What makes it work

A brick on the table, the phone in your pocket, and your friends

No app to install and no willpower required. The brick, your phone's own sensors and a little friendly rivalry do the work.

1

The brick: a Raspberry Pi in the middle of the table

The brick is the referee everyone can hear. It runs the whole game with one touch pad and a speaker, so nobody needs a laptop open.

  • Raspberry Pi 4 follows the game live and talks for it
  • One touch pad: tap for the PIN and scoreboard, double tap to start, hold to end
  • Bluetooth speaker roasts whoever slips, by name, in an AI voice written from their real stats
  • NFC sticker + QR code: tap your phone on the brick to join
2

Your phone's motion sensor is the whole game

Every phone has an accelerometer that feels gravity. Buzzkill uses it straight from the website, so it works on any phone, with nothing to download.

  • Face down: when you put your phone down, Buzzkill remembers which way gravity points
  • Lifted: tilt it away from that and it's a pickup, the moment it happens
  • Switched apps: leaving the page counts too, so there's no sneaking
  • Why motion? A website can't see which app you open, but it can feel the pickup itself, and the pickup is the habit we're trying to break
3

Shake it to make it stop

Getting caught isn't a button you tap away. You have to shake your phone, hard, in front of everyone, until the roast stops.

  • Only real shaking counts: stop early and the roast comes back
  • It gets longer every time: 10 seconds, then 30, then a full minute, then +30 seconds each slip
  • The database keeps time, so nobody can fake it from their phone
4

Rivalry keeps you coming back

Buzzkill remembers every game you've played against every friend. Losing to the same person three times in a row stings, and that's the point.

  • Your nemesis: the friend you lose to most, with your record against them
  • Ghost race: during the game, race your rival to the end of the focus block. Every pickup knocks you back
  • Badges: 🔥 win streaks, ↩ revenge, ⭐ first win, on the results page
  • Teams mode: one slip busts your whole team
Join a game Why it matters