dns-adventure-game

You are the lone sysadmin. One day to retirement. You have one job. Keep everything online until 5pm.

Linux / Mac Installation

Make sure you are using the standard shell by typing sh. This code may not work in zsh and other shells. Access the game on linux by pasting the following 7 line "game engine" into your command line and hitting enter:

go() {
    IN=$(dig -t txt +short $(echo $1).adventure.craig.mayhew.io @ns-236.awsdns-29.com | shuf -n 1)
    IFS='"' read -ra ADDR <<< "$IN"
    for i in "${ADDR[@]}"; do
        echo "$i"
    done
}

You now have a go command to start your adventure! Type the following:

go start

You are then given some story, and choices. Choose one e.g. go make-coffee

Why?

DNS is a mystic art to many, and this is a fun (and somewhat meta) way of learning about it. It was also a good excuse to show how to manage DNS from zone files via CI/CD.

DNS Features Used

Spoilers are written in this section

We use Round-robin DNS for the chance based actions. e.g. go make-coffee and go high5 that have many possible outcomes.

Round-robin DNS is also used for the load balancer in the story line.

DNS Blocking as a security and privacy feature appears in the second act. The importance of an accurate SPF TXT record also makes an appearance.

FAQ

Q: How can I play on windows?
A: I really recommend installing Ubuntu via WSL. However, if you must use windows, you need the dig command. Install chocolatey and paste the following into an elevated powershell choco install bind-toolsonly
Q: I see error "go:read2: bad option: -a"
A: Type sh to drop out of your chosen shell and follow the install instructions again.

TODO

DMARC
DNSSEC
Act 2 needs a lot more content

UX Feedback

Thank you if you have contacted me with feedback. Feedback collected:

"There are not enough options"
"I feel like I'm not really given enough plausable options. I feel like you are just telling me a story."

craigmayhew / dns-adventure-game