PesaSmart 3D

PesaSmart 3D is a browser-based, real-time multiplayer 3D card game that teaches financial literacy through play — a 3D reimagining of PesaSmart, the award-winning Ugandan physical card game (built 2014, recognised in 2017 under the Bank of Uganda / GIZ / DFCU / Stanbic “Banking on Financial Literacy” programme). The physical game works, but it needs a box, a facilitator and everyone in the same room. The project required a deep understanding of the domain and a meticulous approach to user experience design. We needed to build something that was not only visually stunning but also incredibly fast and reliable at scale.

We rebuilt it as a 3D table you sit down at from anywhere. Players pick an animated avatar, draw income, dodge or defer expenses, take loans in tranches, buy protection and survive “death” card shocks, while a commentator bot narrates smart and reckless plays and a live chat carries the table talk. The client is React + Three.js (React Three Fiber) on Vite; every rule runs server-side as SpacetimeDB reducers, so bots and humans play by exactly the same enforced logic, with realtime subscriptions pushing state, chat and avatar reactions to every seat. Accounts are gated by a Better Auth OIDC provider. Live at pesasmart.game.desishub.com.