Why Wolf Game is Innovative
Wolf Game represents a new paradigm in blockchain gaming. Here's what sets it apart.
Low Time Requirement, High Thought Requirement
Wolf Game is simple to play and requires little of your time, but requires much thought to compete effectively. Players of Risky Game and Alpha Game experienced this phenomenon with very few choices available. Now, multiply your range of choices by 10 for the full game.
Strategic questions you'll face:
- Which Community should I collect WATER in?
- When is the right time to remove my sheep from the barn?
- Should I build a den or a bathhouse?
- Shall I share, or be greedy?
The list goes on.
Every action you take will ultimately impact your WOOL winnings. Nothing is superfluous. Nothing is for decoration. And there is no free lunch.
The game also incorporates a new type of gameplay with asynchronous PvP game theory. By not requiring users to be online at the same time for head-to-head competition, users are more able to compete based on their availability; they also must be more strategic, and plan for a variety of scenarios.
Ubiquitous, Novel Macro & Micro Game Theory
The outcome and impact of every choice you make in Wolf Game is dependent on the strategy and choices of other players, and social dynamics. The game includes both macro-level game theory and micro games centered on human psychology and economics.
Sheep Breeding Example
While many breeding mechanics in NFTs and elsewhere are predictable, Sheep breeding is gamified, and your newly bred Sheep (itself, a mintable NFT) can be stolen by other players.
At a macro level, Sheep must be selective about when and where to breed based on:
- Barn availability (determined by Landowners and Sheep)
- Breeding fees (determined by Landowners)
- Wolf population and status (determined by Wolf owners)
- Opportunity costs and market dynamics
Wolves must be selective about when to attempt to steal a Gen 2, and which barn to target based on many of the same factors.
Micro Games
Macro game theory transitions to the micro when a Wolf attempts to steal a Sheep and finds itself in a head-to-head game. When a Wolf attempts to loot a Sheep, an asynchronous head-to-head game is played between the two players.
The game launches with two of these head-to-head micro games. Players must utilize information about the game state and historical information to inform their decision-making.
At every step of the game, all players' choices are interlinked.
Player-Guided, Evolving Economy with Active Landowners
As in real-world economies, supply and demand will determine many of the values in the game economy:
- Community tax rates will be voted on by Landowners
- Fees to breed and recharge in structures will also be set by them, in WOOL or PLUMS
In many games of the past, Landowners could simply collect fees passively. In Wolf Game, Landowners who do not keep up with the times will falter, impacting not only themselves but their wider Communities.
Furthermore, taxes of Landowners who do not engage with the game will be burned.
Off-chain Resources and In-Game AMM
Designing high-performing single-token game economies is difficult, and multi-token economies are prone to user confusion, low liquidity, and high transaction costs.
Wolf Game aims to unite the best of both worlds:
- A single-token economy centered around WOOL
- Six off-chain resources: CHOPS, PELTS, GRASS, STONE, WATER, WOOD
These off-chain resources are exchangeable for one another in the in-game AMM, providing:
- High liquidity
- No transaction costs
- The same price discovery algorithm that we are all familiar with
Diverse Game & Metagame Experiences
Gameplay in Wolf Game is not only about the video game. It is also about the wider crypto metagame played around:
- The various tokens one can hold
- The communities we are part of
- The dissemination of information
- The relationships and alliances we form
Wolf Game is designed to provide innovative game mechanics and a best-in-class metagame experience for its participants, with a vast range of choices for players in both dimensions.
Land, Wolves, Sheep, and Farmers each provide unique gameplay experiences and decision points.
Technology & Transparency
With every architecture decision, we must consider carefully what lives in the Web3 world and what lives in the Web2 world. Factors that influence these decisions include:
- The state of blockchain technology and the associated user experience
- Innovation and build speed
- Desired gameplay mechanics
Evolution of Architecture
The original Wolf Game was an entirely on-chain game. Then:
- The initial design of the full game called for use of an L2
- Subsequently, the revamped design called for a Web3-Web2 hybrid architecture on Abstract with zero knowledge proofs for stealing and looting gameplay
- Ultimately, we proceeded with the paradigm of ownership on-chain, and gameplay off-chain
We are taking an innovation-first approach to product development and will always be evaluating the on-chain versus off-chain tradeoffs as the game and space advance.
Why Gameplay is Off-chain
Innovation Speed: Expanding the horizons of Web3 gaming and being a leading community in the space require building rapidly. The hybrid architecture has enabled faster development and game design improvement. Being able to iterate rapidly without the development overhead of numerous smart contracts is important, especially in early stages.
Inherent Trust: People join communities specifically because they trust teams who have shown a consistent ability to execute and a desire to innovate. We make decisions every day with the entirety of the Wolf Game community in mind. These decisions are more impactful than whether the game mechanics themselves live on the blockchain.
User Experience: The feature set of 100% on-chain gaming has its limits. Blockchain transparency creates challenges around some of the most exciting forms of game theory, including gameplay based on hidden information and information asymmetry. These challenges are solvable on the blockchain, with time.
Evolving Economy
The Wolf Game economy is a living, breathing ecosystem designed to function like real-world economies.
While the actions of players will have the foremost influence on the economy, The Shepherd will also guide the economy and address imbalances. With tuning controls in place, the game can be steered in the right direction.