[HN Gopher] Show HN: Twitch Roulette - Find live streamers who n...
___________________________________________________________________
Show HN: Twitch Roulette - Find live streamers who need views the
most
Hey HN, I re-launched an old site I remembered back in the day that
someone made called twitchroulette.net with a lot of new features
and stats and I would love for people to check it out. The idea is
you can easily browse the less browsed parts of twitch and find
cool and new streamers to say hi to, and maybe make some new
friends. I also added some real time stats and breakdowns per
channel and I think some of the things they show are pretty
interesting. Check it out!
Author : ellg
Score : 172 points
Date : 2026-03-27 22:22 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (twitchroulette.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (twitchroulette.net)
| ellg wrote:
| Check out a cool real time feed of people discovering new
| streamers here: https://twitchroulette.net/discover
|
| And some neat global stats around twitch streams here:
| https://twitchroulette.net/stats
| recursivecaveat wrote:
| For anyone who is curious btw: twitch will count you as your
| own viewer. So anyone with their own chat open in a browser
| (almost everyone so they can read it) will have that 1 viewer.
| Which is why the bottom of the distribution is so weird
| looking.
| ellg wrote:
| ya it's why I have the default set to 0-5, theres weirdness
| in what twitch counts as a viewer
| tmtvl wrote:
| You could just open your twitch chat via an IRC client, then
| you (might?) not count as your own viewer.
| RugnirViking wrote:
| whats the other end of some of these? you showed which
| categories tend to have 0-1 viewers, what categories have the
| least? what categories have lowest average age of accounts with
| 10+ viewers etc. What should you do to stand out?
| password4321 wrote:
| Similar in spirit to IMG_00010, IMG_04161, and astronaut.io2 for
| YouTube but live on Twitch!
|
| 0https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47308547
|
| 1https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42314547
|
| 2https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20432772
| jaequery wrote:
| i am actually even more impressed that you got this to front page
| ellg wrote:
| did I do something wrong or something
| password4321 wrote:
| Not that I can see. I think most on HN root for the underdog.
| R_D_Olivaw wrote:
| Next up: HackernewsRoulette
| dezgeg wrote:
| Roulette to find all those vibe coded apps with zero
| users, sounds great!
| jaequery wrote:
| what? no, i love projects like these. but re-reading my
| comment, it does sound a little messed =p. what i meant was
| it gave me old HN vibes, back when weird, fun projects popped
| off instead of everything being AI-wrapped.
| dzonga wrote:
| this is pretty dope !!
|
| was the only viewer to some guy playing far cry
| nosmokewhereiam wrote:
| There are some soundcloud and mixcloud versions that might need
| inventing ...cool concept!
| chundicus wrote:
| What about https://nobody.live/?
| ellg wrote:
| also neat! never heard of it, seems like we have a bit
| different ways about browsing similar data. very cool site
| ucarion wrote:
| Leads me to discover: https://www.twitch.tv/chat_loadtest_01
| ... neat!
| nubinetwork wrote:
| Theres a lot of weird channels on twitch, I run into ones
| with "ingest" in their name quite often.
| mememememememo wrote:
| Old discussion has lots of comments too
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23114103
| twentyfiveoh1 wrote:
| my first one was junk essentially. I don't even think the host
| was there. They said they were streaming music videos, which is
| already questionable. Instead they were streaming an interview
| with a music artist.
| flowgrammer wrote:
| Great idea. One of my saddest projects was making a site to help
| Twitch streamers get sponsorship for playing games. You
| automatically got picked if your view count was high enough. I
| saw thousands of people streaming on Twitch by themselves for
| weeks with no viewers whatsoever. Surely many of them had
| families and partners, but I'm also sure many did not.
| vector_spaces wrote:
| Maybe I'm naive, but my sense is not everyone streaming on
| Twitch is trying to make a career out of it. Even for those
| that are -- everyone starts somewhere. Hopefully those that
| aren't successful on first brush notice and realize that it
| takes more than simply starting a stream to build a sticky
| audience.
