Recently, the popularity of Black Myth: Wukong has not only brought AAA games back into the spotlight, but also sparked heated discussions among players and developers. The continued success of Web2 games has led to the defection of some Web3 players. In contrast, Web3 games have a short life cycle and a difficult business model, especially in the current crypto market environment, and their significance is questioned.
In fact, blockchain games have not achieved a breakthrough since their explosive development in the last round of market cycle. They are far behind the Web2 game field in terms of game content and game experience, and are still in the stage of eating raw meat and drinking blood. The root cause of this dilemma lies in the lack of underlying infrastructure.
Because the underlying stack of Web3 is still unable to support complex game logic and high-quality game content, Web3 games tend to capture players through "Finance" when they cannot win through quality. This has become a commonplace problem that we don't need to describe in detail. Compared with the "cool and powerful" Web2 games, Web3 games have always been difficult to get on the stage. On the other hand, compared with Web2 games, due to the lack of unified standards and universal game development tools, the development of Web3 games is more complicated and has a higher threshold, which is also an important reason for the low quality of many blockchain games.
The Zypher Network project aims to improve the above problems from the infrastructure level and stand out in the industry by building a series of zero-knowledge proof-based solutions. This article will provide a panoramic analysis of the Zypher Network to further enhance readers' understanding of the Zypher Network.
TL&DR
l Zypher Network has built a set of underlying stacks based on ZKP, which greatly reduces the threshold for developers to develop and migrate games on the chain. At the same time, it provides an efficient, reliable and low-cost operating environment for games based on server abstraction solutions, making it possible for AAA games to run on the chain.
l Currently, Zypher Network has been launched to the market and has launched the Zytron Layer3 mainnet based on Linea, heralding the official launch of the ecosystem.
The Zytron engine currently supports developers to use Cocos Creator to deploy games on TON, allowing developers to join the new round of mini-game carnival with a low threshold.
l Zypher Network introduces a staking-based economic model. Both users and miners in the network can capture resources and increase income through staking, and promote the game ecosystem to enter a positive value flywheel.
l Compared with competitors, Zypher Network's solution has more advantages in terms of flexibility, customization, efficiency, etc., and is consistent with the overall narrative of the industry.
At this stage, Zypher Network has not only launched a number of Web3 games, but also launched more than a dozen TON mini-games. By binding with the TON ecosystem, it further siphons users and attention from the TON ecosystem. In turn, this also means that Zypher Network is also an important value depression for developers, crypto investors and players.
l Zypher Network is backed by a broader market, and its valuation is expected to continue to increase in the future as its ecological games, users, and developers continue to grow. At the same time, its new paradigm solution will bring more possibilities and innovation opportunities to the Web3 ecosystem.
1. Project Fundamentals
Zypher Network is a Web3 gaming infrastructure based on a zero-knowledge proof solution. It attempts to solve the problems faced by the Web3 gaming field from two levels:
By launching AW Engine, it provides a full set of ZKP-based developer tools, giving game developers the ability to develop high-quality games with low barriers and seamlessly migrate games. At the same time, it builds an exclusive Layer3 APP Chain based on its Zytron engine in a customized and modular manner.
After development is completed, based on the server abstraction solution, the game can be run completely in a Web3 manner without relying on centralized servers. Whether it is a small game on the chain or a large game with AAA features, it can be run efficiently, securely and trustlessly at a very low cost.
1.1 Game Engine
AW Engine
During the game development phase, Zypher Network launched the AW engine, which provides developers with the Services SDK toolkit. The toolkit contains various small tools used in supporting game circuit development, such as basic hashing, elliptic curve encryption, masking, Shuffle, etc. It also supports the use of application-specific Plonk as the basic scheme for zk proof, which is used to write specific game circuits and compile the circuits directly into wasm, which can be run in the browser or application.
