Ready Layer 2

So, you want to build a web3 game? There’s a lot that goes into it. Not the least of which is the actual software development.

Maybe you’re a dev, or you know a dev, and you can build it yourselves.

But what if you aren’t a dev? What if you don’t know any devs that you can trust? What if this is your first time building a game and you’re unsure of how to get started? What if you just want some support to make sure you don’t screw the whole thing up?

Then you should consider hiring a Web3 game studio.

Today we talk with Zander from Animus Labs. They’re a Web3 game studio for hire that has been involved with great games on Arbitrum like Smol Age and SmithyDao. They are also building several titles on Berachain and Polygon.

On this episode, Zander helps you understand when you should consider hiring a dev shop and how to pick one. We cover:

• What should you do before you reach out to them?
• How does contracting work? And how much does this stuff cost?
• What are the characteristics and habits of the founders that make it?
• And what about those that don’t?

If you’re interested in building a web3 game and you think you may need some help, then this episode is for you.

BTW... Animus Labs recently acquired Smithy Dao. We’re going to drop a second episode with Zander to discuss that. Keep an eye out for it in the days ahead.

On this episode I talk with Flook from Knights of the Ether.

Knights of the Ether (KOTE) is coming off of Mydsummer Madness - a very successful launch event for their deck builder game Blightfell.

Flook takes us through the journey that began with a generative NFT collection on Mainnet, evolved to include a DeFi staking game on Arbitrum (thanks in part to the smol brains), and most recently, spawned the deck builder game, Blightfell.

This story includes important lessons for founders about hiring from your community (a common theme on this show lately), testing ideas with your community without giving away too much, and staying motivated as a web3 builder through the ups and downs (especially while crypto twitter chases and glorifies obvious scams and pump and dumps).

Most importantly, it's a story about following your muse and stepping through the doors that open for you as a founder. You never know where you might end up!

Learn more:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KnightsOfTheEth

Web: https://mint.knightsoftheether.com/

Play Form Side Quest: Unreal Editor for Fortnite (Medium article)

For more from Ready Layer 2: https://gitsmol.com/podcast

On this episode, I talk with Smashe from Tales of Elleria.

This is a long-running project in the Treasure Dao ecosystem and it’s had its share of ups and downs. They launched their mint at the height of the last bull run and then launched their game into an absolute extinction-level market collapse.

But they persevered. The Tales of Elleria team built through the bear, suffered, and recovered, from a massive hack on their LP, and have kept building, and having fun, throughout.

We talk about team size and structure for this type of complex GameFi project, managing emotions as a team through the ups and downs, and managing the community through those ups and downs too.

This is a fantastic conversation with tons of learning opportunities for the would-be founder and/or team member. Plus, a good amount of history and insight into the game for the players out there too.

Twitter: @TalesofElleria

Web: https://www.talesofelleria.com/

Smashe's Top 10 Lessons Learned Building Tales of Elleria: https://twitter.com/Smashe__/status/1618600949848866822

Find more from Ready Layer 2 at https://gitsmol.com/podcast

On this episode I talk with OBLOMOV. He's a digital artist who loves 3D and creepy little characters. Plus, he's a great community contributor and just flat out fun to talk with.

Topics:

• The early days (and vibes) of the Treasure DAO and Smolverse communities
• Converting pixel art to 3D
• Launching your first NFT project
• The Gloomy Doomers NFT project
• The challenges of rendering 3D generative NFT collections (really interesting - I recommend you pull up a Gloomy Doomer and inspect it while listening to this part)
• Some alpha on why so many generative NFT projects are late to reveal
• The Colony NFT project
• Pros and Cons of minting on ETH Mainnet vs. Arbitrum

Tools discussed:

• Blender - a free and open source 3D creation suite
• Bueno.art - No-code tools for digital collectible creators

Links:

• Oblomov on Twitter: @CryptOblomov (with LinkTree)
• Gloomy Doomers (Open Sea)
• The Colony (Open Sea)
• The Colony on Twitter (minting now - link in pinned tweet): @TheColonyNFT_

Mike Elias, founder of IdeaMarket.io tells us what it was like to build a social network on Arbitrum aimed to build a market for credibility and trust.

We discuss:

• Why we have a credibility problem and why it’s worth solving
• The risks of building for a smaller audience on L2
• Approaches to simplifying the onboarding process and reducing friction for your end users
• Tools that can help like ChainList.org (to streamline the setup of L2 networks for your users) and Hop Protocol (to help users bridge funds to L2)
• Where to find help when building on Arbitrum
• How to poke a stuck transaction with a stick

Connect with Mike and learn more about Idea Market:

• Web: https://ideamarket.io/
• Twitter: @ideamarket_io and @harmonylion1
• Mike's note on closing IdeaMarket: https://ideamarkets.substack.com/p/goodbye-and-final-reflections

Learn more at https://gitsmol.com