Demystifying the groundbreaking world of Paima Engine and on-chain games

Today, we invited Sebastien Guillemot, co-founder of PaimaStudios and dcspark, to discuss Web3 game engine and on-chain games.

In this episode, we delve into the fields of on-chain gaming and self-governing worlds, engaging in conversations with pioneers who have made significant contributions to these fields.

Our mission is to conduct exclusive interviews with the creators, innovators and visionaries of the blockchain gaming world. We aim to reveal their unique perspectives, gain insight into their innovative projects, and explore the intersection between blockchain technology and gaming.

Highlights

• Introduce the Paima engine and the on-chain games built on it, including Jungle Wars, Volcanees NFT, Wrath of the Jungle, Tarochi, and Oracle RPG;
• Compare the Paima engine with engines such as MUD, DOJO, World Engine and Curio;
• Why Paima chose to deploy on Milkomeda;
• From chain games to self-governing world;
• Paima’s different game design models;
• How to improve the user experience of on-chain games and solve user acquisition problems.

Host: KaiKai

**Guest: **Sebastien Guillemot

Paima Studios

Paima Studios is the framework for on-chain games and has created on-chain games from Japan.

Paima Studios is also the core developer of the Paima Engine: a novel Layer 2 solution that allows for the creation of on-chain games linked to NFTs, where game states can be linked to NFTs.

Takes Engine

Paima Engine is the industry-leading framework for creating Layer 2 solutions for games, gamification, and autonomous worlds. Paima addresses four major barriers to Web3 adoption: 1. Expensive development costs; 2. Security risks; 3. Difficulty in user acquisition; 4. Challenges in iteration. The Paima engine provides four solutions: 1. Simplify development costs; 2. Safer interactions; 3. Easy user acquisition; 4. Smooth iterations.

Based on the Paima engine, the team has also developed several on-chain games, including playable Jungle Wars, Volcanees NFT, and Wrath of the Jungle, while continuing to develop Tarochi, Oracle RPG, and more.

Jungle Wars: NFT Rumble

Jungle Wars, a casual on-chain PvP game, was the first to demonstrate the potential of trustless Web3 gaming. Built with the Paima engine, the game implements a completely new gameplay where all player actions are recorded in blockchain data and can be replayed from it. In addition, Jungle Wars also highlights a brand new game primitive, Stateful NFTs (Stateful NFTs), where player statistics are accumulated into an evolving NFT as the game is played.

Volcaneers NFT

Volcaneers are the first stateful NFTs to launch. This new type of NFT opens up a whole new world where the value of your NFT will accumulate based on the achievements, stats and other in-game accolades your NFT has achieved. Volcaneers are the first step into the emerging world of stateful NFTs.

Wrath of the Jungle: Tower Defense

Wrath of the Jungle: Tower Defense is a fast-paced game where players can choose to play as an attacker or a defender. As the attacker, the player will lead swarms of enemy creatures through the jungle, destroying the defenders’ base, while the defenders use a variety of defensive towers to fend off the attackers.

The game provides multiple maps for players to choose from, and players can upgrade their defense towers and acquire new abilities to maximize their defense capabilities. The game offers an exciting gaming experience for both attackers and defenders.

About Sebastien Guillemot

Sebastien: Hello, I’m Sebastien Guillemot. I’m the co-founder of PaimaStudios and dcspark. About five years ago, I officially entered the crypto field, and I became interested in Cardano, which also prompted me to travel to Japan, the birthplace of Cardano to live. I joined a company called America as Cardano’s 2nd engineer and eventually became the head of the Cardano R&D team.

After working there for about 2.5 years, I decided to take the plunge and start my own company, dcSpark. dcSpark focuses on general infrastructure, building Layer 1 blockchains and developer tools. During dcSpark, we had more and more interest in Layer 2 solutions.

Our focus shifted to Layer 2 solutions for non-EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) blockchains, as we observed that most of the attention was on Layer 2 solutions for scalability, whereas we saw 2 Potential for internal verifiability, aiming to add EVM support to non-EVM blockchains. This led us to develop and deploy our Layer 2 solution, Milkomeda, an optimistic upgrade of our brand, including support for Cardano.

After further evaluation, we realized that DeFi was already a widely explored field, and we wanted to pursue some different areas that others had not yet explored. Gaming is clearly a promising area, and we noticed a lack of well-optimized Layer 2 solutions for gaming use cases.

