The problem Pixotchi 🌱 solves

Pixotchi is here to bring fun to Base and solve the 'boredom' issue in blockchain gaming space. A tamagotchi and frenpet inspired gaming dapp, continuously growing with new features, plant species, arcade games and more! Our goal is to onboard more players from both web2 and web3 and showcase how smooth an onboarding can be on Base! Below is how we tackle some common concerns in the Crypto space:

• Accessibility: Privy simplifies onboarding for both crypto newcomers and enthusiasts. Base integration provides smooth, cost-effective gaming experience.

• Engaging gameplay: Combines gardening in Tamagotchi style with strategy through caring for your plant, leaderboards, attacking, lands and mini-games.

• Fair and safe tokenomics: $SEED token launched without team pre-mine or reserved token. Aligning developer and player interests.

• Subtle education: Gameplay naturally introduces blockchain concepts like tokens, wallets, and onchain assets. While playing the game, player is encouraged to be interactive with blockchain.

• Community focus: Obtaining direct feedback and maintaining transparent communication with community. Leaderboards, plant passports, and garden interactions foster player connections.

• Mobile-first: It's important to keep attending your onchain garden on the fly so our PWA design ensures easy access on iOS and Android devices on the go!

• Performance and Volume based rewards: ETH distribution incentivizes skill and engagement on blockchain and with dapp. Simply level up your plant and earn ETH.

• Onchain ownership: Plant Passports verify stats, in-game asset and ownership.

• Continuous development: Regular updates to the UI, Arcade, Passport, Lands and V3, all are smart part of our 2 year long internal roadmap for features.

Pixotchi makes blockchain gaming accessible and fun, potentially drawing new users into the wider crypto ecosystem through its engaging, mobile-friendly approach.

Challenges I ran into

Pixotchi Public vanilla dapp was deployed on 28th of May, 2024 and developed during June.

During development, we faced several concerns & here is how we resolved them:

1. Balancing Game Economy

   • Challenge: Ensuring $SEED token utility without compromising game balance.
   • Solution: Implementin a dynamic pricing model and introduced a burn rate and 5% tax system to maintain economic stability along with introducing staking and a secondary in-game token.

2. Cross-Platform Compatibility

   • Challenge: Achieving consistent performance across iOS, Android and soon Desktop!
   • Solution: Built with Privy and adopted PWA technology, extensively testing on various devices to ensure smooth operation.

3. Smart Contract Optimization

   • Challenge: High gas fees on Base during peak usage.
   • Solution: Choosing Base as our L2 of choice, optimizing further and refactoring smart contracts to batch operations, reducing transaction frequency and costs, making it more cost effiecent.

4. User Onboarding Friction

   • Challenge: Initial complexity in wallet creation deterred new users and trust issues with connecting main wallets to 'a new dapp'.
   • Solution: Privy and SmartWallet for seamless wallet creation with Embedded wallet approach, significantly improving onboarding rates, safety of users assets and it's recovery!

5. Scalability Issues

   • Challenge: Performance bottlenecks as user base grew rapidly.
   • Solution: Implemented caching strategies and optimized database queries to handle increased load.

6. Bot Prevention

   • Challenge: Bots and scripts exploiting game mechanics for unfair advantages.
   • Solution: Developed a anti-bot measures including signiture minting

These challenges pushed us to innovate, resulting in a more robust and user-friendly game. Each solution not only addressed the immediate issue but also improved Pixotchi's overall quality and player experience.