Felt Faction iOS app v3 — unified chip economy

Writing 2026-07-08 Search related

Brainstormed 2026-06-16 in response to user clarifications on the v2
replacement/chip-counting direction. Key insight emerged in
conversation: the social games (Phase II) should also cash out in
chips. This unifies the whole night under a single chip economy.

The decisions (locked in by user)

Server-side vision for v1. On-device Core ML deferred to v2.
Admins have final say — admins can override vision result.

User-facing dispute button triggers admin review; otherwise vision value is canonical after session-end.

Cash out at the same time — limits admin and member complexity.

And (NEW): social games also cash out in chips to score them.

Buy-in reboughts: rephrased to "tap + per rebuy, total

accumulates automatically." User confirmed intent (see below).

No $→CC rate. CC is a separate currency from real-money

buy-ins. Real money stays real money; chips stay chips; CC is the persistent ledger/scoring system. User wants mechanical penalties for going broke (to be designed).

Auto-debit no-show tax — but ONLY if user **claimed a seat

and didn't show**. Not for non-responders.

Auto-delete photos after the session. Photos are session-

scoped. The P&L values are persisted; photos themselves are wiped. Disputes must be raised and resolved live during settlement, not after.

**Chip colors and denominations are set in app, can vary per

session**. Per-session registration of the chip set (5 reference photos or 5 saved presets).

The big new idea: unified chip economy across both phases

Phase I (Casino) and Phase II (Social) currently use different mechanics:

Phase I: real-money buy-in → chips → P&L vs buy-in
Phase II: manual "Social Dividends" log entries

The user's insight: make Phase II also chip-based. Winners of CAH rounds, Muffin Time, etc. earn chips. The chip is the universal scoring token of the room. Cashout at the end of the night is one unified vision pass over all 12 stacks, regardless of which phase produced the gains.

Mechanics

Phase I (Casino):

Buy-in: $X real money → X chips (administered by Connor or self-buy)
Play: poker / blackjack / roulette
Net change in chips = P&L for Phase I

Phase II (Social):

Members start Phase II with a fresh chip stack OR carry their

Phase I net forward (TBD)

CAH: 1st = +5 chips, 2nd = +3, 3rd = +1, etc.
Muffin Time: different point table, but still chips
Net change in chips = P&L for Phase II

Cashout (synchronized, end of night):

All 12 members take a photo of their chip stack
Vision pass in parallel (~30-60 sec total)
P&L computed vs starting stack (Phase I) or starting Phase II

balance (Phase II)

Self-attest
Session finalized, photos auto-deleted

Why this is the differentiator

No other social gaming platform has a single shared chip economy spanning casino and party games. Felt Faction becomes the first "unified gambling-adjacent social ledger." The marketing of this is strong: "Don't Fold, Finance" is now literal — chips are the universal score across both phases.

The mechanical implications

One set of chip-counting rules covers both phases
The "intelligence" layer (the personas — Shark, Catalyst, etc.)

gets a new axis: "Phase Dominance" (which phase you win in)

The "Social Dividends" schema category becomes "Phase II P&L"

automatically; no separate category: 'social' needed

The Vault recap has a clean two-column structure: Phase I / Phase II
Streak tracking can be split: "P&L streaks" (any phase) vs

"Phase II dominance streaks" (catalyst only)

Penalties for going broke (to be designed)

User wants mechanical penalties for going broke. The current intelligence plan already tracks insolvency ("The Phoenix" persona = recovered from <0). What's missing: penalties.

Options to consider (in v3 brainstorm):

Insolvency Mark: a visible badge for the season; redeemable

via Phoenix recovery

Tier demotion: VIP → High Roller at season end if insolvent
Buy-back-in surcharge: at the next session, insolvent

members must "buy back in" with a CC bonus

No-claim-while-insolvent: can't claim VIP seats while below 0
The Mark persona: "THE MARK" — the member who keeps going

broke; social pressure as a feature

User hasn't chosen. Defer to v3 follow-up.

Cashout synchronization (to be clarified)

"Cash out at the same time" — two interpretations:

(a) Parallel: all 12 members take photos within a defined

window (e.g. 60 sec). Practical, low-friction.

(b) Synchronized ritual: the room holds up stacks in unison.

Theatrical, magical, but more friction.

Lean toward (a) for v1. (b) is a v2 enhancement — could be a "Season Finale" moment only.

Auto-delete timing (clarified)

User wants auto-delete after the session (not 24h, not 30 days). Implication: disputes must be raised and resolved live during the settlement window. Connor's admin override is the only record once the session is finalized. The "live settlement board" idea (see ideas below) becomes structurally important.

Chip set registration (per session)

"Chip colours and demoninations are set in app and can vary."

UX: at session start (or before), Connor selects the chip set:

From a saved library (5 denomination presets he's registered before)
Or "Register new chip set" — 30-second flow with 5 reference photos

The reference colors are baked into the one-shot vision prompt for that session. After the session, the registration can be saved as a named preset for reuse.

What needs v3 follow-up

Buy-back-in mechanics: what does the + button per rebuy look like?
Cashout sync mode: (a) parallel vs (b) ritual
Going-broke penalty: which option(s) from the list above
Phase II carry-forward: do Phase I chips convert to Phase II chips

at a defined rate, or do they start fresh

The "Insolvency Mark" / "The Mark" persona design