Blockchain – What It Is, Main Characteristics
First, let’s talk about what blockchain is and its main characteristics. Very often, blockchain is used in a financial context as something inextricably linked to cryptocurrencies. However, blockchain is not exclusively a financial tool, and its application can extend far beyond supporting cryptocurrencies.
In general, blockchain is a large digital data ledger that stores information about specific assets. These assets themselves can be, just like in the real world, different — they can be cryptocurrencies (which are digital equivalents of money) or digital objects (simply put, digital equivalents of items).
Currencies have purely economic value and are completely fungible (you can exchange one Bitcoin for another, and nothing changes). Objects, however, are valuable not only economically, and you cannot simply replace one with another (for example, two different digital paintings are not interchangeable). Such unique digital objects recorded on the blockchain are called NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Digital gaming assets (e.g., swords, shields, cards) belong to this category.
Strictly speaking, there are differing opinions in theory about whether fully fungible gaming assets (e.g., swords that exist in a quantity of 100 pieces and have no unique characteristics) should be considered NFTs, but in practice, they are called that.
Games
Now let’s look at the other component of blockchain games — the games themselves.
How does the principle of traditional games work?
You play a game, and as you play, you find and collect various items, weapons, tools, or gadgets. Then you use these items within that specific game.
When you turn off the game, you no longer use the items you found. Furthermore, if you completely stop playing that game, all the collected tools, instruments, and gadgets become absolutely useless to you: they don’t work in other games, and you cannot sell or rent them out.
We have very interesting games for entertainment and pleasure, find out here – scratch card games online, a proven brand
This doesn’t happen in blockchain games. In a blockchain game, you will also find and collect items, tools, and instruments and use them. But the key difference is that these items can exist outside that specific game and do not disappear when you exit it. After leaving one game, you can still use these assets in another, as well as dispose of them as your property — for example, rent them out or sell them for cryptocurrency.
Now, to make it clearer, let’s look at an example of using assets in traditional versus blockchain games.
Let’s start with traditional ones. Suppose there are games A (a dungeon crawl), B (a city builder), and C (a collectible card game). In each, you can collect and use items, but only its own specific items. A sword obtained in game B cannot be used in game A; cards from game C will not appear when you enter game B. Each set of assets exists only within the universe of its specific game.
In blockchain games, assets are created and stored on the blockchain, and when you receive them, they go into your blockchain wallet (e.g., they are sent to your Ethereum address). Therefore, they do not disappear when you exit the game. Furthermore, when you enter another game, that game reads the information about your assets — and they will also appear there (provided the developers have implemented the use of that asset in their game).
Now imagine three similar games, but this time with blockchain mechanics. And suppose a specific blockchain asset exists, for example, a silver axe. This silver axe was not created within any of these three games. It could have been created, for example, by the developers of some fourth game, where it could be won, or by an independent project from which it could be bought.
Either way, this asset became popular, and now a number of users own such axes, with the information stored on the blockchain. Noticing the popularity of this asset, blockchain games A, B, and C decided to implement the use of the silver axe into their gameplay.
Thanks to blockchain mechanics, the silver axe exists outside the ecosystem of any specific game. Blockchain games A, B, or C that have implemented this asset will be able to read information about whether the user entering the game owns it. Therefore, owners of silver axes can use them in each of these games. This means such an asset exists across multiple universes, or a multiverse.
Interestingly, our silver axe will take different forms and have different functions depending on the specific game. For example, in game A (a dungeon crawl), it will be a weapon — capable of chopping off dragon heads. In game B (a city builder), it will function as a tool for cutting down forests. In card game C, it will turn into a card that adds a few attack points. That is, when moving from one universe to another, the asset transforms according to the specific mechanics and laws of that universe. Such transformation is an inherent characteristic of multiverses, which, coincidentally, amusingly aligns with physicists’ discussions on the topic.
About The Author
