Crypto is not an incremental innovation. On the contrary, it fundamentally opens up previously unimaginable ways of working, which is reflected in many fields: companies are reimagined as DAOs, traditional financial tools are envisioned as permissionless DeFi (Decentralized Finance) protocols, and laws are envisioned as smart contracts, and so on.
In the future, important decentralized applications will largely rely on the new capabilities provided by blockchain, rather than just improving the logic of existing apps. This is the same pattern we have seen on previous computing platforms: smartphones, the World Wide Web, and personal computers. In the above examples, the longest-lasting and most impactful technological applications have used new technology to bring about transformation, rather than just refining old things. Compare social media to portals, online shopping sites to electronic catalogs, or interactive TV to the internet.
What does this mean for crypto games?
Crypto-native Games
Games can serve as a barometer for new technology. They have a high demand for technology but lower risks, and compared to traditional commercial/financial applications, security and compliance issues are relatively less important. Therefore, games can achieve rapid iteration to explore the scalability and usability of new technology. It is short-sighted to underestimate a new platform that “only” offers games. Those with foresight will see it as a valuable testing environment. Just think about it, many new interaction patterns and operating habits in the mobile era originated from early mobile games, such as “Doodle Jump,” “Cut the Rope,” and “Angry Birds,” and so on.
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If we recognize that games can serve as a barometer for new technology, and new technology tends to bring truly new features rather than incremental improvements, then the forefront of crypto application design in the coming years will be found in crypto-native games.
An excellent crypto-native game should be a game that maximally adapts to blockchain architecture development patterns and decentralized concepts:
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The authenticity of game data is guaranteed by the blockchain. The blockchain is not only used as auxiliary storage for data or as a “mirror” of data in servers. All meaningful data should be stored on the chain, not just asset ownership. This allows on-chain games to fully leverage the programmability of the blockchain: permissionless, interoperable, and transparent data storage.
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The logic and rules of the game are implemented through smart contracts. For example, gameplay modes like battles in the game are implemented on the chain, not just ownership.
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The game is developed based on the principles of open-source sharing. This includes both contracts and clients being open-source. Third-party developers have the right to customize or even fork their own games through plugins, third-party clients, interoperable smart contracts, or even redeploy contracts. This, in turn, allows developers to leverage the creativity of the entire community for output and construction.
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The game is independent of the client. This is closely related to the above three points. To determine whether a game is a true crypto-native game, just consider this question: “If the client provided by the developer disappears tomorrow, can the game still be played?” If game data can be stored on the chain without permission, game logic can be executed without permission, and the community can interact with smart contracts without relying on interfaces provided by the core team, the answer is often yes.
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The game can support real-world digital assets. Blockchain is the next generation of the value internet, and by default, digital assets need to be interoperable with cryptocurrencies. This will motivate game developers to build positive incentive structures for their players and communities.
It is worth noting that the following will not be considered native blockchain games:
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Traditional mobile shooting games that only integrate on-chain wallets.
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Trading card games (TCGs) where the battle logic occurs off-chain, and only the card assets are stored as ERC-721 tokens on Ethereum.
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DeFi applications that claim to be “gamified.” These applications may be innovative in themselves, but the applications we are most interested in are games first, rather than financial tools or protocols. Games that essentially speculate on NFTs would fall into this category.
This is not to say that only native blockchain games can succeed (both commercially and artistically), and other games that use blockchain in a less direct way cannot. However, when we consider the long-term impact of blockchain, native blockchain games are definitely one of the most important parts.
These games seek to innovate new forms of interaction and gameplay mechanics, rather than simply making incremental improvements to existing games. They provide us with a simulated sandbox, a glimpse into a future digital world, and then use games to understand how these mechanics will play out in the future. Games may sit at the forefront of this world’s wave, leveraging the unique incentive mechanisms and ownership models that blockchain brings.
In future posts, we will discuss some important new features and how we use ZK Games (such as Dark Forest) to conceptually prove the implementation of these features.
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