Botswana 2.0
Two years ago my friend Chad and I released Botswana, a browser-based arena game with programmable bots written in JavaScript.
But the original was kind of boring. So we tweaked the game mechanics a bit and made a number of other modifications (multiple bots per team, extensible rulesets, etc.). And now we present Botswana 2.0, a culmination of rampant nerdiness.
![](https://bencrowder.net/images/2013/01/botswana-01-630.png)
The thing that interests me most about the game now is the customizable rulesets. For example, it took all of ten minutes to change the game so it’s played on a series of conveyor belts that move the bots up and down:
![](https://bencrowder.net/images/2013/01/botswana-02-630.png)
It likewise took less than half an hour to make the bots orbit the Death Star instead:
![](https://bencrowder.net/images/2013/01/botswana-03-630.png)
Since the drawing code is part of the ruleset, it’s fairly easy to get a radically different look:
![](https://bencrowder.net/images/2013/01/botswana-04-630.png)
Switching between the rulesets is just a matter of changing the URL in the ruleset box and starting a new tournament.
Anyway, as before, the release is on GitHub, with a README that explains how to write bots and customize rulesets and stuff.