Together with the boom in popularity of cryptocurrencies, new doors have opened for us, developers, to build decentralized apps and cash in on the trend.
However many developers choose to go about it the wrong way, not doing enough research and just trying to ship the product as quickly as possible. This has to lead to the creation of many dApps as well as practically unusable games, while they sold the idea, and made money in the process, often they are unable to maintain the hype and keep the user base from rapidly declining.
Research for blockchain game developers
To find out how to build your game the right way you’ll need to do enough research in the first place. Start by identifying the needs of your idea. Am I making a game that is action-packed or turn-based? Do I want to use NFTs? Do I want the in-game currency to have its token?
All of these questions will guide you through your research, but most important are the questions that you’ll ask yourself.
How Axie Infinity does it
Let’s look at a successful example of a blockchain-based game, Axie Infinity. Instead of using a public blockchain, they forked their own and built a ronin chain. Due to the low amount of validator nodes, and only their projects being available on the blockchain, it’s comparable in price to the traditional server structure. What’s cool is how they handle in-game currency and axies (game characters, think of Pokemon but in 2021).
As you play the game, you can earn $SLP (Smooth Love Potion). However, this currency works just like any video game currency. Its value is stored in a traditional database, not on the blockchain. The users can claim it once every 14 days which triggers minting of the token. The blockchain subsequently rewards the user with cryptocurrency. This approach limits the stress put on the blockchain, keeping its cost to run relatively low and the transactions free.
The same applies when it comes to axies (Axie Infinity’s NFTs). The gameplay aspect, such as stats, abilities, and its name is stored in an SQL-like database. The NFTs users own, are just a reference to that data and proof of ownership.
TLDR;
What can we take away from Axie Infinity’s approach? TLDR; when building a blockchain game, build a normal game first and add the blockchain functionality on top of it.
Applying the process
Take League of Legends for example. All you have to do to migrate it to a blockchain under Axie Infinity’s model is to make an association between the blockchain addresses of the users and their in-game accounts. Then create your token and give users the ability to convert the in-game currency once every 14 days into minted tokens.
Finally, mint NFTs with the creation of any cosmetic items (champion skins, wards, etc.) and award them to the users. This will have close to zero impact on the user experience, yet provides what most people are looking for in blockchain games. Proof of ownership, and the ability to monetize your gameplay...
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