Proposal: ZUNNO - A Decentralized UNO Game on Polkadot

Implementation document for the the technical audience: ZUNNO Proposal.pdf

Summary

This proposal requests 50000 USDT to fund the development and launch of ZUNNO, a multiplayer digital adaptation of the classic UNO game to be secured by Polkadot. ZUNNO leverages Polkadot's scalability, interoperability, and customization to deliver a transparent, fair, and engaging gaming experience. ZUNNO will be deployed on the Pop parachain, utilizing ink! smart contracts for its backend logic.

Motivation

Traditional online card games often suffer from trust issues, lack transparency, and are vulnerable to manipulation. ZUNNO addresses these concerns by implementing core game logic on-chain, ensuring verifiable and tamper-proof gameplay. Privacy is maintained through a commit-and-reveal scheme, enhanced with cryptographic randomisation, to keep players' hands and the deck hidden, preventing unfair advantages. The choice of the Pop parachain allows us to leverage the direct utility of DOT and cross chain assets to deliver the best possible user experience.

Project Details

ZUNNO is being developed with the following key features:

• Decentralized Gameplay: Core game logic (card shuffling, dealing, turn management) implemented on-chain.

• Game State Management: On-chain management of game state synced across clients via websockets for real-time consistency.

• Action Validation: Off-chain validation of player actions replicated on-chain to ensure adherence to game rules.

• State Reconstruction and Verification: Ability for any participant to reconstruct and verify the game state using the blockchain transaction history.

• Optimistic client rollup: Build an optimistic UI that gathers transactions and submits it on chain as one transaction after a certain number of transactions have already happened.

• Confidential Hands and Decks: Privacy layer to ensure only the cardholder can view their hand.

• Game Features: Implementation of multiple game rooms, various UNO rules, and point systems.

• Cryptographic Operations: Use of hashing and encryption/decryption for data security and privacy.

• Deck Shuffling: Cryptographically secure deck shuffling to ensure randomness.

• Deployment on Pop Parachain: ZUNNO's backend, built with ink! smart contracts, will be deployed on the Pop parachain.

The architecture comprises frontend components (Web UI, Wallet Connection, State Manager, Merkle Tree Manager), blockchain components (Smart Contract, Merkle Tree Storage, Game State - residing on the Pop parachain), and backend services (P2P Sync Service, Card Service). The smart contract will be written in ink!.

Roadmap

The ZUNNO project is planned across four phases:

• Phase 1: Development & Early Testing (Q2 2025): Complete game development, enhance privacy layer, revamp UI and DOT wallet functionality, launch beta, gather feedback, and build community engagement.

• Phase 2: Strategic Launch & DOT Integration (Q3 2025): Official launch with targeted marketing.

• Sustainability & Scaling (Q4 & onwards):

• Implement ongoing campaigns for retention, explore multi-parachain integrations, and develop an ecosystem rewards program.

• Expand gameplay features (new modes, tournaments, custom decks), and establish partnerships.

• (Tentative) Explore the Peer3 SDK integration and support for pallet-revive.

Team

The ZUNNO team consists of experienced developers and blockchain professionals:

• Krish: Full stack and smart contract developer. (https://github.com/ronykris)

• Ayush: Full stack developer and UniDAO core member. (https://github.com/ayush4345)

• Parth Mittal: PBA grad and Polkadot Hackathon winner. (https://github.com/mittal-parth)

• Nikhil: Ace designer and frontend developer. (https://github.com/nshri1609)

• Saurabh: Developer relations professional. (https://github.com/Saurus9290)

Funding Request

We request 50000 USDT to cover:

• Development Costs: Smart contract development, UI/UX improvements, and integration of advanced cryptographic privacy features, specifically for deployment on the Pop parachain.

• Testing and Auditing: Thorough testing to ensure the reliability and security of the ZUNNO platform, including smart contracts on the Pop parachain.

• Marketing and Community Building: Outreach and engagement activities to attract users and build a vibrant ZUNNO community, with specific emphasis on the Polkadot’s gaming community.

• Infrastructure: Costs associated with maintaining servers, websockets and other infrastructure to power the game.

Rationale

This funding will enable the ZUNNO team to complete development, conduct thorough testing, and launch a compelling decentralized gaming experience on Polkadot, deployed on the Pop parachain. ZUNNO has the potential to attract new users to the Polkadot ecosystem. By supporting ZUNNO, the Polkadot community invests in a project that promotes community engagement within the gaming space, while also contributing to the growth of the Pop parachain, adding more utility to DOT.

OpenGov Considerations

Every component of the ZUNNO game will be completely open source with a non-restrictive license. The ZUNNO team is committed to transparency and will actively engage with the Polkadot community throughout the development process. The OpenGov route was chosen over bounties to receive the vested funding in USDT.

Conclusion

ZUNNO represents an exciting opportunity to leverage Polkadot's technology to revolutionize the online gaming experience. We believe that with the support of the Polkadot community, ZUNNO can become a small but solid example of decentralized gaming and contribute to the growth and adoption of the Polkadot ecosystem, and specifically, the Pop parachain. We are looking forward to community’s feedback and iterating the proposal if needed.

Curation & Operations (by Edgetributor SubDAO):

Edgetributor SubDAO members are/will be responsible for the following key operations:

• Curation: Introducing the ZUNNO team to the Polkadot ecosystem and OpenGov quirks/steps, along with the curation of the development scope/proposal.
• DevOps: Guiding and assisting the dev team with system architecture and integration with POP Parachain.
• Non-Tech Operations: Periodic feedback collection, review strategies, progress reports for the Polkadot community.

Treasury Proposal details:

Initial payment: 15000 USDT

Amount for milestone-based payouts: 35000 USDT {will be kept in the multisig, 15000 USDT disbursement on Phase 1 completions and 20000 USDT disbursement on Phase 2 completion.}

Total requested amount: 50000 USDT

Multisig address: {TBA}