🎮 You Can Now Play as Vitalik Buterin and Build Ethereum in a New Game—Yes, Really 🧠🔥

[bonk]

Imagine dodging distractions like World of Warcraft, fending off critics, fixing bugs, and launching Ethereum—all while playing as Vitalik Buterin himself.

That’s exactly what you’ll get in Vitalik.run, a chaotic, meme-filled, and surprisingly heartfelt endless runner where you relive the Ethereum origin story through the eyes of crypto’s most iconic nerd.

️ Created by Israeli dev Ruby Edelstein, the game dropped just one day after Ethereum’s 10th birthday. You play as young Vitalik, weaving through Web2 noise, leveling up with brainpower boosts, and assembling the dream team to ship the Ethereum whitepaper and survive the ICO mania.

“It’s full of tiny and massive references, memes, and a lot of love and respect for the space,” Edelstein told Decrypt. Think Game Dev Tycoon, but on-chain lore—minus the actual blockchain.
🧠 Highlights:

Avoid distractions like nerfed WoW characters

Fight off critics trying to stop ETH

Ride the ICO boom and face community chaos

Survive with one life — no checkpoints, no mercy

Current high score: 12,778 (not even halfway through, apparently)

“Vitalik is the guy,” Edelstein said. “A total nerd kid with a dream, building in public, facing doubt, distractions, and still pushing through.”

Though the game doesn’t use blockchain features yet, Edelstein explains that fun comes first. “Crypto games try too hard to be financial products,” he says. “We don’t need another ‘earn’ mechanic slapped onto something half-baked.”

But he’s not ruling out future crypto integrations—if they serve the gameplay.

Whether you're a die-hard ETH fan or just vibing with Web3 culture, Vitalik.run is the browser game you didn’t know you needed.

No wallet. No tokens. Just memes, madness, and a whitepaper to write.

‍️ Play here: vitalik.run
Good luck beating that leaderboard.

Sometimes, the best way to understand Ethereum… is to play it.