Royal Raven is a real-time multiplayer card game built with modern web technologies, featuring sophisticated game mechanics and fair play algorithms.
Technology Stack
Backend Technologies:
- • PHP 8.2+ - Modern PHP with latest features
- • Laravel 12 - Full-stack web framework
- • Laravel Breeze - Authentication scaffolding
- • Eloquent ORM - Database abstraction layer
- • Laravel Reverb - WebSocket server for real-time features
Frontend Technologies:
- • Vite 6.2.4 - Modern frontend build tool
- • Tailwind CSS 3.1+ - Utility-first CSS framework
- • Alpine.js 3.4+ - Lightweight JavaScript framework
- • Laravel Echo - WebSocket client library
- • Pusher.js - Real-time communication
The Fisher-Yates Shuffling Algorithm
Royal Raven employs the industry-standard Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm to ensure completely fair and unbiased card distribution. This algorithm is mathematically proven to give every possible card arrangement equal probability.
Why Fisher-Yates?
- ✓ Mathematically unbiased - Every permutation has equal probability
- ✓ Efficient - O(n) time complexity with minimal memory usage
- ✓ Eliminates bias - No shuffling patterns or predictable sequences
- ✓ Industry standard - Used by professional gaming platforms worldwide
Our Implementation:
Royal Raven uses a single Fisher-Yates shuffle performed on the server side in PHP to ensure fair card distribution. The shuffle is executed once per game using PHP's built-in random number generator.
function fisherYatesShuffle(&$array) {
$cnt = count($array);
for ($i = $cnt - 1; $i > 0; $i--) {
$j = random_int(0, $i);
$temp = $array[$i];
$array[$i] = $array[$j];
$array[$j] = $temp;
}
}
This approach provides the mathematical guarantee of fairness while maintaining simplicity and reliability in the game's core mechanics.
Game Architecture
Real-Time Features
- • WebSocket-based live gameplay
- • Instant card play updates
- • Real-time chat system
- • Player join/leave notifications
Game Logic
- • 4-player trick-taking game
- • Bidding and trump selection
- • Configurable game rules
- • Score tracking system
Development Tools
- • Laravel Pint for code formatting
- • PHPUnit for testing framework
- • Laravel Sail for Docker development
- • Concurrently for multi-service development
Security & Performance
- • Encrypted data transmission
- • Optimized database queries
- • Redis caching for speed
- • Rate limiting protection
Built for performance, fairness, and an exceptional multiplayer gaming experience.