Shadow Mines

Dashboard
Play Page
Execution Flow
User Profile
User Analytics

Inspiration

We wanted to explore how privacy and blockchain technologies could be used beyond traditional financial applications. While thinking about online gaming experiences, we noticed that many platforms rely heavily on centralized systems where users have little visibility into fairness, ownership, or transparency. We also felt that most gaming platforms focus only on transactions and ignore progression, engagement, and long-term user experience. That inspired us to build Shadow Mines — a privacy-first strategic risk game powered by Midnight smart contracts and Web3, designed around progression, transparency, and player experience rather than simply betting mechanics. Since we were completely new to Web3 and the Midnight ecosystem, this hackathon also became a challenge to push ourselves outside our comfort zone and learn something entirely new.

What it does

Shadow Mines is a strategic tile-based game where players uncover blocks containing hidden Gems and Bombs. Each gem increases the reward multiplier and pushes players to decide whether to continue taking risks or cash out. Hitting a bomb ends the session.

The platform includes two gameplay modes: Practice Mode - Free starter credits No real money required Beginner-friendly onboarding XP and progression rewards

Stake Mode - Wallet-based gameplay Midnight smart contract-powered logic Automated reward handling

Beyond gameplay, Shadow Mines includes: User profiles XP and progression levels Missions and achievements Leaderboards Referral rewards Analytics dashboard Daily rewards and engagement systems Game history tracking

The goal was to make the project feel like a complete gaming ecosystem instead of a simple game.

How we built it

We built Shadow Mines using: Frontend - React.js Tailwind CSS Framer Motion

Backend - Node.js Express.js

Database - MongoDB

Blockchain - Midnight smart contracts Lace Midnight Wallet integration Wallet authentication and gameplay interaction through Web3

MongoDB manages user profiles, game history, analytics, referrals, progression systems, and leaderboards, while Midnight smart contracts handle game logic, rewards, and transaction flow.

Since we were beginners in Web3, a large part of our development process involved reading documentation, researching wallet integrations, understanding smart contract concepts, and learning how blockchain systems interact with traditional backend applications.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was designing the project so it felt like a strategy and progression platform rather than a traditional betting application.

Another major challenge was that we started with very little Web3 experience. Understanding Midnight concepts, exploring documentation, learning wallet integrations, and deciding what should be stored on-chain vs off-chain required a lot of research and experimentation.

We also had to carefully think about:

making Midnight smart contracts the source of truth handling profile and leaderboard systems efficiently designing scalable progression systems creating onboarding systems with starter credits and practice mode

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that Shadow Mines evolved from a simple game concept into a larger gaming ecosystem.

Some features we’re especially proud of:

Dual gameplay modes (Practice + Stake) Starter credit onboarding system User progression and XP levels Missions and achievements Leaderboards and analytics Referral and engagement systems Lace Midnight Wallet integration Midnight smart contract architecture

We're especially proud that despite being complete beginners in Web3, we stepped outside our comfort zone, learned new technologies quickly, and built a working project in a completely unfamiliar ecosystem.

What we learned

This project taught us a lot about combining traditional backend systems with blockchain applications.

We learned:

integrating Lace Midnight Wallet understanding Midnight smart contract architecture structuring MongoDB for scalable game systems balancing on-chain and off-chain data building engagement systems through missions and progression designing privacy-focused Web3 experiences

Most importantly, we learned that being a beginner in a new field shouldn't stop us from building ambitious ideas. A lot of this project came from reading docs, experimenting, and learning by building.

What's next for Shadow Mines

Our vision is to grow Shadow Mines into a complete privacy-powered gaming ecosystem.

Future plans include:

Multiplayer rooms Weekly tournaments Seasonal events NFT skins and cosmetics AI-powered personalization Friends and social systems Mobile application support Community-driven challenges

We want Shadow Mines to become more than just a game — a scalable Web3 platform centered around strategy, progression, and privacy.