Every Web3 Game is the Basically the Same

DDEUX is different, but it starts the same way. It starts with a story, it starts with an immersive lore and set of cards that are fun to play with. However, this game is built with Progress Decentralization in mind, and Ownership and Truth at its core! Imagine, once you get good at a game, you can make your own cards, your own decks, and sell them in a marketplace. Behold, the power of Web3!

Inspiration

Hark, dear spectators, honorable judges and slackjawed lollygaggers, and lend thy ears, for a grand, wonderous tale of heroics, magic, music, and camaraderie dost thou await! A tale woven with threads of enchantment, where valiance meets melody and incantations dance to the beat of a song.

Our scene dost unfold upon the tranquil shores of Mistuke Dragonote, where Tippi Fifestarr, with his resplendent tresses, and garb that whispers tales from realms afar, doth sit in earnest contemplation. With him, his ethereal companions, Danjo and Ivona, in the form of mystical cards, as they reminisce about their grand adventures. They had conjured together a tapestry of characters, each with its essence and power, each a shard of the soul in a realm known as DDEUX.

As Tippi played the game, merriment and earnestness flowed. They had built this realm, first as a mere draft, guided by Ivona's wisdom and Danjo's creativity. Weeks turned into months as Tippi’s vision grew, yet the winds of distraction beckoned him on his developer’s journey. But fate had more cards to play.

A year hence, a cursed hackathon, like a clarion call, beckoned him to rebuild DaDeuce. The Angels descended, aiding him in a thorough UX and design sprint. ‘Twas when he was bound for Malibu, to lay down the lyrics of the DaDeuce theme in a VIP record studio, the Demons, at a whim, in vile envy abducted him. image of an earlier version of DDEUX But before we go any further, friends, let me introduce thee to the tapestry...The tapestry that grew from a simple seed, here in DeDeuce, bursts with characters, each with a rhyme of their own.

Elong Ma, with rockets pocketed, careens / Through China's skies, where laughter convenes.

Chalice, the wheeled marvel, races on, / In battles, her vehicular might is drawn.

Discordian in Chicago, chasing the disco train, / Cast spells from his book, music knows his name.

咪喵, the feline mage with a gentle grace, / Dost rule the ice with her elegant pace.

JB the Muso, his voice doth stream gold, / In melodies, Wonderboy's tale dost unfold.

Banjolorian's strings pluck thy soul’s refrain, / As heartstrings thrum, like his favorite soothing strain.

Funky, she's a good girl, charming the beat, profound, / Friendly psychic streets found, down with the rhythm of sound.

Jenny in the Rearview, stars in her gaze, / Tunes interstellar, rock you with music on stage.

Devils Discer, gloom whirl in shadows deep, / Her frisbees dark secrets returns do they keep.

Lazy P, tempestuous axe enshrouded in haze, / With vile intent, his vape clouds enslave.

Satinopoly, with circuits and treacherous plan, / In shadows, weaves polycule webs as only AI can.

Evil Ape, with Diamond Hands strikes fear, / In battle, his prowess it is weird.

Aire, with wings and clipboard, charts us a course, / “Win, lose, or Thai,” she leads the Angel’s force.

Arien, the hacker, swift and meek, / Codes she bends, a kindred spirit to seek.

Shifu smiles, kindness shines, wise as ancient stars, / His wisdom guides through battles and wars.

Hark!

Hark again! Our tale proceeds at a fervent pace, For Tippi is trapped in a shadowed space. In Cabin on the Mountain, there he dost dwell, Ensnared, while Lazy P smokes, weaving a spell.

In the valley, Tippi stares blankly, lost, While you sit there, counting the cost.

But lo, the Angels take flight and Aire enacts Da Plan, To free Tippi (and our Future!) from the Demons’ vile clan. She calls upon Arien, a hacker divine, To gain access to JB, through code, online.

Shifu, harmonica in hand; there! The jet, he sneaks onboard, With few English words to persuade, his wisdom outpoured. And oh, how we rejoice when JB dost agree, With a land of his jet, behind yonder tree.

A clandestine rescue, epic and grand,

As Angel and Muso team up to rescue that great man.

Level 1, brave hearts! The game dost begin,

Guess your friends' cards, save on chain, play to win!

The tapestry of DeDeuce beckons thee,

Embrace thy fate, gird your loins and RESCUE TIPPI!

TLDR; Inspiration:

DDEUX, a play on words with "deduce", was inspired by the classic tabletop games of our youth and the intrigue of deduction mechanics. With the ever-evolving world of blockchain and the rise of NFTs, it became clear that everybody makes card games the old fashioned way, by coming up with a bunch of cards and a backstory and then letting people buy and collect them. Chaching! But this complex and unique technology is a very special medium to sculpt in. A medium of ownership, cryptographic truth, and decentralized oracles. It's a place where randomness is rare and special. After years of play testing the original version and honing my skills in Development and Product Management, the 2023 Chainlink Hackathon inspired Tippi to create a game that not only is engaging and fun but also builds in progressive decentralization.