In addition, it also provides verification contracts on different virtual machines (EVM/WASM/…), which can run in different blockchain systems and realize off-chain proof and on-chain verification. Including wasm optimized for provers and verifiers, while supporting common Solidity verifiers for all EVM chains, and Move-lang verifiers based on the Move language ecosystem. For game logic writing, the framework will also further support third-party domain-specific languages (DSL) and zero-knowledge virtual machines (ZKVM). It also provides on-chain verification SDKs customized for these systems, and provides more flexibility and customization options.
So with this toolkit, developers can "assemble" with minimal coding effort, similar to building with Lego bricks, and deploy directly in a modular way without having to understand the complexity of zero-knowledge circuits. At the same time, it can be customized to meet specific requirements and gradually build more complex logic to match its needs.
Z4 engine
The Z4 engine is a solution built by Zypher Network to support PvP game scenarios. In some PvP game scenarios, players can enter the game room through online matching. The room is a stateless room built on the Z4 engine and driven by the nodes in the engine. In this room, the node itself does not save the game data. It is only responsible for packaging and sorting the player's operations in a ZKP manner, uploading them to the on-chain Zytron engine for verification, and executing the results. Therefore, from the perspective of the node itself, it does not need to broadcast the global state on the source chain, only local state changes are required.
In order to further improve efficiency, the Z4 engine itself is also programmable, that is, the Z4 node can use virtual machines (wasm/evm/…) to run game logic, and does not involve transactions and gas fees. If higher efficiency is required, the game logic can be written directly in the node without using a virtual machine and obtaining support on the chain. Therefore, for some large-scale games with PvP gameplay, the Z4 engine can be used to ensure efficient operation with extremely low latency, bringing players an excellent gaming experience.
lSecret Engine
Zypher Network uses the ZKP scheme to build a secret engine that provides optional privacy solutions for different games. The engine implements the Shuffling SDK through optimized WASM and precompiled contracts, thereby achieving a high-performance, low-cost decentralized shuffling process. The shuffling circuit and protocol ensure the security of performing verifiable cryptographic calculations on the chain, ensuring that strategic elements are kept confidential on the chain. In addition to poker, Monopoly, and collectible card games, the SDK can also be applied to other SLG use cases that require trustlessness and randomness.
At the same time, Zypher Network also uses this engine to ensure the security and privacy of players' information in the game. In-game information and player identity information will be kept confidential on the chain based on the ZK solution to ensure the fairness of the game and hide player information.
1.2 Deploy Layer3 based on Zytron engine
The Zytron engine is the Layer3 stack of the Zypher Network, which supports developers to deploy the Layer3 layer (sovereign Rollup layer) in a customized and modular manner based on the stack. This layer can be used as a game-specific APP Chain. Developers can choose different DA layers, settlement layers, etc. in a plug-in manner to adapt to the characteristics of their own games. At present, the Zytron engine has launched the Linea Layer3 mainnet, that is, the current Layer3 layer is built around Linea Layer2. As Zytron mainnet in the future, developers will be able to choose to deploy on different mainnet and obtain security and finality guarantees from the root chain. At the same time, it also provides plug-in functions such as pre-compiled contracts, server sharding, and data compatibility.
So from the perspective of game development, based on the Zypher Network stack, developers can build autonomous worlds, small strategy games, or migrate AAA games to the chain at the lowest cost and without a steep learning curve, while retaining production-level UE. It is worth mentioning that the Zypher Network stack is also integrated with Cocos Creator, which supports developers to develop small games through the game engine and deploy them on TON. Currently, dozens of TON small games have been launched, supporting players to participate through Telegram.
1.2.1 Transaction and Verification
When developers build games based on Zypher Network, the game logic is deployed in the ZKP circuit on the chain (Layer3 chain built on Zytron). When the game is running, the action logs generated by some continuous game behaviors of players are aggregated within a certain period, and the computing network under the chain generates zero-knowledge proofs (each computing node has the ability to generate zero-knowledge proofs and communicate, which can provide strong computing support for the game. The network is driven by the token economy)
, these proofs are ultimately verified on the chain. This approach can greatly improve the smoothness of the game and even allow players to participate in the game with 0 Gas, greatly improving the gaming experience.
