project screenshot 1
project screenshot 2
project screenshot 3

z2048

We've built the classic puzzle sliding game 2048 fully on-chain leveraging ZKP (Plonk) for scalable and provably-fair gameplay while preserving in-game information imperfection.

z2048

Created At

ETHOnline 2023

Winner of

🏊 Scroll — Pool Prize

Project Description

Introduced in 2014, 2048 revolutionized the sliding puzzle landscape, challenging players to merge identical number tiles on a 4x4 grid, aiming to create the coveted 2048 tile while strategically navigating through newly spawning “2” and “4” tiles. z2048 preserves this core while venturing further, incorporating blockchain dynamics, strategic gameplay, and an innovative economic model.

  • Fully On-Chain Build: Leveraging ZK proofs, the game ensures scalability and provable fairness on-chain, generating a proof every 30 moves.
  • Dynamics and Countdown: Begin with 30 complimentary moves before diving into strategic timing, where each subsequent proof submission grants an additional 6 minutes of gameplay.
  • Economic Strategy: Upon completing the first 30 “trial moves”, players pledge 10,000 $GP to start the game, with progression through achievements unlocking a variety of rewarding and complex layers of excitement.

How it's Made

Transitioning popular casual strategy games like Candy Crush or Murder Mystery to blockchain platforms — specifically Ethereum — encompasses a longstanding ambition, driven by the appealing potential of creating a decentralized, trustless, and autonomous gaming universe. This ambition often faces obstacles in blockchain’s intrinsic limitations, notably due to high transaction costs since all moves should be recorded on-chain and sluggish gameplay since players must wait for the last move to be finalized on-chain before executing the next. Additionally, the transparency inherent in on-chain logic unwittingly removes the game’s strategic mystery, allowing players to anticipate every subsequent move and tile number, thereby trivializing the once-cherished accomplishment of creating the 2048 tile.

Navigating through this intricate panorama, z2048, utilizing Zypher Games’ Universal ZK Game Engine (UZKGE), has adeptly moved the classic 2048 onto the blockchain while skillfully navigating through its inherent complexities. The UZKGE confers the following enhancements to z2048:

  • ZKP-Enhanced Efficiency: Deviating from the conventional method of logging each move separately, z2048 innovatively creates a proof every 30 moves and submits it with an on-chain submission transaction (we plan to improve this by bundling 3 proofs in one submission txn for gas efficiency), enhancing gameplay experience while judiciously reducing associated costs. Estimated gas cost for achieving 2048 on opBNB is around $5.
  • Uncompromising Fairness through Cryptographic Verification: Proofs ensure each player’s move is cryptographically verifiable and enable players to validate the integrity of their moves, forging a gameplay environment that is transparent, inherently fair, and shielded against manipulation, thereby reinforcing player trust.
background image mobile

Join the mailing list

Get the latest news and updates