|
| Also, there are many people out there who lead fulfilling lives
| without families and partners. Either way, I don't think you
| should pity people so readily. At best it's somewhat
| condescending and missing much of the complexity and nuance of
| what it is to be a human person
| mmarvin wrote:
| why would you stream on Twitch then? just because it's
| ,,fun"? come on
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| You think everyone on instagram/tiktok with a public
| profiles tries to become an influencer?
| esperent wrote:
| I think that _way_ more of them than would ever admit to
| it - even to themselves - want that, yes.
|
| But aside from that, nearly everyone on Instagram has
| followers, at least their families and friends.
| jasonlotito wrote:
| Your comment (along with mmarvin's) really just shows you
| are making grand assumptions about Twitch and streaming
| on Twitch that are not based on any level of real
| information. That you would equate viewers to followser
| is silly at best. (And don't pretend you did, either, as
| there is NO reason to bring up IG follower counts
| otherwise)
|
| > I think that way more of them than would ever admit to
| it - even to themselves - want that, yes.
|
| For many reasons, they aren't what many would consider to
| be influencers. The ignorant might sugget that streamers
| are influencers, but that's, well, ignorance. Secondly,
| most people do it for fun. Not as a full time job. This
| is a hobby. And it's a fun one.
|
| It's okay to just not comment on things you are ignorant
| about. It's okay.
| ffsm8 wrote:
| Tbf to them, most people equate streamers with
| individuals having thousands of viewers.. From that
| perspective, their statements kinda make sense.
|
| While I personally wouldn't be able to perform under such
| a setting, I'd be lying if the idea isn't kinda charming
| - it's like wanting to be a rock star, a small part
| thinks it'd be cool, even if most don't actually want to
| live the life of a rockstar.
|
| Though the wealth it comes with would be neat to have (I
| mean most streamers with thousands of non-botted viewers
| are millionaires at this point, right?)
| vasco wrote:
| What does having a family have to do with anything? I see many
| people with different hobbies that aren't "successful", do you
| also think if they have families or not?
|
| I don't even get the implications, presumably it'd be worse to
| stream all day if you have a family you're neglecting, but even
| that is making wild assumptions.
| bobsmooth wrote:
| >What does having a family have to do with anything?
|
| Presumably that at least one of their family members would be
| pity watching.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| If you have a family, why would you be screaming into the
| void while playing video games? Go spend time with your
| family, where there's endless company and good to be done.
| nkrisc wrote:
| One needn't spend every single waking hour with their
| family. Everyone needs _some_ time to themselves.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| So why live stream your alone time?
| nkrisc wrote:
| Ask them, not me.
| sanswork wrote:
| I used to live code on Twitch regularly with zero viewers and
| it didn't really bother me. It forced me to actively talk
| through my decision making processes just by streaming which
| slowed me down but was often useful. I'm not sure what the
| family/partners part is about, I certainly had both while
| streaming.
| meehai wrote:
| Actively doing this. It indeed forces me to think things
| through, organize thoughts and speak them out. I open
| paint/miro to draw. It's good practice.
| prox wrote:
| Yeah, the snark by some commenters is unwarranted.
|
| There is this programmer and he is just chilling, programming
| and listening to music. Just 2-3 viewers. On occasion I say
| hi, make a chitchat. It's harmless and a bit of
| fun/socializing.
|
| I think most streamers know what they are doing.
| neonroku wrote:
| I've thought about doing this at work. Schedule an hour of
| programming once a day or once a week where others are free
| to join and watch, and comment or otherwise engage, or not.
| afferi300rina wrote:
| Does knowing that someone could be watching change your
| performance? I wonder if the "Live" status acts as a mental
| catalyst that you can't get by just talking to yourself
| offline.
| sanswork wrote:
| I wouldn't watch a live coder so recording for myself
| wouldn't do it. With Twitch you will often have viewers pop
| into chat even when the viewer number is zero so you have
| to always great it as if you are being watched because you
| might be.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| Last year I would larp as a Spanish-speaking gaming streamer
| on Youtube to practice Spanish, talking out loud while trying
| some new game to force myself to speak it.
|
| If I were trying to do that in private, I would stop after
| two minutes.
