GameFi – a combination of gaming and finance – is becoming extremely popular. Gamers and Web3 developers alike are excited about this latest trend and the earning potential in play-to-earn (P2E) gaming models within the blockchain industry. As such, it’s not surprising that inquiries on how to create a GameFi game are increasing. What’s more, many are curious about how to tap into the potential of the P2E and NFT game markets. Thus, knowing how to create a GameFi game is the first step to entering this new and exciting opportunity. In this GameFi tutorial, we’ll equip you with the proper tools so that you can easily build a GameFi game!
Did you know that you can create a GameFi game relatively quickly and save numerous development hours? Fortunately, yes! In fact, you can fast-track the process with Moralis, which is essentially a Firebase for crypto. The ultimate Web3 backend platform, Moralis, does all the heavy backend lifting for you while you create a GameFi game that is delightful and immersive for your users.
Herein, you’ll learn how to build a multiplayer RPG GameFi dApp quickly and easily! That’s right, Moralis’ phenomenal SDK and Web3 API lets you build incredible Web3 apps, NFT games, and other Web3 applications in record time while ensuring the quality of your infrastructure! Furthermore, with Moralis’ ultimate NFT API, you can do anything in the metaverse. As such, you can build any metaverse dApp according to your design.
What’s more, you’ll have fun exploring all the features that Moralis offers. Furthermore, as a Web3 developer, you’ll appreciate how it complements your growing Web3 tech stack.
How to Create a GameFi Game in 10 Minutes
If you prefer to learn from watching a video, you can delve into the following tutorial that explains how to create a Web3 GameFi game in further detail:
Create a GameFi Game with Moralis
Today, we know that DeFi is forming new intersections with gaming. Thus, with the cross-pollination of ideas between blockchain and game development, the exciting world of GameFi was born.
If you’re interested in DeFi applications, learn to create a DeFi dashboard through the Moralis blog.
But what is GameFi? With Web3 gaming sweeping the world, we need to understand the term “GameFi” beyond its “buzzword status”. Furthermore, how do you create a GameFi game with Moralis, the world’s fastest-growing Web3 development platform?
As touched on earlier, “GameFi” is a term that combines “gaming” and “finance”. Moreover, it brings together blockchain technology, NFTs, play-to-earn (P2E) incentives, and cryptocurrency. The objective is to create an entertaining gaming experience while providing opportunities for earning money.
The P2E model is one of the biggest reasons for GameFi’s popularity. Its business model allows players to be financially rewarded through digital tokens or cryptocurrency. Furthermore, it provides in-game incentives that provide monetary value to digital assets within the game, such as trophies, objects, or prizes.
In addition, game designers can choose their form of reward and add bonuses according to milestones or levels. Furthermore, throughout the game, users have opportunities to convert their in-game tokens into actual cryptocurrency earnings using their Web3 or MetaMask wallets, which ties to their user IDs. You can learn more about how to launch Web3 dApps with MetaMask on the Moralis blog.
Any blockchain developer will find this prospect attractive, as it offers a chance to build new innovative dApps. Furthermore, developers with a solid knowledge of smart contracts and the various use cases for Solidity smart contracts will have an advantage in creating such dApps.
Tools to Create a GameFi Game
1. Unity
Unity is one of the top game development platforms today. Thanks to its intuitive and developer-friendly design, this game engine has amassed a huge following. Currently, it enjoys the support of a large global community. Moreover, its high level of developer support assures its continuing dominance as a platform.
With enthusiasm around Web3 and NFT game development, Unity takes center stage. Anyone looking to create a GameFi game should use it as a tool for building more immersive environments. Moreover, to create a GameFi game, Unity offers attractive features such as the rendering of photorealistic assets and cinematic effects.
In addition, Unity is a highly-practical choice when learning how to create a GameFi game. Further, Unity offers 360-degree solutions that enable you to merge familiar Web2 tools with Web3 games. What’s more, Moralis males ot easier than ever to build Unity Web3 projects.
2. Moralis
Moralis adds blockchain infrastructure components to your GameFi game. As the ultimate Web3 development platform, Moralis provides you with all the necessary support to complete your game’s reward and incentive design. Such support includes adding ERC-1155 and ERC-721 tokens to represent the objects in your game.
No matter your level as a blockchain and smart contract developer, you’ll always be able to rely on Moralis’ tools. By using Moralis, you can instantly connect to Ethereum nodes, BSC nodes, Polygon nodes, Avalanche nodes, and Arbitrum nodes.
The capabilities of Moralis don’t just stop with nodes. Moralis lets you index the blockchain – a task known to be notoriously difficult if done with other methods. What’s more, when it comes to working with multiple blockchains, Moralis allows you to build natively cross-chain dApps. Hence, your game can instantly connect to multiple blockchain platforms and attract a wide user base.
In addition, you can focus on your game design and worry less about the backend aspect. Since you don’t need to worry about connecting to RPC nodes, how to sync and index smart contract events, how to index the blockchain, and other tasks, you can devote your time to improving the quality of the gameplay.
Moralis provides you with an on-chain database that lets you read and write user data in real-time. Thus, by doing most of the heavy lifting, Moralis allows you to create a better Web3 UI.
The Moralis Metaverse SDK creates boundless possibilities for game development in decentralized applications. Furthermore, it’s the ultimate tool to help you create a GameFi game that seamlessly works with the world’s best gaming platforms.
3. Photon
Photon is a top multiplayer service and game engine. It’s an excellent choice for those who aspire to create a GameFi game with multiplayer RPG features. Moreover, in multiplayer game development, Photon gives users an app ID that’s compatible with Unity. Furthermore, the free option allows anyone to explore the platform at zero cost.
