Why is it that the blockchain game based on Monopoly is very interesting?

Since the end of last year, the encryption of cats has become a hit, and the game has become one of the most popular entrepreneurial directions in the blockchain field. At the same time, a large number of games that imitate the encryption cat mode have emerged, but it is rare to see the value-added and candy reward models.

Hash World is a blockchain game similar to Monopoly. In Hash World, a parallel virtual world based on LBS mechanism, users can buy and sell land and dig treasures. At the same time, Hash World also proposed land competition, online and offline integration, and self-designed land. At present, Hash World has completed three rounds of financing led by institutions such as Danhua Capital and Weihun Capital, with more than one million users.

Recently, the chain catcher invited an interview with Jia Yingjun, the founder of Hash World. In this interview, he talked about the similar views on blockchain games and the latest development plan of Hash World, which is worth reading.

Open the key to the blockchain gate

Chain Catcher: What are the problems with blockchain games compared to traditional games?

Jia Yingwei: I think the blockchain is more important for the promotion of the game. First, the entire process of the blockchain is more open and transparent, especially for the generation of some random numbers. The open and transparent experience provided by the blockchain is especially attractive for small and medium-sized players. For example, SSR cards are drawn. Maybe Netease judges that you are a Sheet metal users deliberately don't let you get them, so you have to buy them. This kind of black box operation is especially obvious in the centralized game, which can also be called big data discrimination. But the blockchain makes these processes more open and transparent. The game code on the chain is open source, and we can't modify it ourselves.

Second, the previous game props economic system is incomplete, there are props super-discovery, such as game publishers originally limited to issue 10 sets of special equipment, but in order to make money, the final release of 100 sets, and the blockchain can be used for equipment Uniquely determined, this equipment can not only be preserved forever, but also will continue to appreciate due to its scarcity;

Third, the blockchain can enhance the mobility of game items. If the user is tired of playing a game and wants to change the game to play, and the two games have cooperation, then the user does not need to sell their game account, only need to convert the old game currency into assets and props in the new game. Just fine. This not only enhances the liquidity of the game, but also helps in product innovation and attracts more excellent developers.

Chain Catcher: So why haven't you seen many traditional game chains yet?

Jia Yingwei: Because there are inherent contradictions of interests between the two. For traditional game developers, opaque can make more money. If the props are not freely circulated, users can buy more props. They are used to making money by using the central node monopoly, so there is no power to drive, and there is no power to kill their own lives. .

Chain Catcher: But now there are very few developers of native blockchain games.

Jia Yingwei: This is because the underlying technology of the entire blockchain is still in its infancy, and it cannot carry such high transaction volume and traffic. The blockchain is equivalent to a native DOS system, and no development engine is available. This requires a high level of comprehensive practical and innovative capabilities for the team. In general, hire a mature blockchain engineer for at least $500,000 a year, and most blockchain gaming companies have no human or financial resources to do this.

Chain Catcher: What is the current team structure in Hash World?

Jia Yingwei: Our company now has more than 60 people, and the main members are basically Tsinghua University alumni. My doctoral degree is in the Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University. The main research direction is system design and optimization. In 17 years, I launched the Tsinghua University Blockchain Association. Another co-founder is Dr. Aron, Ph.D., Department of Computer Science, Tsinghua University. He is a smart contract. Very researched and served as technical director at the mobile currency exchange; another co-founder Eric graduated from Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, once founded an AR/VR company and was acquired; in the game direction, we have a The product manager who previously developed casual games on Sina Weibo has brought tens of millions of traffic to Weibo.

Chain Catcher: Why do you choose to do blockchain games?

Jia Yingwei: I first came into contact with the blockchain when I went to the Silicon Valley summer internship in 2016. At that time, I entered a VC to do venture capital, and I investigated many blockchain related companies in two months. Since then, I have begun to delve into blockchain technology.