|
| But the mere threat of someone watching me forced me to take
| it seriously even though I knew nobody would.
|
| It was so effective that I would default to Spanish for the
| rest of the day, or I'd listen to Spanish and then realize
| how I could have communicated certain things better instead
| of just passively ingest it.
|
| Though the same reason it was so effective also created a
| mental toll that I started avoiding by not doing it at all.
| Need to start it back up.
|
| That said, I reckon the vast majority of streamers are gamers
| who do want viewership and aren't using it as some
| productivity hack.
| monssooon wrote:
| It can also be a way yo practise or find like minded
| lovehashbrowns wrote:
| really fun! already found an MLB stream, someone streaming Age of
| Empires 1 no talking and chat in emote mode, someone going
| absolutely crazy on a racing game I think multi-streaming with
| their audience primarily on YT. and now I'm on a BG3 playthrough
| I'm pretty sure.
| Gracana wrote:
| Was it Wirtual? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C98AjMOklB4
| lovehashbrowns wrote:
| No it was someone playing a street car drifting game idk
| which. They were doing car reviews of people's designs
| JohannesCortez wrote:
| Great concept! Brought me to a girl playing COD. She only has me
| as a viewer.
|
| She thanked me so I stayed for a while lol
| mister_mort wrote:
| Perhaps you can add a check to see if the stream is behind a
| login/agegate? I pushed the random button and got a stream that I
| was locked out of.
| ellg wrote:
| ill check, I honestly didnt even know that was a thing, thanks
| for letting me know
| AlphaTheGoat wrote:
| Great idea for when you bored and want to discover new twitch
| channels. Just a suggestion: it would be better if you can ask
| the user what their preference is and then suggest accordingly.
| ellg wrote:
| check out the +filter button on the homepage!
| saadn92 wrote:
| Can we make a version for YouTube as well? I'd love to be
| discovered haha
| munro wrote:
| Awesome haha, they look so shocked when you send a message, and
| then I get embarrassed and spin again
| QuiDortDine wrote:
| Kind reminder that Twitch is owned by Amazon, which is a monster
| of a company. Check out Owncast and Peertube for alternatives.
| sudo_cowsay wrote:
| monster yes, but also very powerful
| kimchelgi03 wrote:
| Cool concept! Discovery is the hardest part for small streamers
| -- most viewers only see the top channels and never scroll down.
| The real-time stats breakdown sounds interesting.
| jmpavlec wrote:
| Very nice. Currently on mobile where it mostly works in
| landscape. (Unusable in portrait). Will check it out on desktop
| later.
|
| Love the idea of making someone's day.
| john_strinlai wrote:
| these types of projects are always fun, whether it is the old
| youtube videos with no views, or the few other twitch ones like
| this i have seen. thanks for sharing it.
|
| it would be great to be able to filter by language, but i have no
| idea if twitch exposes that information or if it would have to be
| some hack with the title/game/etc data.
|
| and, probably not your fault, but, probably 1/2 of the spins give
| me a 10-second pre-roll. weirdly, it isnt an advert, but some
| twitch-related thing i have never seen that says stuff like
| "preparing the stream" and "an intern stepped on a wire while
| your stream was setting up". i am signed in, so not sure what is
| going on there.
|
| anyways, spun the wheel for awhile and had fun talking with a few
| people. crazy amount of people still playing call of duty, i had
| no idea.
| Akronymus wrote:
| those preroll "ads" are the alternative to mid stream ads.
| QuantumNomad_ wrote:
| > it isnt an advert, but some twitch-related thing i have never
| seen that says stuff like "preparing the stream" and "an intern
| stepped on a wire while your stream was setting up"
|
| Twitch pre-roll played an ad for me on mobile in the web
| browser. Maybe you have an ad blocker in the browser you are
| using so it's not loading the ads themselves and instead
| falling back to some twitch-related message?
|
| Also I only got preroll on the first one not on the second or
| third. Maybe if you have an ad blocker it keeps trying prerolls
| more often?