With this realization, about a year and a half ago, we established Paima Studios with the main goal of becoming a Layer 2 solution focused on on-chain gaming. We strive to create a platform that can enhance the gaming experience and bring innovation to the on-chain gaming ecosystem.

About Paima Engine

**AW Research: Can you introduce the Paima engine from another angle? **

**Sebastien: **It seems that most Layer 2 solutions are mainly focused on execution, similar to how Layer 1 is executed, such as Ethereum. However, you think of the Paima engine in a different way than the norm by thinking of it as a Layer 2 that focuses on data rather than execution. This means you pay more attention to how data is written, read and synced between chains, and how it is associated with user accounts and different NFTs. This is a unique paradigm you’ve chosen, seemingly driven by your interest in zk cryptography.

You mentioned that you tried to build a game using zk, but ran into scalability issues due to maximum circuit size constraints and progressively increasing proof times. In order to solve this problem, you think that an autonomous world, like a large and fast world, needs a solid data management platform at the core. Games often revolve around data management, involving user accounts, item ownership, and various interactions that rely on data management.

You see zk as a core component of the game, which is why Paima is the underlying underlying layer for these autonomous worlds, emphasizing the importance of data management in ensuring scalability and efficiency. By focusing on data, you aim to provide more scalable and sustainable solutions for building complex and interactive game worlds.

**AW Research:: At present, the game engines used to build games on the chain include MUD, DOJO, World Engine, and curio. What are the differences between the Paima engine and these game engines? Can you give an introduction? **

**Sebastien: ** In the autonomous world space, it’s interesting to see that different projects in the autonomous world space take different approaches to specific aspects of the problem.

For example, MUD pioneered the Entity-Component-System (ECS) architecture and primarily focused on building its component system using Solidity. Argus, on the other hand, focuses on cartography and aims to connect game worlds between different chains. DOJO has invested a lot of energy in the core zk technology, trying to create an effective zk platform.

As for Paima, our main focus is on scalability and user acquisition for autonomous worlds. One common use case we see in integrating AI is AI generating content for games.

An important challenge facing the current system is the one-way flow of information. Building models are mostly one-way and cannot update the world state. Paima aims to revolutionize this process by enabling two-way interactions, making it more dynamic and programmable. We effectively close the loop by passing user actions through powerless lectures and using the data to update the user’s NFT.

This unique approach sets Paima apart from other engines as we pursue more innovative directions. Despite appearing to be competitors, these engines can actually be combined synergistically. Progress can be made through a different World Engine mapping solution, leveraging the MUD’s smart contract state, and then layering Paima-like power on top of it.

By combining these diverse approaches, we can create more comprehensive and robust solutions for autonomous worlds that greatly enhance the overall gaming experience.

About on-chain games built on the Paima engine

**AW Research: Can you introduce the first on-chain game “Jungle Wars” built on the Paima engine? **

Sebastien：

Jungle Wars was the first game to be deployed on Milkomeda C1, demonstrating the Paima Engine’s ability to create simple yet engaging on-chain games. The game features a battleship-style gameplay where players can choose their favorite character from six ferocious jungle animals and engage in exciting turn-based battles against other players.

After the success of Jungle Wars, the Paima engine was upgraded to version 1 (Paima v1). The update introduces several key features, including gas transaction support, multi-chain compatibility, and state entities. Players can now own NFTs that level up based on their in-game actions, adding a dynamic and interactive element to the gaming experience.

Currently, the team is actively developing Paima v2, extending its support to layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism. This development will allow players to use NFTs on Ethereum while taking advantage of the cost-effectiveness of layer-two solutions for game settlement.

Additionally, the team is also focused on developing Tarochi, an on-chain RPG that promises to bring a more immersive and innovative experience to the blockchain gaming world.

Through continuous enhancements and innovations, Paima Studios strives to lead the way in creating enjoyable and rewarding on-chain gaming experiences for players.

**AW Research: Why are Jungle Wars, Volcaneers NFTs, and Wrath of the Jungle deployed on Milkomeda C1? **

**Sebastien:**First of all, my background and experience includes working on Cardano, which gives me a deep understanding of the Cardano community. They have been very supportive of me over the years and I have a personal connection with them.

