DIXIT: 9 lives mod Telegram Bot

Overview

@DixitRBot is a Telegram bot designed for playing DIXIT: 9 Lives Mod — a two-player adaptation of the popular board game DIXIT, focused on deep associative gameplay and turn-based storytelling.

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🔧 Updates (July 2025)

🚀 Hosting Migration

• Deployed to PythonAnywhere for 24/7 availability
• Added pythonanywhere_starter.py for seamless deployment on the platform

⏱️ Match Limitations

• Implemented a 1 match per day per user policy (for completed games only)
• Added can_start_new_game(user_id) logic to enforce daily limits
• Automatically removes unfinished sessions before starting or joining a new game
• All handlers (/dixit_match_starter, handle_join_session) updated accordingly

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed a critical issue where cards could repeat in a single round

  Replaced random.choice with random.sample to ensure card uniqueness

📁 New & Refactored Files

• requirements.txt — for quick setup with all dependencies
• pythonanywhere_starter.py — simple entry point for hosted environments
• Database schema updated to store game history and track last game time

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🎮 Game Description

The game is designed for two players and consists of nine rounds. Players take turns assuming the roles of:

• ♦️ Mysterious Narrator — selects one card and gives an associative clue
• ♠️ Guesser — tries to pick the correct card based on the clue

Points are scored based on successful guesses, and the player with the most points after 9 rounds wins.

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💡 Features

• Fully interactive two-player card game experience in Telegram
• Persistent game state with SQLite3
• Game roles automatically assigned and swapped
• Built-in image card system with randomized delivery
• Round-based logic and scoring
• Unique stickers, buttons, and UI feedback
• 1 game per user per day enforcement
• Automatic cleanup of abandoned sessions
• Hosted 24/7 on PythonAnywhere

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Click the button "💫 DIXIT: Start a new game 💫"
2. Follow the instructions sent by the bot
3. Invite your partner to join using the /join command
4. The game will begin once both players are connected to the same session

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📜 Game Rules

• Roles: Players alternate between ♦️ Mysterious Narrator and ♠️ Guesser
• Clues: Narrators give associative clues based on their selected card
• Guessing: The Guesser selects the card they believe matches the clue
• Scoring: Points are awarded for correct guesses; special rules apply on turn 5
• Victory: The player with the highest total score after 9 rounds wins

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🕹️ How to Play

• Start a new game with the /start command
• Use /join to invite your partner to join the same session
• Wait for both players to receive card sets
• Use intuitive buttons to mark the guesses and swap roles each round

• After 9 turns, the bot automatically announces the winner

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📖 Commands

• /start — launches the game and displays the Start button
• /join — allows the second player to connect to an existing session
• /help — shows game rules and usage instructions

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📂 Deployment

To run the bot yourself:

1. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Create the SQLite database (see DIXIT_db.py or db.py if applicable)

3. Set your API token in config.py

4. Launch the bot:

   python main.py

🔒 Privacy Notice

This is a non-commercial project that:

• Doesn't collect or store personal data
• Doesn't retain any messages, photos, or gameplay history after the game ends
• Stores minimal session data temporarily for gameplay purposes only
• Uses official Telegram Bot API and adheres to its privacy practices