XMS Games

XMS Games is a self-hosted party game platform running on Phobos, accessible at games.xmsystems.co.uk. It provides a collection of multiplayer games designed to be played in-person on a shared screen, with players joining from their own phones.

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The Games Hub

URL: games.xmsystems.co.uk
File: /ssd/docker/appdata/nginx/games.html

The hub is a static HTML page served by nginx. It displays a tile grid — one tile per game — styled as an arcade game select screen. Clicking a tile opens a game info subpage with instructions and launch links rather than jumping straight into the game.

Game Info Subpages

Each game (except the Poker Clock) has a dedicated info page on the hub domain:

Path	Game	File
/blockbusters	Blockbusters	game-info-blockbusters.html
/millionaire	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	game-info-millionaire.html
/trivial	Trivial Pursuit	game-info-trivial.html
/cah	Cards Against Humanity	game-info-cah.html
/boggle	Boggle	boggle.html

Each info page shows how to play the game and provides launch buttons for the game display, host panel, and player views where applicable. The Poker Clock tile links directly to the game since it needs no instructions.

nginx Server Block

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name games.xmsystems.co.uk;

    location = /blockbusters {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files /game-info-blockbusters.html =404;
    }

    location = /millionaire {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files /game-info-millionaire.html =404;
    }

    location = /trivial {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files /game-info-trivial.html =404;
    }

    location = /cah {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files /game-info-cah.html =404;
    }

    location = /boggle {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files /game-info-boggle.html =404;
    }

    location / {
        root  /usr/share/nginx/html;
        index games.html;
        try_files $uri /games.html;
    }
}

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Architecture

All games follow the same general pattern:

Browser / Phone
    └── Traefik (Titan)
            └── nginx (Phobos :88)
                    ├── Static HTML frontend
                    └── WebSocket proxy → Game backend container (Phobos)

The frontend for each game is a single self-contained HTML file with all CSS and JavaScript inline — no build step, no framework. Real-time game state is synchronised across all connected devices via Socket.IO WebSockets.

The backend for each game is a lightweight Node.js server (Express + Socket.IO) built from a local Dockerfile and run as a Docker container on Phobos. All game state is held in memory — a container restart resets the game.

Container	IP	Game
blockbusters-server	172.20.0.22	Blockbusters
millionaire-server	172.20.0.23	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
trivial-server	172.20.0.24	Trivial Pursuit
cah	172.20.0.25	Cards Against Humanity
poker-server	172.20.0.21	Poker Clock
boggle	172.20.0.205	Boggle

All containers sit on phobos-network. nginx proxies WebSocket traffic from each game subdomain through to the appropriate backend container.

Note

All game state is held in memory only. Restarting a backend container resets the current game.

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Games Summary

Game	URL	Host Panel	Player/Audience
Blockbusters	blockbusters.xmsystems.co.uk	/host	/player (buzzer)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	millionaire.xmsystems.co.uk	/host	/vote (audience voting)
Trivial Pursuit	trivial.xmsystems.co.uk	/host	/player
Cards Against Humanity	cah.xmsystems.co.uk	In-game	In-game
Poker Clock	poker.xmsystems.co.uk	—	—
Boggle	boggle.xmsystems.co.uk	—	/play