Build a Multiplayer RPG GameFi dApp
Step 1 – Get the Code
Since you know which tools to use, you can now build a multiplayer RPG GameFi dApp. To create a GameFi game, you first need to access the pre-written code for the entire Web3 MMORPG at Moralis’ GitHub page. Examples of popular MMORPGs include RuneScape or World of Warcraft.
Since much of the coding is already done for you (thanks to Moralis), putting it all together should be a walk in the park.
Create a GameFi Game: Features
The demo, as shown above, allows users to perform a Web3 login. In short, users can log in to the MMORPG with their Web3 user ID. What’s more, you can join an online room. In addition, after the scene is loaded, you’ll be able to check other players’ information, such as their usernames and wallet addresses. Moreover, you’ll see that such features are unique to Web3 games.
After downloading the ZIP file from GitHub, open the main folder within the file using Unity. When inside Unity, find the “Login” scene, as shown here:
This is the part where you log in with your crypto wallet. The demo recommends Trust Wallet, but you may have other choices in mind. Moreover, we’re going to conduct the login process using the Moralis SDK. The two prefabs make it pretty easy.
You will be required to enter your Moralis server URL and application ID. Hence, this is a signal for you to sign up with Moralis (if you haven’t already), create a new server, and obtain this information.
Step 2 – Create a Moralis Account
First, register a new Moralis account. Afterward, click on the green button, “+ Create a new Server”, on the upper right corner of your screen.
Choose “Mainnet Server” and fill in the necessary details (name, region, network, and chains). For the network, select “Mainnet”. Choose “Eth (Mainnet)” for your chain. Lastly, click on “Add Instance” at the bottom right of the popup to complete this step.
Access Server Details
Once you have your new server, click on “View Details” on the right side of the server bar. Copy the server URL and app ID and paste them into the “Moralis Server URI” and “Moralis Application ID” fields in Unity.
After populating Unity with the server details, press play on your interface to see how the game runs. You’ll find a QR code on the screen. Scan it to connect to Moralis. Now, you can click on “Join Room” to enter the game. If everything runs smoothly, it means you’ve completed this step correctly.
Moralis Dashboard
If you check your Moralis admin panel, you’ll find the real-time on-chain database that makes all of this possible in a few clicks.
To view, click on the “Dashboard” button on your server in Moralis. On the left side of the dashboard, you’ll find all the classes. If you click on the “User” class, you’ll see that you’ve been logged in. Moreover, you can find your wallet’s ETH address under it. Furthermore, you’ll now be able to read and write this data anytime you want.
Code Walkthrough
If you open the “AppManager” in Unity from this particular game scene, you’ll be able to view the “MoralisInterface” methods. Furthermore, you’ll understand how Moralis simplifies the entire process of integrating with your GameFi game.
Type in “MoralisInterface” in the search bar to view all the relevant methods.
First, you’ll notice how Moralis gets the client using the application ID. Second, it also gives you a way to check whether the user is logged in. Third, it allows you to set up Web3 and lets the user log out. Furthermore, the “WalletConnecthandler” is a method that gets data from the user’s wallet. Moreover, it prepares the data to facilitate signing in to Moralis.
What’s more, you can browse through this entire walkthrough starting at 5:07 of the tutorial video linked above.
Step 3 – Add Multiplayer Functionality
To add multiplayer functionality, you now have to work with Photon. The prefab in this tutorial is called “PhotonPlayer”. Under “GameManager” and beneath “Player Prefabs”, we can see players that will be randomly selected.
Multiplayer Components as You Create a GameFi Game
If you click on any player, you’ll notice that the player needs to utilize the “Photon View” component to be seen in the Photon network. Furthermore, the character needs “Photon Transform View” to see its relative position in the game. Moreover, it needs the “Photon Animator View” for you to view the character’s movements like running or walking.
Create a GameFi Game – Update Photon Server Settings
To apply your ID to Photon’s server settings, you need to set up an account on Photon. Photon’s cross-platform support makes it easy to build a multiplayer RPG GameFi dApp.
To proceed with this step, follow the instructions starting at 8:47 of the video tutorial. Any developer should be able to turn a Web3 GameFi game into a multiplayer RPG using Photon. What’s more, account creation, app creation, and retrieving your app ID from Photon to paste in Unity is straightforward, as demonstrated in the Moralis video tutorial.
After generating your app ID in Photon, simply paste it into the field as seen above in Unity. There you have it; you’ve just learned how to create a GameFi game in 10 minutes!
How to Create a GameFi Game – Summary
When learning how to create a GameFi game, you need to use the best tools available to make the journey as simple as possible. Here, we show you how easily it can be done with Unity as your game development platform, Photon as your multiplayer development tool, and Moralis as your ultimate Web3 platform to provide you with seamless blockchain infrastructure and Web3 integrations.
Furthermore, with such powerful tools at your disposal, you can use your imagination to create different types of games beyond the example shown above and seize your Web3 destiny. As a game developer, you can now put your energy to its best use by focusing on the creative aspects, while Moralis takes care of the rest.
As such, you can create a GameFi game of the highest quality with Moralis’ powerful platform doing most of the heavy lifting on the backend for you. Moreover, Moralis makes blockchain game transactions feel like a breeze. Thanks to Moralis’ Metaverse SDK, working on Web3 games will never be the same again!
Plus, with all the exceptional resources Moralis provides for free for the community through the Moralis Web3 YouTube channel, you’ll never run out of ideas for your next project!
