the best decisions for the company, even if they weren't the decisions that you would make yourself.

If you don't do these two things you will consistently find yourself overwhelmed with work and unable to actually produce meaningful results. If you were the only person at the company pushing at work, your product becomes a direct reflection of only you and not of the greater collective. You have a much better chance of success when your product or project reflects the collective strengths of a comprehensive and diverse team.

LOL this is not directed at anyone besides myself. I've recently learned this lesson and I think it is reflected in THNDR!

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @shaunpmartin 20 Apr 2022

How else can you see games paying out sats in addition to the daily drawing model?

I play Turbo ‘84 and Satsss nearly every day, thanks for making them available!

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Thank you for playing our games and being apart of the THNDR fam!!

We have some fun ideas in the works with new models of sat payouts. For example, more equitable rewards for watching / interacting with mobile ads (and making them more fun and engaging as well). Also, some stuff arounc UGC, but keeping it a bit of a secret for the time being. So be on the lookout for these announcements!

If you have any ideas, shoot me a DM or hop into the #ideas channel in our Discord. :)

https://discord.gg/chAwSQFU9Z

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @jackeveritt 20 Apr 2022 freebie

What is the first game you remember playing?

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Rad Racer on NES with my dad! Still love the vibes🏎️

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @tomlaies 20 Apr 2022

Both Gaming and Bitcoin (and start-up founding too) are really male dominated areas. Any bad experiences with that? Headwinds that your male colleagues do not have? Frat boy culture? etc.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

No unique experiences so far. I've had a lot of wonderful support from all sides of the aisle. :)

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @bitcoingraffiti 20 Apr 2022

wen moon?

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

🔮October 9th, 2025!!!!🔮

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @dehivman 21 Apr 2022 freebie

Hi Desiree, do you have plans about satss / thndr bay events in the same way you do with Turbo’84 and Bitcoin Bounce?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 27 Apr 2022

Yes for SATSS! It is a bit more difficult with THNDR Bay, but if you have ideas, let me know.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @0296c83071 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Are you in love with Jack?

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Which one?

13 sats \ 0 replies \ @the_bitcoin_bum 20 Apr 2022

The correct response was yes!

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @ShitcoinSkeptic 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Favorite Video game from your childhood?

Also what current popular game do you think would benefit most from incorporating sats?

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @dickerson_des OP 20 Apr 2022

Goldeneye!

I would love to see Fall Guys and the possibility of using leaderboards and sats for casual esports tournaments hosted between friends!

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @Majjin 21 Apr 2022

What games do you think would benefit most from lightning integration?

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @mrbrownstone 20 Apr 2022 freebie

Did you leave Lightning Labs without any previous notice?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ishanmaduranga182 27 Apr 2022 freebie

Some of the wisest advice I've been given in business is:

Hire people that are better than you, and 2.Trust those people to make the best decisions for the company, even if they weren't the decisions that you would make yourself. If you don't do these two things you will consistently find yourself overwhelmed with work and unable to actually produce meaningful results. If you were the only person at the company pushing at work, your product becomes a direct reflection of only you and not of the greater collective. You have a much better chance of success when your product or project reflects the collective strengths of a comprehensive and diverse team.@

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @matthewdelly 22 Apr 2022 freebie

Love what THNDR is doing! What are you seeing in adoption by country? How is awareness spreading - bitcoiners playing the game or gamers coming to bitcoin? Great work 👏

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @0205530a84 21 Apr 2022 freebie

I would appreciate any recommendation on courses (free or paid) on how to learn to develop LN Apps, I keep learning more and more about LN ecosystem and was wondering where I could learn how to code apps for LN?