In terms of verification, the Zytron engine has also made some optimization designs. It has deployed a large number of precompiled contracts and also built a sharded P2P on-chain communication node network specifically for executing contract verification. By connecting the P2P network, it ensures that each node can communicate directly and efficiently. This method can effectively reduce the intermediate transmission links and make data transmission faster. In addition, the communication and address positioning between nodes use the Kademlia algorithm. This structured design makes it faster and more accurate for nodes to find and contact other nodes.
In terms of execution, Zytron also shards the execution process of the contract according to the node distance rules defined in the Kademlia algorithm. This means that different parts of the contract will be assigned to different network nodes for execution based on the distance between the nodes. This distance-based allocation method helps to evenly distribute the computing load in the Zytron network, thereby improving the speed and efficiency of the entire system.
At the same time, the Zytron engine has also been integrated with EigenLayer and the AVS computing layer has been deployed to further enhance the security and decentralization of verification.
1.2.2 Data Storage and Communication
The Zytron engine introduces an important component of data storage abstraction. The protocol integrates more user-friendly relational and cache databases to speed up game data processing to meet the needs of efficient data management and fast access, maintaining a smooth gaming experience.
In terms of data communication, relying on the above-mentioned P2P network, data can be transmitted quickly. Sharding technology enables the execution of contracts to be carried out on multiple nodes at the same time, that is, parallel execution, thereby significantly improving the transmission and processing efficiency of data and transactions and reducing delays.
1.3 Server Abstraction Solution
Traditional Web3 games usually rely on centralized servers, that is, they deploy game logic in centralized servers, and deploy economic models and contracts on the chain. When the game is running, it relies on the computing and storage of cloud service providers, and the data on and off the chain needs to be synchronized at all times. This method itself does not conform to the concept of Web3, and it also has certain limitations in terms of trustworthiness, security, and efficiency.
Zypher Network is the first to propose a server abstraction solution. Based on the Zytron engine and its off-chain computing network, it can completely replace the utility of traditional centralized servers in a decentralized manner. This solution can not only get rid of the dependence on centralized servers, but also achieve better results.
Therefore, we can see that the on-chain part (Zytron) and off-chain part of Zypher Network jointly support the operation of the game and can provide a series of resources such as computing and storage to jointly realize the role of the server, but both parts are operated in a decentralized manner. Therefore, there is no actual specific server facility in the system. We can understand that it abstracts the server, but it can play a better role than traditional servers.
2. Market Development Status
Under the influence of a series of factors such as the Fed's interest rate cut, the overall crypto market has rebounded, especially with the rise of the TON ecosystem and the promotion of some leading CEXs, which has further fueled the popularity of the blockchain game market. As an important infrastructure ecosystem in the blockchain game market, Zypher Network has made good progress in both technology and ecology.
From a technical perspective, with the integration with Risc Zero and Celesita, and the launch of the Zytron Layer3 pre- mainnet based on Linea, developers can develop and deploy game applications through the underlying stack, and the ecosystem can basically face the market in its entirety. With the recent integration of the Zytron engine with Cocos Creator, developers can deploy games on TON through Cocos Creator with a low threshold. Under the Telegram "Mini Program" craze, its game ecosystem is ushering in a new round of prosperity.
Looking further at the ecosystem, Zypher Network has already launched dozens of mini-games, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of active users to participate in the previous testnet phase.
2.1 Technical aspects
Cooperation with Risc Zero
Earlier this year, Zypher Network partnered with Risc Zero to integrate Risc Zero’s general-purpose ZK virtual machine into the Zypher game engine and expand Risc Zero’s use cases through the included game-specific SDK extensions. Developers are currently working to further support an autonomous world with greater authenticity, integrity, and validity.