Second, when we think about the gaming industry and what it takes for a game to be successful, enthusiastic players are critical. Unlike other industries that may require large liquidity providers or institutional investors, the gaming industry lies in enthusiastic players. The Cardano community is known for its passion and dedication, making it an ideal environment for a gaming NFT ecosystem. Especially for use cases that don’t get too involved with complex DeFi financial instruments, but instead focus on creating engaging experiences, the Cardano community can be a source of enthusiastic support for our gaming projects.

**AW Research: Can you introduce the on-chain game Oracle RPG built on Paima Engine, which seems to be a distributed chat-based GPT? **

Sebastien: The concept of Oracle RPG was developed as an on-chain artificial intelligence system for autonomous games. Many autonomous worlds include artificial intelligence components, and Oracle RPG serves as a proof-of-concept project to fill that need. In this game, players join and start with a blank NFT representing their character. They then describe their character in-game, and the NFT is visually updated to reflect the character’s attributes. As the game progresses, the NFT will dynamically change according to the player’s actions, such as entering the forest.

This demonstrates how Paima’s parallel system enables two-way interaction, enabling large world models to provide feedback and update NFTs, thereby affecting the state of the game. The decentralized nature of the system ensures that there is no reliance on a centralized AI provider like OpenAI, enabling a fully distributed experience.

As we further explored this concept, we started the Shinkai Network project. After showing the Oracle RPG demo to various projects, they expressed interest in using this AI system to drive NPCs (non-player characters) in their own autonomous worlds. However, providing AI at scale for multiple NPCs will face significant challenges. To solve this problem, we realized we needed a peer-to-peer distributed network designed specifically for AI agents with on-chain identities. Each NPC in the world has its own identity and interacts with other NPCs off-chain through the Shinkai Network. When NPCs make decisions, they submit relevant information to the chain.

is a peer-to-peer AI agent network with unique on-chain identities, and it is a viable solution for powering NPCs in on-chain games built on Paima.

**AW Research: Last year, you used Mina to design a new zero-knowledge game called “zk nonogram”. Can you briefly describe the game? If possible, can you share some interesting aspects in detail? **

**Sebastien: ** The reason we are interested in Mina Protocol is that for Paima, we want ZK Layer to meet two main needs. First, we need to support private inputs.

If you look at many current ZK platforms, they don’t support private computation. All content must be public. I don’t think this is great for a game where you really want to have private cards or private state. We need a ZK platform that supports private inputs, and Mina is one of the few platforms that provides this feature.

Second, we want the game to be easy to write. With Paima, you can write a game in JavaScript and Paima will convert it into an on-chain game. Fortunately, Mina shares the same philosophy. It allows you to write ZK circuits using JavaScript. This means that with Paima, you will be able to use the same programming language and environment to program the game and the ZK circuit for the game. This compatibility makes Mina a perfect fit for our needs.

About on-chain games and autonomous worlds

**AW Research: Can the game you build be considered an autonomous world? If not, do you consider building autonomous worlds in the future? **

**Sebastien: ** We are gradually moving towards our vision of a self-governing world. An example of our efforts is the Tarochi game, where we’re building an entrepreneurial role-playing game to move towards creating these game worlds. In addition, we have been focusing on ShinkaiNetwork to develop artificial intelligence for these worlds. Partnering with Mina Protocol allows us to build private state and provide a verifiable world state, which aligns with our ultimate goal.

Creating autonomous worlds is a complex task, but we are steadily making significant progress in this direction. Through our determination, dedication, and collaboration with various partners, including ShinkaiNetwork, we are actively driving this ambitious vision forward.

About on-chain game design

**AW Rsearch: Compared with the “P2E” model, on-chain games have different characteristics in terms of game design and player experience. What do you think? **

**Sebastien: **That’s a good question. I think this is something everyone is struggling with. In my opinion, the reason autonomous worlds are stronger than “P2E” is that “P2E” is essentially corporations subsidizing gaming experiences. By contrast, autonomous worlds gain real value by creating their own meaning and value. So I think a key aspect is to have a flexible world where users can bring value to the platform. That’s exactly what we’ve worked towards in the Paima engine, because it allows people to modify the rules of the game if they want.

You can think of it as the difference between a board game and a video game. In video games, the rules are usually hard-coded by the developer, and that’s it. But in table games, as long as you and your friends agree on the rules of the game, everyone is happy. Paima takes this looser interpretation of the rules of the game.

