Most 'Fully On-chain Game' (FOCG) developers make two mistakes while building blockchain games.
First, they integrate tokenomics and digital assets into existing gameplay mechanics, which fails to enhance the game's entertainment quotient.
Second, they try to improve the underlying infrastructure to eliminate constraints like the blockchain trilemma without focusing on game design.
Game developers need to change their perspective to make FOCG more engaging for new and seasoned players. To do so, they must design the games as creative decentralized applications (dapps) that leverage the blockchain's underlying infrastructure.
Further, developers have to navigate infrastructural limitations by using them as storytelling techniques and gameplay tools. In other words, they have to turn blockchain's inherent constraints into amplifying the gaming experience for players.
But how is it possible to transform limitations into valuable gameplay mechanisms?
To better understand the process, we first have to analyze the constraints of developing FOCG in more detail.
The Problems of Building FOCG
To begin with, most blockchain games have adopted a simple definition of 'token' to refer to in-game digital assets. These fungible and non-fungible tokens may represent assets that have real-world financial value.
However, the tokens are essentially smart contract applications and can have multiple implementations within the gaming interface. Thus, developers have room for creativity to go beyond the standard meaning and modify the token contract.
As long as the modified contract is compatible with defined token standards, a customized token has the potential to enhance gameplay. So, developers can expand the vision of digital tokens to suit the game's narrative and storytelling.
Some game developers try to work on blockchain fundamentals to improve in-game transaction speed or build scalable applications. In doing so, they shift focus from building an FOCG to working on infrastructural problems, which doesn't ultimately help the game.
Thus, developers needn't work around blockchain's constraints and can instead work along them to make the FOCG more interesting. To make it happen, one needs to understand these constraints more.
Blockchain gamers have to connect a wallet, sign transactions, wait for confirmation, and deal with increasing block heights. These steps, while seemingly cumbersome, are deliberate choices for enhanced security, trustlessness, and transparency in the financial system. By understanding and embracing these processes, developers can turn them into integral gameplay features that enhance the overall gaming experience.
Have you ever considered how these interactions could be transformed into unique gameplay mechanics?
For most crypto enthusiasts, prioritizing security and trustless protocols is deeply related to their identity. So, FOCG can benefit from building on digital natives' identity to create a sense of belonging and community among gamers. How important is the sense of community to your gaming experience? In what ways can blockchain games foster a stronger sense of identity and belonging?
In this context, the crucial question is what to do to make FOCG more engaging and interesting for players. For example, could waiting for transaction confirmations build suspense or anticipation within the game's narrative?
The following section will elaborate on some of the strategies developers can work on to build an immersive on-chain game.
How to Navigate Blockchain Infrastructure While Developing FOCG
Game developers can expand the definition of a crypto token by tracing the word's etymology. Rather than confining tokens to a 'coin,' a token can mean 'an expression of something else.'
For instance, a FOCG like DEAR uses ERC-20 tokens to represent emotions. DEAR has developed a pair of modded Controlled Double-Spending ERC-20 tokens that represent 'Love' and 'Hatred' within the gaming interface.
DEAR tokens don't represent digital assets or money but refer to the two fundamental emotions of human nature. The developers have also weaved a story around on-chain activities to blend with the game's storytelling.
For example, crypto wallets holding either Love or Hatred tokens can interact with the game. So, 'token transfers' take a different meaning as users can selectively 'connect' with others by sharing emotions.
Further, double-spending tokens can help users 'transmit' emotions as they can be both 'felt' by the user and 'spread' to another player. However, to prevent an 'infectious' spread of emotions, the game has in-built control mechanisms for the double-spending ERC-20 tokens.
Similarly, other game developers can work through blockchain's infrastructural demands by enmeshing gaming narratives into on-chain technicalities. Thus, slow state updates can be leveraged to build curiosity and tension within the game as the wait unfolds the story.
To put it differently, FOCG can be fun for digital natives if developers imbue meaning into on-chain actions and infrastructural difficulties. Let's take another example to understand the point.
Cryptography has enabled us to build distributed ledgers that maintain an irreversible, unstoppable, and decentralized time. FOCG developers can map early participants on the timescale and use Proof of Participation to fairly launch in-game assets.
However, blockchain's time has problems as the chain's entropy rises with the ever-increasing block height. Therefore, there are innumerable dead or obsolete smart contracts, scam token addresses, and faulty transactions on the blockchain.
Since data cannot be erased, it remains piled up like a digital landfill with active fraudulent contracts. Game developers can repurpose these scam contracts in their gameplay to make them somewhat usable and relevant.
For example, in DEAR, the scam token contracts function as 'toxins' that players can deploy to 'abuse' the in-game characters. It amplifies the gaming narrative and raises awareness about how blockchain works and its problems.
FOCG Must Have Meaningful Storytelling for Wider Relevance
A well-knit story and coherent gaming universe are crucial to making FOCG entertaining and relevant for players. If game developers can seamlessly integrate the narrative into blockchain infrastructure, it will appeal more to the audience.
Thus, FOCG must blend gameplay and game theory so that financial transactions and entertainment quotient don't become out of sync. The key to a successful FOCG lies in embedding storytelling into technicalities for a highly enhanced immersive gaming experience.