Integration with Celesita
Zypher Network has currently reached a cooperation with the modular DA facility Celesita, and while using Celesita's Roll Kit tool to build the Zytron Kit, Celesita will be used as the default DA layer of the Zytron engine. As Zypher Network integrates with more modular DA facilities, developers will be able to select and replace them in a plug-and-play manner to match the fundamentals of their games.
l Zytron Layer3 pre-mainnet launch
Currently, Zypher Network has launched the Layer3 pre- mainnet Zytron Pioneer ( zytron.zypher.networ... ) based on the Layer2 network Linea. Developers can build their own Layer3 APP Chian based on Zytron modularization. At the same time, the pre mainnet is also integrated with Cocos Creator, and developers can directly deploy Telegram mini-games on TON through Cocos Creator.
At the same time, in Zytron's new Layer3 system, players can obtain SBT assets by participating in activities. Holding this asset can participate in the game with 0 Gas. At the same time, functions such as wallet abstraction and chain abstraction have been introduced to provide users with a seamless user experience, minimize the player's gaming threshold and meet their intentions.
It is reported that the early game testing phase of Zytron Network on Linea attracted more than 1 million user participants and generated millions of transactions. After the mainnet is launched, especially with more comprehensive functions and rights, it will further promote more users to participate. The launch of the Zytron mainnet heralds the full launch of the Zypher Network ecosystem.
Zytron Layer3 Mainnet Information:
2.2 Ecological aspects
Currently, developers in the Zypher Network ecosystem have deployed a series of games based on its AW Engine, most of which are TG games and a small number of Web games.
Currently available Telegram games:
Rainbow Journey
Rainbow Journey challenges players to control a color-changing ball that must pass through circles of matching colors. Points are awarded for successfully passing through matching circles, while encountering mismatched colors results in failure. The on-chain nature of the game ensures a transparent and engaging experience.
Direct access to the game: t.me/RainbowJourneyB...
Bingo
On Telegram, the Bingo game has a 5x5 grid where players take turns marking numbers. The first player to connect two straight lines wins.
Direct access to the game: t.me/zBingoBot
Dogs Jump
In Dogs Jump on Telegram, players control a dog character that jumps between platforms. Players earn points by collecting bones and successfully passing levels.
Direct access to the game: t.me/dogsjump_bot
Dogs Eat Dogs
Dogs Eat Dogs requires swapping patterns in a grid to match three identical patterns. Eliminated patterns help players earn airdrop points.
Direct access to the game: t.me/dogsjump_bot
z2048
Z2048 challenges players to move and merge blocks by sliding to form higher values. The goal is to reach the highest block value before the board fills up.
Direct access to the game: t.me/zypher2048bot
Assistent Jump
Assistent Jump is a Telegram-based game where players control a ninja character that jumps between platforms and collects darts to earn points. The game's integration with Telegram and on-chain technology ensures a dynamic and verifiable gaming experience.
Direct access to the game: t.me/assassinsjump_b...
Stick Cat
In Stick Cat, players extend the stick to connect the gaps between platforms and move the cat forward. Successful jumps earn points, while misjudging the length results in failure.
Direct access to the game: t.me/zStickCatBot
Ten Sum Rings
Ten Sum Rings is a puzzle TG game. In the game, players need to use a number grid. The goal is to circle the adjacent number groups whose sum is ten. After being circled, the numbers disappear and the score increases. Players need to get as many points as possible within a fixed time.
Direct access to the game: t.me/TenSumRingsBot
Airdrop Battles
Airdrop Battles is a plane battle game. Players control the plane to shoot down the enemy. Defeating the enemy will earn points and some random props to enhance the attack power. When the plane's health reaches 0, the game ends.
Direct access to the game: t.me/AirdropBattlesB...
BigWhale
A skill and strategy game where the player controls a fish that falls towards the bottom of the screen and merges with similar fish to become bigger. The goal is to become the biggest fish while avoiding collisions with obstacles.
Direct access to the game: t.me/zBigWhaleBot
Crypto Rumble
A match-3 RPG game, where you defeat your opponent by attacking and accumulating power to get rewards. This game combines the classic block matching rules with SLG mechanics. Players summon heroes to fight, get rewards to upgrade and summon new heroes.