| john_strinlai wrote:
| i do have an adblocker, but i use the same browser to
| regularly watch twitch and have never seen those specific
| pre-rolls before. only when using the roulette. which is why
| i thought it was a bit weird. might have something to do with
| it being embedded instead of directly watching twitch or
| something.
| muppetman wrote:
| Oh my god I love this. I tell every one I load up how terrible
| they are and to give up now.
|
| I think I've discouraged about 250 so far!!
|
| What a wonderful project.
| torlok wrote:
| No, stop, you're misusing it. The purpose of this site is to
| build parasocial relationships with strangers online.
| bombcar wrote:
| The danger with small streamers is you might accidentally
| develop a _social_ relationship since they have nobody else
| to talk to!
| schaefer wrote:
| FYI: muppetman's profile says "don't take me seriously", so I
| think this is a joke?
| KMnO4 wrote:
| While tone often portrays poorly over text, I think this is
| an example where the sarcasm is very overt. I don't think
| anyone would think the comment is serious.
| xyrox1 wrote:
| Good job
| monssooon wrote:
| Is there something like this for YouTube?
| Lorean1 wrote:
| I'm not sure about the framing from the title, it's like "find
| businesses which need your money the most" - not a great
| advertisement
| realharo wrote:
| Yeah, it makes it sound like your attention is given as an act
| of charity. A lot of online discourse tends to be very
| "creator-first" framed, rather than "audience-first".
| 56745742597 wrote:
| No thanks. Why would anybody watch someone else consume an
| entertainment product?
| bombcar wrote:
| MST3K is completely incomprehensible!
| 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
| I once scrolled all the way to the bottom of the streamers and it
| was a little kid trying to stream Fortnite using a phone camera
| and it kept falling down and he was happy to have one viewer. It
| was adorable
| tasuki wrote:
| Mhm, I clicked the thing and got shown World of Warcraft. I'm not
| sure the streamer _needs_ the views the most. Perhaps it 's a
| single mother desperately trying to raise money through streaming
| to feed her ten children?
| drunkan wrote:
| Am I crazy or is this just social/financial charity roulette for
| streamers. Also is there not inherently an issue building the
| foundations of a friendship on the predicate of one person being
| watched and the other having to watch and potentially pay the
| other? If one side doesn't like or subscribe are they friends.
|
| The idea that people turn to streaming to either support
| themselves or make friends and people feel the need to help them
| do so is everything right and wrong with society. It's nice
| people are willing to support someone else and wrong that the
| most supported are often the worst and really we should just
| support people socially and financially outside of the streaming
| charity system we have created. I find it all a bit mind
| boggling.
| tyjen wrote:
| Egalitarianism for Twitch, nice project.
|
| A friend of mine who has streamed for years, maybe garners 3
| viewers at the most, but he's absolutely terrible at viewer
| engagement. Despite having a dual monitor setup, it often takes
| him 5 minutes to recognize a single line in his chat and respond.
|
| Growing a base followership on Twitch seems like it'd be an
| interesting challenge considering how saturated the market is.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| On the other hand, this might be like buying someone's overpriced
| mediocre product at the artisanal weekend market: probably better
| not to encourage them so they drop the delusion and do something
| else.
|
| Like that time I spent $9 on some guy's 8oz "turmeric milk" and
| he said I was the first sale all day, so thanks for the support.
| Felt bad for making him think this thing has a shot.
| logicallee wrote:
| This was an interesting site and was the first time I tried
| Twitch. It seems like video-based social interaction is an
| interesting field in general, since it's easier and cheaper than
| going someplace for an event (which is naturally limited by
| space, as well). How does Twitch work in general? Can you tell me
| a little bit more about it?
| jpcrs wrote:
| Appreciate it. I don't use Twitch or watch popular streamers, but
| sometimes when I'm bored I look up small streamers with 1-3
| viewers and chat with them. It's usually pretty wholesome.
| tosti wrote:
| These are really just chatboxes?
|
| Edit: it's a bit different now. Instead of loading one from the
| homepage, it always loads a stream. And it has a play button on
| every one of them. Nothing happens when I press it. Anyone else
| has this?
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2026-03-28 23:01 UTC)