Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play • Hacker News Board

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#71

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #18

oceansky wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brazil and India have created alternatives to Mastercard/Visa duopoly. EU is seeking to do the same.

Many countries have alternatives already. In Poland Blik is ubiquitous and very very easy to use. And I love how it's implemented, Visa and MasterCard could learn from it. Tldr - you open the app on your phone and it gives you a 6 digit BLIK code, you give that code to the seller, then a notification comes up on the app saying "seller X is trying to debit your account by amount Y, agree?". It's brilliant because then…

[deleted]

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#72

Post by floam » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #18

oceansky wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brazil and India have created alternatives to Mastercard/Visa duopoly. EU is seeking to do the same.

Many countries have alternatives already. In Poland Blik is ubiquitous and very very easy to use. And I love how it's implemented, Visa and MasterCard could learn from it. Tldr - you open the app on your phone and it gives you a 6 digit BLIK code, you give that code to the seller, then a notification comes up on the app saying "seller X is trying to debit your account by amount Y, agree?". It's brilliant because then…

6 digits effectively the time salted … the other digits are your lat long lol.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#73

Post by inopinatus » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

Let's not mince words. Whoever made this call is a lily-livered, paternalistic chickenshit startled by their own shadow. A nasty case of moral cowardice, coupled to poor judgement, to no-one's benefit.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#74

Post by lxgr » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 10:59 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #18

oceansky wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brazil and India have created alternatives to Mastercard/Visa duopoly. EU is seeking to do the same.

Many countries have alternatives already. In Poland Blik is ubiquitous and very very easy to use. And I love how it's implemented, Visa and MasterCard could learn from it. Tldr - you open the app on your phone and it gives you a 6 digit BLIK code, you give that code to the seller, then a notification comes up on the app saying "seller X is trying to debit your account by amount Y, agree?". It's brilliant because then…

This is indeed one of the biggest weaknesses of "pull-based" payment cards, and something most if not all natively phone-based methods do better.

The best credit and debit cards can do is PIN verification or biometrics (for Apple/Google Pay), but even there you still trust the terminal to not show you a different amount than you'll be charged (assuming the screen is even pointing towards you; I've often been asked to tap without seeing what I'm even consenting to).

Online, there's 3DS, but that's not required everywhere and for every transaction.

There once was a vision to extend both positive cardholder approval and cardholder authentication for each card transaction, but it turns out the friction of that is higher on average than just letting everything but the most egregiously suspicious fraud go through by default and handle the rest via the disputes process.

Out of curiosity:

> you open the app on your phone and it gives you a 6 digit BLIK code, you give that code to the seller

Is this the flow for online payments as well, or only for in-person payments?

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#75

Post by anonym29 » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:01 PM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #68

anonym29 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin exists. Completely permissionless, anyone on earth can use it. Easier to accept as a merchant than any third party integration. Doesn't require you to trust any government at all.

Unfortunately it's also pretty clunky for tax reasons in many places and inherently deflationary (and as such problematic from an economic point of view). Sure, great if you don't trust your government or whoever issues your local currency, but if you can, there are better alternatives. Trust is an asset, not just a liability.

Well-placed trust is a small asset, but misplaced trust is a massive liability.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#76

Post by fuzzy_biscuit » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:03 PM UTC

user34283 wrote: post #27

anonymous908213 wrote: post #5

1bil+ people have surrendered their right to artistic expression to Google, and another 1bil+ to Apple, and another 1bil+ to Microsoft. Many more billions have surrendered it to Visa and Mastercard. The world will only continue to get worse for the foreseeable future as five corporations assert global control over what is allowed to be published. It is mournful knowing that humanity's peak is behind us.

Maybe regulators can be bothered this decade to do something about these corporations abusing their power over mobile app distribution and payment processing. The EU's DMA has been a step in the right direction, even if it's yet been fairly toothless with Apple and Google flouting it.

They could be bothered if they weren't indirectly (or directly, I imagine) on the dole.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#77

Post by lxgr » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:04 PM UTC

0x3f wrote: post #30

oceansky wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brazil and India have created alternatives to Mastercard/Visa duopoly. EU is seeking to do the same.

The EU 'seeks' to do a lot of things but is notoriously ineffective.

The EU already managed to make card payments significantly cheaper and more secure within a few years than they'll probably ever be in the US (still no PINs and no 3DS, and interchange will probably never get regulated because everybody freelances as a severely underpaid lobbyist thanks to frequent flyer miles), to say nothing of regulating a free and instant bank payment scheme into existence while FedNow is still rolling out.

Say what you will about EU inefficiency and regulations, but in my view, at least their financial ones have been largely on point.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#78

Post by gambiting » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:07 PM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #74

gambiting wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many countries have alternatives already. In Poland Blik is ubiquitous and very very easy to use. And I love how it's implemented, Visa and MasterCard could learn from it. Tldr - you open the app on your phone and it gives you a 6 digit BLIK code, you give that code to the seller, then a notification comes up on the app saying "seller X is trying to debit your account by amount Y, agree?". It's brilliant because then…

This is indeed one of the biggest weaknesses of "pull-based" payment cards, and something most if not all natively phone-based methods do better. The best credit and debit cards can do is PIN verification or biometrics (for Apple/Google Pay), but even there you still trust the terminal to not show you a different amount than you'll be charged (assuming the screen is even pointing towards you; I've often been asked to…

>>Is this the flow for online payments as well, or only for in-person payments?

works for both

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#79

Post by ryukoposting » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:07 PM UTC

crashabr wrote: post #49

ryukoposting wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's also one of the most impressive displays of RenPy's capabilities you'll ever see. Plenty of games do amazing things with ren'py that you wouldn't think were possible just by looking at the dialogue DSL. Maps, HUDs, minigames, incredibly dynamic pathways through the game. But DDLC takes it to a different level, partly by looking so "normal" on its surface. In college I made some spare cash writing Ren'py game…

Any examples of other impressive Ren'py showcases?

I personally helped develop a game with an entire inventory/crafting system, and an isometric map. Final product never saw the light of day, sadly.

People have made some pretty slick turn-based combat systems. Some deck builders, others more spellcasting/mana oriented.

And it's renpy so like 80% of the games are straight up porn, so I'm not naming a single one here lol.

Re: Google removes "Doki Doki Literature Club" from Google Play

#80

Post by eucyclos » Sun, Apr 12, 2026, 11:08 PM UTC

(spoiler) The conspiracy seeking part of my brain is fascinated by the fact a company whose decisions are increasingly ai made or moderated doesn't want people to play a game that requires deleting a psychotic stalker off your hard drive...