It is worth mentioning that the Crypto Rumble game was launched by the Zypher Network team at the BNB Chain Hackathon held in Istanbul at the end of last year, and won the first place in this hackathon with this game.
The game is about to release a TG version.
In addition to the above games, it has also launched some web games, including the card game Divine Cataclysm: Oblivion ( dc.game/ ), the card game Poker Base, etc. At the same time, as more and more developers join the Zypher ecosystem, there will be more and more TON mini-games on the market.
Tool Applications
Zytron Bridge, Zytron DEX, and more.
3. Economic Ecology
3.1 Token Economic Model (temporarily replaced by $ZYPHER)
$ZYPHER is an important asset of the Zypher economic system. Its potential application scenarios include:
Proof of Stake: $ZYPHER rewards players and miners to drive network utility and incentivize true decentralized DePin, supporting decentralized ZK mining and computation on a variety of hardware, while providing in-game zk services such as on-chain shuffling.
Governance: $ZYPHER holders can vote on governance decisions and participate in the decision-making of proposals such as DAO/Foundation Treasury, Funding Committee, in-game tax rates, reward rates, etc.
Economic Security: $ZYPHER can be used as a reward for LST/LRT re-staking to enhance the crypto-economic security of its zk services (registered as Eigen Layer and Bounce Bit AVS).
Game Revenue Sharing: $ZYPHER stakers can also benefit from supported game expansions through governance decisions, redistributing game revenue in the form of platform-wide game tokens.
Meanwhile, Zypher’s gaming platform has a self-sustaining incentive model driven by a universal gaming token (backed by ETH/LST) that can be used across different games on the platform.
3.2 Economic ecology with pledge as the core
Zypher Network has established an economic model based on staking. Both users and miners in the network can capture resources and increase income through staking. You can refer to this document: docs.zypher.network/...
Miners
In the Zypher Network, miners are important players in providing computing power for the network. Distributed computing miners together form an off-chain computing network. To become a miner, you need to pledge a certain amount of tokens in the form of PoS. The Zypher Network will delegate zkp tasks to you, and you will be rewarded for completing computing work (PoW).
The more tokens a miner stakes, the higher the probability that the network will delegate tasks to him, and the higher the reward for a single task. On the other hand, the stake of tokens will also be an economic threshold to limit the evil deeds of miners.
Players
From the perspective of player love, staking tokens can gain access to some high-quality games and is expected to provide the opportunity to participate in high-quality on-chain games for free.
At the same time, the staking of tokens also means that users can further enjoy better game services and benefits. For example, the more tokens users stake, the faster the game proofs will be generated, the better the gaming experience will be, and the more rewards they may receive when playing games and conducting on-chain transactions.
Through economic means, it will be possible to encourage miners and players to participate more actively in staking, and promote the network to quickly form a staking scale, which will not only promote the market demand for tokens, but also help improve the security and scalability of the computing network, and ultimately provide positive feedback for the development of the Zypher Network.
3.3 Introduction of LRT staking model
Zypher Network also plans to introduce the LRT model into its economic system, that is, accepting LRT tokens as collateral in the network. For example, the native network staking mentioned above can be carried out through LRT tokens to greatly improve the capital utilization and liquidity of the tokens.
From the perspective of games, game logic and economic models are built in the Zytron engine, so games can be deeply nested and combined with the LRT model to build a more innovative and driven economic model. At the same time, the Zytron engine will also accept LRT tokens to exchange for game tokens, similar to automated decentralized game guilds, further injecting liquidity and value into the game economy and accelerating the adoption of tokens. Based on this, games are also expected to further ensure integrity and transparency.
4. Competitive Track
In this round of market cycle, in addition to Zypher Network, other well-known projects in the gaming infrastructure track include Mud and Dojo.
MUD
MUD was a highly popular game engine last year. It has good versatility. In addition to the Ethereum mainnet, MUD can run seamlessly on any EVM-compatible chain for other supported languages.
