Explaining Bitcoin's Layer 2 Game Asset Minting Protocol: OrdGames in 3 Minutes

Maya173

"Exploring a New Concept: The OrdGames Protocol Bringing Gaming to Bitcoin

We are delving into a novel concept designed to introduce gaming to Bitcoin: the Ord Games protocol. With its unique model and game design potential, Ord Games allows creators to directly mint gaming universes and items on the Bitcoin blockchain. Let's dive in!

**Introduction to Ord Games:**
Ord Games is a foundational protocol aimed at defining Bitcoin game worlds consisting of individual players and loot. Game designers and developers can utilize this protocol to construct unique, open-source, and decentralized games using the Bitcoin blockchain as the underlying technology. Through Ord Games, game avatars, weapons, armor, and other basic in-game items can be minted in a fully decentralized manner.

At the core of Ord Games lies the ""Ord Games protocol."" Each game world initiated based on the protocol is defined by a ""boot operation,"" including critical parameters like the game's name, an avatar representing the game, an array defining available loot, and player types.

The boot operation serves as a unique identifier for each game world and can be referenced during item minting and player interactions. Typically, the structure of a boot operation follows the JSON5 format:

In the example above, GameName is the name of your game world, GameAvatar is an optional image inscription used as the game icon, and PlayerType and supply represent categories and total counts of player types in the game. Similarly, class, name, power, and supply provide detailed information about each loot's category, name, power level, and total supply.

**Disclaimer: Blind Minting**
One of the primary drawbacks of this emerging protocol is its current lack of a reliable indexing service. This means that, in the early stages, the inscription process can only be conducted blindly. Users can mint their items without any real-time inventory information, making it possible to waste gas by attempting to mint items that are no longer available. It is strongly recommended to exercise caution during the inscription process until an indexing service is online to track Ord Games inscriptions.

**Example: The Wizords Game World**
Having explored the fundamental structure and concepts of Ord Games, let's take a look at an example game world created on this protocol: Wizords.

Wizords is an on-chain combat game where you can mint wizards, orcs, and other mythical creatures, as well as assemble loot like weapons, armor, and magical items. The ""boot operation"" for Wizords looks like this:

Gameplay in Wizords involves players minting specific avatars and the best loot they can obtain. They build a ""complete"" player character for battles by placing their avatar and five pieces of loot into a Bitcoin wallet. This signals to the Wizords game client that they wish to challenge other players.

Wizords also introduces the concept of ""dual-keyed avatars,"" where players are defined by a unique private key and public key pair. The public key, visible to all players, is used to identify other players on the Bitcoin network. The private key, known only to the player, represents their secret weapon.

**Conclusion:**
Ord Games is a novel and exciting protocol that opens up a world of gaming possibilities on the Bitcoin blockchain. Despite its experimental nature and associated risks, it offers a fresh approach to decentralized gaming and has the potential to disrupt the industry. If successful, it could very well become the protocol that brings gaming to Bitcoin!"