After returning to China, I launched the Tsinghua Blockchain Association and often shared the blockchain technology with alumni. At the end of last year, the crypto cat was particularly popular. After researching, we found that the way of this game is particularly attractive to more people. Compared with other fields, the threshold for users to enter the game is relatively low, so we thought of making a monopoly as a monopoly. The basic blockchain game allows more people to understand and focus on blockchain technology and then attract more people to join the community.

Chain Catcher: The blockchain game based on Monopoly is very interesting. How do you understand this?

Jia Yingwei: In fact, the Hash World can be understood as a parallel virtual world based on the LBS mechanism. The main gameplay is to buy and sell land and dig land treasures. Users can use HSC to purchase real-world construction land in the Hash World. These land will be displayed on the homepage and used by ordinary users to obtain questions such as Bitcoin and Ethereum through answering questions and playing games. The landlord also You can get an additional 10% of all rewards for the land, which is equivalent to "getting money while lying down."

These games are very similar to the monopoly we used to play. Users know and understand the blockchain by doing games and completing tasks. For example, what is a smart contract, what is a digital asset, etc., the hash world will be a small white user open area. A key to the chain door.

Chain Catcher: At present, in the Hash World, what links can help Xiaobai to learn blockchain knowledge?

Jia Yingwei: First of all, after the user flops the reward, the system will give a brief introduction to the currency; secondly, when the user wins the reward in the answering game, the question bank will contain many blockchain questions and answers, and the answer can be obtained. More rewards; at the same time, our application has a special "blockchain knowledge" column, which is the world's first Chinese blockchain dictionary published together with partners such as Virgin Capital and Jiaziguangnian. We have fairly answered many blockchain knowledge to users; we have also recently launched an 80-page serial blockchain comic to help Xiaobai users understand blockchain technology.

In fact, the process of users buying and selling land in the Hash World itself is also subtly enhancing their understanding of the concepts of smart contracts and confirmation.

Augmented Real World and Virtual World Interaction

Chain Catcher: How is the Hash World now mainly promoted? How to find small white users more accurately?

Jia Yingwei: We don't have large-scale advertising now, mainly relying on spontaneous communication and word-of-mouth communication. At the user incentive level, we have now introduced a more popular three-level apprenticeship system. Each new user can get HSC rewards when registering in the hash world. At the same time, the user invites "apprentice" and "apprentice" to invite new "apprentices". After that, you can get a certain amount of reward.

Chain Catcher: What is the current user data in the Hash World?

Jia Yingwei: The Hash World has been online for more than three months. The world has more than 1 million users. The average number of heavy game users who play every day is about 70,000, and the monthly number is about 300,000-400,000.

Chain Catcher: Hash World as a game platform for 70,000 users, how to ensure the smoothness of the system?

Jia Yingwei: We adopt the Hybrid architecture of centralization and decentralization. Some systems are placed on the chain, and some systems are placed under the chain. For example, the ownership of assets and the process of land auctions are placed on the chain to ensure openness and transparency. However, we have put the specific gameplay such as image rendering into the offline traditional server, which provides users with a smoother user experience, not as serious as a cat.

Chain Catcher: Sometimes the user's freshness of the game will soon fade, such as encryption cats, how old is the old user of the hash world?

Jia Yingwei: At present, our 7-day retention is 60%. In fact, we found a very interesting thing, that is, the recall success rate is relatively high. For example, if a player played in February, but he did not continue to use it, many people will come back after we send the recall message. The reason is his The assets are here and his land is here. In other words, through this kind of permanent assets, Hash World has established a kind of detachment from products and players, more similar to the relationship between shareholders and companies, which is more attractive and longer life for users. cycle.

Chain Catcher: What new gameplay will you introduce to improve the playability of the game?