Paima is like a sovereign dice roller, which is very different from optimistic or zk solutions. This means that the rules of the game are largely determined by the community, and people can introduce new game rules. The game world can be updated over time as long as everyone agrees to these new rules. That’s what we’re trying to go after - to create something flexible enough that players can come in and figure out how to bring intrinsic value to the game world.

**AW Research: How to design game models for games based on the Paima engine? Can you give an example of a game as a reference? **

**Sebastien:**For example, in the Tarochi game, it acts as a game of catching monsters, and players capture monsters through NFT. Through Paima, these NFTs will gradually upgrade based on in-game actions. Each yokai’s level, health, and moves are tied to its NFT, which means the value of the NFT increases as it progresses. Paima mainly focuses on this kind of upgradeable NFT system, called Stateful NFTs. In another game we released, a tower defense game, players can play for free, but in order to enter the ranked mode, an NFT is required. All wins and losses are tracked within the NFT and appear on the leaderboard. This encourages players to keep playing, improving their NFT’s attributes and rankings.

Additionally, Paima provides templates for other companies, including trading card game templates. In this template, the entire deck is represented by an NFT, and each card in the deck is included as Stateful NFTs. Unlike other trading card games where each card is a separate NFT, Paima’s approach reduces gas costs and mint fees. Players can win new cards during the game without having to create new NFTs each time. If they decide to sell their cards, they can split their deck into separate tradable NFTs, representing individual cards. These cards can be listed on platforms such as OpenSea, and when someone buys a card, they can reintegrate it into their own deck.

This demonstrates how Paima can use Stateful NFTs to encode more complex states, create efficient and flexible systems, and still allow transactions on the open market.

future plan

**AW Research: Can you share your future plans for the Paima engine and other projects? **

**Sebastien: ** Sure, our main roadmap for Paima is focused on implementing a cross-NFT system. Currently, we are already working on supporting the Tarochi game so that its Layer 1 NFT can run on Layer 2. In the future, we plan to expand this functionality to support other games. For example, our goal is to enable games on Polygon to utilize NFTs on Ethereum, or games on Milkomeda to utilize NFTs on Cardano. The ultimate goal is to create a modular gaming stack that allows developers to choose different chains for settlements, wallets, and NFTs and seamlessly connect them together. This vision is consistent with our efforts to integrate the zk layer and Shinkai Network for the AI layer.

Another important aspect that we are working on is the implementation of an automatic signing mechanism. In the context of on-chain gaming, constantly signing transactions can be tedious and time-consuming. Paima solves this problem by ensuring that each game or app is an independent Layer 2 within the platform, meaning they have their own isolated data format. This allows us to implement a secure and easy-to-use automatic signing mechanism. By implementing this feature, users will not need to create temporary wallets or new recovery phrases for each game. They can enjoy a smooth and user-friendly experience.

As we move forward, we’re excited to bring these features to life and continue to enhance Paima’s capabilities for the benefit of the gaming and self-governing world ecosystem.

Challenges for on-chain games

AW Research: On-chain games face challenges in user acquisition due to barriers to entry and complexity, which may not be suitable for ordinary players. How can games on the chain solve the difficulty of user acquisition?

**Sebastien: **I agree with the status quo. To solve this conundrum, Paima has been working hard to find a solution. One of the ways is to deal with this problem by developing automatic signing mechanism. This mechanism aims to simplify the user experience by automating the transaction signing process, making it easier and more seamless for players to interact with on-chain games.

In addition, Paima is also working on cross-chain and NFT support, as well as cross-wallet support. By enabling interoperability between different blockchains and wallets, Paima aims to expand the user base of on-chain games, attracting players from different blockchain ecosystems.

Additionally, Paima is focused on improving the onboarding process for developers. They’ve built various templates that developers can use to kickstart their projects, making it easier to build autonomous worlds and experiment with different game ideas. By lowering the barrier to entry for development, Paima hopes to enable developers to iterate faster and find the right product-market fit more efficiently.

Overall, Paima is dedicated to overcoming user acquisition challenges and enhancing the user experience of on-chain games. Through these efforts, they hope to make blockchain games more accessible and reach a wider audience, thereby driving the growth of the autonomous world ecosystem.