It provides structured data management within the engine, and uses the Store database to make on-chain data storage and management more efficient, which is very beneficial for the development of complex applications. At the same time, through the "World" framework, the MUD engine can achieve stateless logical partition management, support interaction and collaboration between multiple contracts, and improve the flexibility of developers. On this basis, it supports automatic introspection and fast data synchronization, and provides a variety of query tools including SQL to facilitate data access and front-end synchronization.
The MUD engine is built on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), making full use of the ecosystem of Ethereum and its compatible chains. This architecture makes the MUD engine particularly good at data management, and it implements structured data management through the on-chain database Store, which is more suitable for developers of the existing Ethereum ecosystem. The logical partitioning of MUD relies on the "World" framework. This stateless logical management increases the flexibility of development, but it may also be limited by the performance and scalability of the EVM.
Zypher Network has adopted a technical route independent of EVM. Based on the Zytron Layer3 engine, Zypher Network provides a flexible and highly customized on-chain environment that is not affected by the inherent limitations of EVM. At the same time, the ZKP solution is also expected to be superior in privacy and security performance. In particular, by further optimizing the efficiency of off-chain computing and on-chain verification, it is not dependent on centralized servers, making Zypher Network more advanced.
Dojo
Dojo is a verifiable on-chain game engine for Starknet that provides developers with a toolkit to create high-quality games where all in-game assets, user actions, and transactions occur on the Starknet chain.
The engine is based on Cairo's ECS architecture, making the game's logic design and development more efficient and also suitable for complex game environments. At the same time, its Torii automatic indexer and Katana sequencer components can provide good support for the game's real-time and data processing. It also provides tool chain support for developers, such as the Sozo tool chain, which provides a convenient development and deployment process and lowers the development threshold.
Dojo and Zypher are both zk-based solutions, but the former is limited by its language dependency, namely Cairo, and relatively speaking, Zypher's customization and modular support for Layer3 is more flexible.
Overall, whether it is MUD, Dojo or Zypher Network, each has its own unique advantages in its own solutions. But relatively speaking, Zypher Network, as an emerging engine, is more in line with the narrative of industry development in terms of solutions and technical means, is more advanced, and is expected to expand into more fields.
From an ecological perspective, Zypher Network is currently deeply integrated with the TON ecosystem, and has captured a large number of active players through Telegram. Its gaming ecosystem is more active than that of other competing ecosystems.
IV. Points worth noting
Full-chain games and autonomous worlds are becoming a major development trend in the blockchain game market. In fact, there is still no perfect solution in this field, and the number of infrastructure projects is not large. Better and more advanced solutions can stand out in this field. This also means that Zypher Network has a broader market to back it up, and its valuation is expected to continue to increase in the future as its ecological games, users and developers continue to grow.
From the perspective of TON ecology alone, TON ecology is becoming a hot spot in the current industry, especially popular games such as Catizen and Hamster Kombat are frequently listed on Binance and other major exchanges, which continue to fuel the popularity of Telegram mini-games. With the influx of more developers and the convergence of attention value, it is also expected to become a new traffic entrance for the game market. At this stage, more and more developers hope to flock to TON to capture users and attention.
Zypher Network is currently providing an important channel for game developers to enter the TON ecosystem with a low threshold through integration with Cocos Creator. Through the layout and in-depth binding of the early market of TON, it will accelerate its siphoning of the developer community, and is expected to further siphon users and attention from the TON ecosystem with the continuous innovation of ecological applications and the expectation of a series of airdrops. In turn, this also means that Zypher Network is also an important value depression for developers, crypto investors and players.
In the long run, Zypher Network's server abstraction narrative deserves special attention. This innovative solution is expected to fundamentally improve the way current games and DApps operate, and become an important driving force for creating a new Web3 stack paradigm. As the technology continues to improve, Zypher Network may not only stand out in the field of game infrastructure, but will also expand to a wider range of applications and compete with other dimensions of infrastructure, such as App Chain as a Service. Such a development trend will bring more possibilities and innovation opportunities to the Web3 ecosystem.
