Gaming has played a crucial role in reviving Web3 after a period of dormancy, and it is a key driver for widespread adoption. However, fully realizing the potential of Web3 gaming comes with its fair share of challenges, particularly when it comes to seamlessly integrating on-chain elements without compromising decentralization and player empowerment.
New users should only encounter obstacles when absolutely necessary and as late as possible. Unfortunately, many existing Web3 games fail in this regard. Users are faced with numerous hurdles, such as connecting their wallets and signing transactions for verification, before they can even start playing. These barriers contrast with the vision of a gaming world that is accessible and seamless, which is what fully on-chain gaming aims to achieve.
Games like Axie Infinity and CryptoKitties, while groundbreaking, do not fully embody the concept of being on-chain. Fully on-chain games store all game assets, mechanics, and states on the blockchain. This radical approach ensures unmatched transparency, security, and player control, creating a truly decentralized gaming experience where players own and shape their digital destinies.
Building the best game requires a functional and efficient combination of on-chain elements and the immersive user experience found in traditional games. Comparing Web3 games to Web2 standards is like comparing apples to oranges. They have different requirements, value propositions, and scopes, despite catering to similar audiences.
Web3 games aim to solve long-standing issues like top-down models, lack of user control, and the dominance of gaming corporations. This can only be achieved by implementing alternative models, processes, and principles, rather than trying to emulate the outcomes of Web2. In this context, terms like “engaging,” “seamless,” and “hassle-free” take on new meanings, enhanced by aspects like community orientation, real in-game value, and user-generated logic.
Therefore, when building Web3 games, the most important requirement is to address new challenges by embracing innovative technologies and models that align with the principles of autonomy and community governance. It’s about creating “Autonomous Worlds” (AWs), a concept introduced by Ludens, the founder of Lattice.xyz, in 2022 to describe “a world with a blockchain substrate.”
Furthermore, modern games must cater to the expanding community of gamers who are aware of the problems in traditional gaming and seek genuine solutions. They are not mere bounty hunters or profit-seekers looking for quick gains.
Ironically, Axie Infinity and CryptoKitties played a pivotal role in the evolution of blockchain gaming, but they were not fully on-chain. They were experimental, niche, and heavily focused on crypto, which resulted in clunky user interfaces. Despite opening up new possibilities, they did not fully embody the concept of “Autonomous Worlds.” Users had limited control over the rules and direction of the game, and only certain parts of the game states were on-chain.
Dark Forest, released in 2020, was the first decentralized real-time strategy game. By using zero-knowledge proofs (zkProofs), a cryptographic protocol, to create a “fog of war” in the gaming experience, Dark Forest demonstrated how to build incomplete information games on-chain. This approach ensured gameplay integrity and player privacy on a blockchain, solving the challenge of revealing sensitive game states in a decentralized environment. Dark Forest set a precedent for real-time strategy gaming on the blockchain and provided a blueprint for future on-chain game development.
It also gave rise to community-oriented, bottom-up Autonomous Worlds like Mithraeum, Citadel, ZkHunt, and others. The Loot Project was another notable addition, allowing users to expand the IP and spawning countless games and lores.
By putting everything on-chain, from game states to logic, Autonomous Worlds create flexible and resilient digital realities where users have more agency. They incentivize players to attach greater significance to their on-chain gaming activities and give them a meaningful say in the game-world. This is a significant departure from the current gaming landscape, where end-users are passive consumers at the mercy of corporate publishers. Rules and norms emerge through community consensus, serving grassroots interests. Players can build, contribute, monetize, and participate in ways that were impossible in Web2 games.
The empowering nature of Autonomous Worlds instills a stronger desire for mastery in gamers. They are more motivated to find creative solutions, create mods and plugins, and establish separate economies within the game. This participatory environment fosters a deeper connection to the game, encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration within the community. For example, Dark Forest players have developed various bots, plugins, and custom clients to enhance their gameplay.
Looking to the future, the journey towards fully on-chain gaming comes with its challenges, but the promise it holds is immense. By redefining engagement, ownership, and control in the digital realm, on-chain gaming has the potential to offer experiences that closely resemble real-world interactions and relationships. It enhances the richness of virtual worlds and establishes a new standard for gaming that is truly immersive, empowering, and reflective of the players’ desires and aspirations.
The principles of decentralization, player sovereignty, and community collaboration will guide the future of gaming towards inclusivity, democracy, and excitement.