Tippi's inspiration: A much simpler version of this game was my first "project of my own" that I built about 3 years ago. This is my 5th Chainlink Hack, and I wanted to show myself and the world how far we (web3 and me) have come. I want to show the possiblities of free minting as a token gate for authentication of users, how Chainlink Price Feeds make it easy to have a business model in USD, and inspire my new teammate Yaoyao and old friends Aire and Arien to keep contributing to this open-source web3 gaming project.

Lunasol's inspiration: This is my first web3 hackathon, and before I started I only understood maybe 2% of this concept. After I met Tippi and hear his creative and funny idea for the game, I wanted to contribute and learn more about Chainlink. I wanted to add real-time chat functionality using sockets so I can play with my friends, and I think its cool that I can make a deck to help people learn Chinese Characters. image of Thirdweb Dashboard

What it does

DDEUX is a unique blockchain-based mobile-first card game. In Level 1, players deduce which card their friends chose using yes/no questions. The game uses NFT access keys that allow players to unlock Official decks, partake in voting, and build towards a distinctive web3 gaming experience. Additionally, players can save their ranked matches on-chain through buying a Chainlink Price Feed enabled NFT. The game aims to create a dynamic environment where players can eventually make, sell, and earn with their own card decks.

How we built it

DDEUX was developed using a combination of blockchain and web technologies. The smart contracts that manage the NFT access keys and other blockchain-related aspects of the game were written in Solidity and deployed on the MATIC Mumbai testnet. Chainlink was integrated to enable fetching off-chain data for price conversion, so that we can charge $2 (or $0.02, as currently on testnet) in many supported digital currencies (right now, just MATIC).

For the frontend, DDEUX leverages Next.js as a React framework, which is known for its performance and features such as server-side rendering. Next.js was crucial in creating an efficient and scalable web interface. TailwindCSS was utilized for styling, allowing for a highly responsive and visually appealing design, especially with the cards and detailed views.

One of the key features in DDEUX is the ability to choose and interact with cards. The integration with The Movie Database (TMDB) API was implemented to temporarily fetch data of famous people, serving as a placeholder before final custom cards are put in place.

To guide the players, tooltips were added that dynamically reflect the state of the game and provide helpful tips. These tooltips were developed to be responsive and to adapt according to the actions taken by the players.

The game also features sound effects and background music that can be toggled on or off, adding to the overall user experience.

For user authentication and interaction with blockchain elements, Thirdweb was integrated. Thirdweb makes it easier to handle blockchain interactions in a React environment and helped in managing aspects such as claiming NFT access keys. We used Thirdweb Auth to redirect the user to the landing page if they haven't claimed the OG Default Deck Access NFT.

Lastly, all the development was version-controlled using Git and hosted on GitHub. The project also incorporated an open-source approach, allowing for community contributions.

Challenges we ran into

State Management for Tooltips: Creating tooltips that had access to the state of the app and could adapt dynamically according to the user's actions was challenging. This involved intricate state management and synchronization across different components.

NFTs and Blockchain Integration: Implementing NFTs and smart contracts using Solidity, and integrating them with the frontend was an elaborate process that demanded understanding of blockchain concepts and ensuring secure and effective integration.

Responsive Design: Ensuring that the game is mobile-friendly and responsive on all devices required meticulous styling and layout planning.

Sound and Music Integration: Incorporating sound effects and background music that can be toggled on or off involved understanding how to handle media in a web app efficiently.

Handling User Interaction with Cards: Implementing features like flipping the cards and keeping track of the user’s choices and guesses demanded complex logic and interaction handling.

Balancing Blockchain and User Experience: Finding the right balance between utilizing blockchain for its benefits while still ensuring a fast and smooth user experience was a constant challenge.

Open Source Contributions and Collaboration: Managing an open-source project involves challenges in coordination, reviewing contributions, and ensuring that the codebase remains consistent and maintainable.

Choosing an Open-Source License: Deciding on an open-source license that encourages community involvement while protecting the original idea and project integrity was a challenge.

User Authentication and Blockchain Interaction: Integrating Thirdweb for user authentication and facilitating interactions with the blockchain was a new area to explore and required careful implementation.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Successfully integrating NFTs as access keys that unlock additional game features.
Implementing Chainlink for real-time off-chain/on-chain data.
Adding sockets and a backend server to track the game state.
Building smart contracts effectively with Solidity.
Crafting a unique gaming experience by combining traditional card game elements with blockchain technology.

What we learned

Deeper understanding of smart contract development with Solidity.
Efficiently integrating Chainlink for on-chain data.
Best practices for NFT integration in gaming.
Balancing gameplay and blockchain elements for an engaging experience.
Pass message bidirectional with WebSocket.
Redux to sync.

What's next for DDEUX the game

Introduction of Round 2, expanding the gameplay.
Adding more Functions (such as adding OpenAI chatgpt api with chainlink function.)
We ran out of time to fully implement the RankedMatches logic
Enabling players to create, sell, and earn through their own card decks.
Launching a marketplace for trading and buying card decks.
Constantly iterating and introducing new features and cards to keep the game dynamic.