Unlocking the Power of Blockchain Game Development

Understanding Blockchain Fundamentals

A blockchain is a chain of linked lists, or unique “blocks,” each linked to the previous block and pointing to its predecessor. This chain of linked lists is, in itself, a list of transactions. The process of agreeing on these blocks is facilitated by a protocol, which enables the network to decide how blocks are added to the chain. This decentralized mechanism has given rise to the decentralized nature of blockchain, with proof of work (PoW), proof of stake (PoS), and proof of authority (PoA) being examples of such mechanisms.

Web3 Game Development: A New Era of Gaming

Web3, in the context of blockchains, refers to decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. These apps allow anyone to participate without monetizing their personal data. With a solid understanding of a programming language supported by any blockchain, we can start writing smart contracts to build game applications as DApps on the blockchain.

The blockchain ecosystem is constantly evolving, giving rise to new paradigms like GameFi, which introduces a player-owned economy and enables players to earn cryptocurrencies or assets valuable within the game’s metaverse.

Building Games on the NEAR Blockchain

For this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how to build games on the NEAR blockchain by creating a sample game project. We’ll explore how to set up the codebase structure and the programming languages needed to write smart contracts that run on the NEAR blockchain.

We’ll start by cloning a starter kit codebase, which provides a basic boilerplate for writing more smart contract code as we build the various features of our game.

git clone https://github.com/near-examples/rust-template.git
cd rust-template

Creating a Lottery Game on the NEAR Blockchain

Our game will involve a lottery system, where players can participate by generating a random number within a set range of integers. We’ll define the play feature of our game, which will contain the code snippet responsible for generating a random number using the RNG object.

pub fn play(&mut self) {
    let random_number = RNG::new().generate_range(1, 100);
    //...
}

We’ll also define the reset function, which enables players to reset the lucky number to a new random number.

pub fn reset(&mut self) {
    self.lucky_number = RNG::new().generate_range(1, 100);
}

Defining Core Game Functions

We’ll create an index.ts file inside the assembly folder, where we’ll define the core functions of our lottery game.

export function pickANum(): void {
    // Verify deposit of 0.5 NEAR tokens
    //...
}

export function payWinner(): void {
    // Randomly generate the right number equal to the lucky number
    //...
}

Building and Deploying Smart Contracts

We’ll build the smart contract using the asb command, which generates a build folder containing a lottery.wasm file inside the build/release/ folder.

asb

We can then deploy the smart contract using the near dev-deploy command, which provides us with the contract name or ID, allowing us to interact with it on the frontend or through a shell file.

near dev-deploy

Testing Our Blockchain Game

We’ve written two unit tests to confirm that our application is functional. These tests create a lottery game and reset the lucky number variable to a new random number.

it('creates a lottery game', () => {
    //...
});

it('resets the lucky number', () => {
    //...
});

We can run the test suite using the yarn test command.

yarn test

The Future of Blockchain Gaming

Blockchain-based games can be played as multiplayer games or solo, and can be extended to include a metaverse – a digital world – around the game. Players can team up, create governance, and even create currencies as a means for value exchange. The possibilities are endless, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for blockchain game development.

• Multiplayer games: Players can team up and interact with each other in a decentralized environment.
• Solo games: Players can enjoy solo gameplay experiences built on blockchain technology.
• Metaverse integration: Games can be extended to include a digital world, enabling new levels of immersion and interaction.