Jia Yingwei: First of all, users can develop their own land in the future. The better the development, the higher the faster, the more the benefits will be;

Secondly, we are considering making a blockchain digital asset trading mall, mapping the ownership of virtual assets with real assets. We have recently been discussing a real estate project with Australian partners so that users can buy them in the hash world. Corresponding real rights corresponding to some real land. At the same time, we are still talking about intangible assets such as music copyrights and art painting copyrights;

After the future user group is bigger, offline merchants will have the motivation to go online for more publicity, such as buying their own stores in the hash world, and then doing more promotion, users playing games in this store. Earned some coupons that can be used offline, allowing more online and offline interaction.

Chain Catcher: Does the Hash World map real-world buildings to virtual worlds and use the permanent property of virtual buildings for user transactions, will there be some legal compliance issues?

Jia Yingwei: We are now very clearly distinguished. The virtual land assets sold are game props. It is the regional property rights enclosed by a certain latitude and longitude coordinate in the virtual parallel world of the hash world. It does not represent real property rights. It is completely independent and has nothing to do with it.

Chain Catcher: How many digital assets did the Hash World send in these months?

Jia Yingwei: The total value is close to 10 million yuan, and early users have earned hundreds of dollars. As the entire currency market is picking up and the currency is appreciating, the amount of issuance will slowly decrease.

Chain Catcher: Where are the main sources of digital assets outside of HSC?

Jia Yingwei: All are provided by sponsors, such as Yunlai and OKex. Some of them like Bitcoin are purchased by ourselves, and some are donated by some famous people in the society to support our community development.

Chain Catcher: What sources of income does the company currently have?

Jia Yingwei: We mainly obtain advertisements and diversions for advertising and diversion of some project communities and transactions, and then there are transaction fees. We will deduct 2% of the handling fee for each HSC transaction. In-game purchases, users use HSC to purchase our land, and we also earn revenue. At this stage, the company has achieved profitability.

Chain Catcher: Hash World has carried out three rounds of financing in the past six months. Why is there such a strong financing demand?

Jia Yingwei: Hash World will increase investment in technology research and development and overseas market expansion to promote rapid business development, which requires more financial support. On the one hand, we have recruited a world-class technology development team on a global scale to seize the opportunities in the blockchain talent competition. The investment in technology accounts for more than 50% of the company's current expenditure, and will continue to increase. On the other hand, we are beginning to promote the world. The United States, Singapore and Hong Kong have already established local teams, and are actively expanding markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia. These aspects also require capital support.

Chain Catcher: At present, most blockchain games are driven by props or candy rewards. Users buy game props and gain value-added benefits. This will cause most players to benefit from the game rather than for leisure. Blockchain game, how do you think about this phenomenon?

Jia Yingwei: Users come to a game, not in order to make money, but to gain a sense of game and a different experience. Therefore, how to combine the blockchain technology to create a better user experience is crucial. The simple item value-added or candy reward can only be reduced to Ponzi scheme or wool platform. The innovation of gameplay is the key to long-term development.

Chain Catcher: How do you think about the future development of blockchain games?

Jia Yingwei: With the development of science and technology, the blockchain consensus will be spread to every corner of life. Taking Hash World as an example, blockchain games can choose to deepen the digital asset trading platform based on their own user scale, and create an ecological model of “community + transaction” to guide their purchase or sales behavior through social interaction and content. . In the future, the biggest feature of this ecology should be Open, more diverse, coordinated and carrying capacity, and the value of digital assets can be exchanged between chains.

However, there is still a long way to go in the future of blockchain games. On the one hand, the infrastructure is still not perfect enough to support large-scale game applications; on the other hand, people are misunderstood about blockchain games. Many people think that the blockchain game is a game that runs completely on the blockchain. This view is particularly misleading, and it is not a thinking from the user's point of view.

Blockchain technology has advantages in community attributes, fairness and transparency, and asset flow. It should be used in these areas. For gameplay and experience, if centralization is more efficient and convenient, then it should be done locally. Blockchain games shouldn't be awesome, but look at what users need.

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