The Games That Inspired Us
As blockchain gaming continues to evolve, we are looking forward to a wealth of new exciting titles. Decentralization will mean more opportunities for real player involvement and fairer sharing of the value created by game communities — but, once the technical barriers that limit developers are overcome, what kinds of games will emerge? And what principles should guide studios looking to explore this new sector?
At Ajuna, we have created a platform for unlimited creativity and innovation. We are driven by our deep belief in the power of blockchain, and our passion for gaming. We’ve been inspired by games that proved how exciting, how engaging, and creative the medium can be — these are some of the milestones that showed the way.
The OG: Super Mario
Way back in the 1980s, Nintendo brought arcade hero Mario into gamers’ homes with Super Mario Bros on the NES and Super Mario Land on the Game Boy. Everybody’s favorite Italian plumber bounced his way through these beloved platformers with perky music, charming character design, and arguably the best level design around. Super Mario Bros was credited with rescuing the video game industry after the market was flooded with poor-quality titles that turned consumers off, and even after 35 years, the appeal hasn’t diminished.
What we learned: Great design and polished execution matter.
The game changer: Doom
Doom hit the scene like an earthquake. It wasn’t just a revolution in 3D movement — it introduced the thrill of multiplayer gaming, even though at the time, gamers usually had to physically connect their computers. LAN parties were messy, but they were awesome. And it showed how much value could be added by user modding. Doom’s creator’s id Software welcomed modders, keeping necessary data in easily accessible WAD files (for “Where’s All the Data?”) and even releasing the source code in 1997, four years after launch.
What we learned: Shared experience is worth so much more — and that makes the community a game’s greatest asset.
The new world: Myst
Launched a few months before Doom, Myst introduced a vastly different take on 3D exploration. No blood-drenched corridors and jump scares here, but rather a beautifully rendered fantasy island with puzzles to be solved and no pressure. Although some keen gamers were frustrated by Myst’s lack of action, mainstream critics were entranced by the beauty of its design and its gentle pace. Myst demonstrated a different style of adventure.
What we learned: Adventure games don’t have to rely on fast action, as long as there’s a compelling storyline.
The crowd pleaser: Halo
Halo followed in Doom’s footsteps with a high-octane shooter that brought multiplayer action to consoles, and (in the sequel) introduced online matchmaking so that you could enjoy a brutal deathmatch even when your friends weren’t available. Bungie also learned from Doom’s enthusiastic support of modders, providing tools for players to make Custom Games and publicly celebrating their creations.
What we learned: Community is everything. Make it easy for players to find each other, and to build on your base.
The real RPG: Ultima Underworld
Back in 1992, “role-playing” video games didn’t allow that much scope for role-playing. The game pretty much told you what to do. Ultima Underworld was different. The designers of this dungeon crawler wanted it to feel like you were there in the dungeon — and that shows in everything from the movement (with a first-person perspective and real-time scrolling) to the scope for decision making.
What we learned: Gamers need agency, and freedom to explore. Don’t limit your storytelling.
The item frenzy: Diablo II
The action RPG that spawned a hundred clones, Diablo II introduced a new level of detail and variation across the board. The settings were richer and more diverse than anything we’d seen before. The character classes were far more nuanced. And the items were a dazzling array of treasures; each had its special powers, pushing you to grind harder to find and earn the best loot. All that stuff gave players plenty to talk about and plenty of reasons to replay.
What we learned: Stuff is cool. Stuff that does great stuff is way cooler.
The really open world: Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Morrowind’s enormous world and odd, even creepy creatures introduced an element of pleasurable alienation to roleplaying games. Without navigational aids, players were forced to take their time exploring — and while it was quite common to get lost, ultimately that just made for deeper immersion. As weird as it was, the vast, detailed landscape came to feel surprisingly real, and the adventure constantly surprising. Surprising. Just as in real life, bad decisions weren’t always apparent at the time, but then again, a terrible choice might lead you down a fascinating alternate path. It was refreshingly different from the usual sense of being funneled down a predetermined plotline, no matter what.
What we learned: Players don’t need handholding — even over huge areas, and sprawling storylines, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had from exploring freely.
The team builder: Dark Age of Camelot
Three years before World of Warcraft, there was a massive online game that pitted players against each other in never-ending feuds — and it’s still beloved today. What Dark Age of Camelot did better than any other MMORPG is that it divided its world into three realms, giving different character classes to each. The resulting asymmetry kept things interesting and fostered a strong sense of loyalty, as well as fierce competition.
What we learned: Careful game design doesn’t just make for better adventures, it can build camaraderie and encourage real friendships. That gives a game longevity.
Building on the past
Our favorite classic games span a wide range of styles and genres, but each one did at least one thing well, in turn leaving their mark on the next wave of games. Now, at the birth of a new era in gaming, we are excited to provide the tools to build decentralized games that will harness those influences and add their special elements for brand-new experiences.
It’s easy to see that blockchain naturally supports many of the qualities that made these iconic games stand out: strong community engagement, immersive, wide-open worlds, and unique collectible items. Although many early blockchain games were fairly limited in scope, we are starting to see titles emerge that offer far greater excitement. Even better experiences are still on the way.
Ajuna was formed out of our desire to create a compelling blockchain game and our own experience with the technical hurdles involved. We know what makes for a great user experience, and we know what gets in the way of delivering that. By simplifying the development process, we free creators to focus on making amazing games.
Developers can access and leverage the leading gaming engines — Unreal and Unity — through Ajuna. We cut game development time from months to days, allowing creators to churn out captivating titles within a short period and creating room for research and experiments. Developers can test triple-A games in the blockchain environment, and tailor them to meet user expectations. And of course, we facilitate NFT integration, even making it possible to create in-game assets that can be imported to other games. That opens up so many possibilities for deeper immersion and wider exploration.
What makes a game successful has always come down to imagination and user experience. Ajuna frees developers to follow their creativity and supports them in delivering a great experience. What exactly that will look like — that’s the part we can’t wait to see.
About Ajuna
Ajuna Network is a Swiss-based decentralized gaming platform bringing blockchain gaming into the mainstream by integrating GameFi functionality with the world’s leading development engines, Unreal and Unity. Built on Substrate, Ajuna leverages the full potential of the Polkadot ecosystem to provide developers with a modular toolbox to add fully-featured GameFi functionalities to their games easily. Ajuna’s ultimate goal is to create real value for both gamers and developers by providing a fully interoperable decentralized ecosystem for games and virtual goods.
