Most Web3 games typically implement only a limited number of Web3 solutions, like options to mint cosmetic NFTs or trade digital assets. These technologies certainly run on blockchain, but the backbone of the game, including its backend and logic, is still deployed on Web2 private servers. This number includes popular titles, like Illuvium, Undead Blocks, and BigTime, which are sometimes called Web2.5 games, or NFT games.

But there are games that exist only inside blockchains and use their networks as an alternative for conventional servers to store data and record game states. All the operations are set up and maintained by the chains the games are running on and, for this reason, this type of game is called on-chain. In this article, we will introduce you to the most interesting games and experiments in this area. But if you want to dig deeper into the blockchain gaming news and discover the hottest Web3 titles, we sincerely recommend you to check the games section on Liquidifty.io and read other articles in our blog.

The pioneers of on-chain gaming: Dark Forest and 0xMonaco

0xMonaco is considered to be one of the first on-chain games that managed to attract a strong and supportive community of gamers. And it’s really incredible for a game that features the simplest user interface and is basically focused on solving coding challenges. In 0xMonaco, players have to set up smart contracts, or “cars”, beat their competitors, and become the first to cross the “finish line”, or number 1,000 on the scale. Pilots also can use acceleration points or slow down their competitors. And that’s all in general. By the way, you can check the game interface below.

Despite being short on gameplay options, 0xMonaco has many loyal fans that hold competitions and work together to introduce more features to the game.

Dark Forest is one more pioneering on-chain project built on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s a space exploration game where you have to build your own empire and counteract the attacks of other players. A significant part of the blockchain-generated universe is hidden from the players by a powerful cryptographic tool, zk-SNARKS. Thus, gamers can act without disclosing their presence to the competitors, and this feature makes Dark Forest different from other on-chain titles.

Autonomous on-chain worlds 

OPCraft is indeed a revolutionary attempt to build a fully autonomous 3D world on the Ethereum blockchain by combining MUD, a game engine by Lattice, and OP Stack, a toolkit aimed to increase the blockchain capacity. Players are free to modify the world by forming new structures and erecting various buildings and monuments from voxels.

OPCraft also offers two important benefits to developers: this open world features interoperable smart contracts, and it can be accessed through custom software. Thus, third-party teams can introduce new heroes to this universe or even build custom content, like games and tournaments, to add more fun. The saddest part is that the OPCraft World has been frozen after the public test, and now visitors can only see the final version of this voxel world.

More on-chain games

On-chain gaming is a new concept which has to develop more solutions to overcome the associated limitations like scalability problems and slow block creation time. Though, there are titles you can try right now, and more games are scheduled to release in the near future.

Pirate Nation

Pirate Nation is a simple on-chain RPG full of treasures, adventures, and brave seafarers. You have to build a collection of NFT characters and use them to hunt for treasures and to create various items. At the moment, the game is having beta testing, and players can’t access all the game options. 

However, Pirate Nation offers some of the most impressive design and artworks among the on-chain games. Also, gamers have a lot of ways to customize their pirates.

Shattered EON

Shattered EON is not yet available for gamers, but this on-chain game definitely has to be on your radar. This title will take you to a vast space universe with lots of opportunities and storylines. You can become a soldier of the Imperial Guild and start your space settlement, or join the bad guys, the Ai-Lax Pirates, to raid the settlements. The team is planning to release the game in April 2023, but NFTs are already available for purchase.

Influence

Influence is another promising space strategy built on Ethereum. All the assets in this game are modeled on-chain to ensure the censorship resistance. There is not a clear game release date as the game world is procedurally generated on the blockchain. Players will have to explore the asteroid belt of the Adalia system which became a new home for humanity. Colonists will be able to mine resources on the asteroids, build infrastructure, develop new technologies, and battle with their competitors.

Closing thoughts

On-chain gaming is an exciting technology which can bring a lot of advantages to gamers. On-chain games may be fully resistant to censorship and modifications from the publishers. At the same time, they will come with various disadvantages associated with blockchain technology, including slow and expensive operations. On top of that, it’s obvious that we can’t build a “Triple A” on-chain game at this point. To achieve this, we need to introduce more cutting-edge technologies, like zk-SNARK and OPCraft, and resolve backend and infrastructure problems.