What I want from blockchain games
· Ethereum · Games · Originally published on Twitter
What I want from blockchain games:
be a good game first
explore what makes blockchain unique
design around the limitations
persistent always on world
players own the game, the items and experiences
allow anyone to design and improve the game
embrace bots
1) be a good game first
I see too often people just trying to make yet another skin for a cassino or trading card games. Reminds me of slot machine games, all uniquely identical
2) embrace what makes blockchain unique
Don’t try to make a shooter or something that requires speed. Think about what sort of experience you can create that you couldn’t in any other platform
3) design around the limitations
Only have few moves per second? Then make it strategic turns. Can’t have secret information? Make a commit reveal scheme as part of the game. Moves are expensive? Figure out what actually needs consensus. Need unexplored regions? PoW maps.
4) persistent worlds
Your game doesn’t have multiple servers and will still exist even after you stop developing it. Explore that. Make that communities live and grow on it
5) players own the game
Don’t make a game just so that the users buy stuff from you. Make it so that users own many aspects of the game. They own the land, they own the equipment they own the experience. At some point they should have as much or more control than you.
6) allow others to design
You don’t need to design everything, if you make a great platform others can expand it. Allow them to create new monsters or levels, leave room for someone to update the graphics or make a new expansion.
7) embrace bots
AI is your friend not the enemy. Allow players to build bots, allow bots to be players under the same rules. Maybe coding bots and freeing them on the world might be the most fun
And a final one: use money to reward. A good blockchain game, imho should be one that for most users costs a small price to play but rewards the top players or those who create the best content. But you play because it’s fun, most of all.
