CLIENT

Pudgy World

ROLE

Senior UX Designer (Contract)

TIMELINE

11 Weeks

COLLABORATORS

Neal Sharma • Harrison Whitaker • Ruth Nathania • Tomas Hobza

OVERVIEW

Pudgy World is a online social hub fusing games, creativity and the collectible economy seamlessly, with a story-driven journey. Players unbox their toys and receive unique NFT traits that they use to customize their 'Forever Pudgy' inside the game. A blockchain marketplace lets them buy and sell traits, expanding the digital experience. Pudgy World is not just a game; it's a social hub where friends connect, share, and explore the evolving digital landscape together.

To support the toy launch in 2000 Walmart stores, I helped design, prototype and test their open-world game weaved into a Web3 ecosystem supported by Pudgy Penguin.

Enter Pudgy World

UX DESIGN • PRODUCT DESIGN • DEVELOPMENT

Making Web3-based games more user-friendly for casual gamers

A growing interest among the 18-26 age group of gamers across the globe is geared towards Play-To-Earn mechanics. This is a reward loop where in-game activities result in in-game rewards. This model of Play-To-Earn Gaming, has taken the crypto world by storm, where gamers are rewarded with cryptocurrency or NFTs just for playing games they would probably play for free.

However, we were aware about the core challenges that prevents easy adoption by the mainstream audience. Previously, blockchain games that implemented the play-to-earn (P2E) model made waves, but the latest bearish market and a series of token price crashes showed that they might not be as sustainable as initially thought. The next generation of Web3 games has to focus on other economic models that empower players.

USER PAIN

Decoding user pain points that hinder a user-friendly Web3 experience

.. Poor Gameplay and Complex Onboarding are main challenges hindering mass adoption.

Blockchain Game Alliance

We identified three main aspects that would help make it easier, simpler and rewarding for young casual audiences to download Pudgy World and start playing games.

Reward-Based Onboarding — Ensuring that the onboarding process is intuitive and smooth with a proprietary wallet, token, marketplace and unique account.
Opportunity-Based Setup — Enabling players with more power, freedom and control over how they play and what they can do with rare or special in-game items.
Community-Based Gameplay — Creating an exciting story with great visuals would ensure an immersive and engaging experience.

CHALLENGE

Making the experience simple, engaging and rewarding for casual audiences

APPROACH

Personalizing the experience at every stage using Play-To-Own Gaming

" We are thrilled to continue bringing innovative, new ways to have fun in the growing Pudgy Penguin community. "

Luca Netz

(CEO, Pudgy Penguin)

1. DESIGN YOUR PUDGY

Crafting a personalized onboarding experience using 'Traits' as NFTs

We found that our target players may be more willing to engage with Web3 games if they are user-friendly and provide clear onboarding processes. Our core UX strategy was based on enabling players with the tools and information they need to enter Pudgy World. This translated into a simple, clear and crisp landing page that tells players that Pudgy World is a place where they can 'Collect, Connect, and Play'.

Here, players collect 'Trait' cards - an in-game asset that modifies a player's character traits such as color, clothes, headgears and more. Traits are in-game version of NFTs that possess real-world value and gives each player the opportunity to have a completely unique and personalized character that can go out in the open world.

In the context of Web3 based games, we wanted to ensure that players are rewarded at each step of the journey in a personalized and unique manner that leverages a Play-To-Own model. We kickstarted this process through a character-based guided onboarding tool which gave players a free trait - the Cowboy Hat as soon as they registered on the platform.

To make the user feel more special and reward them with taking the time to explore how their character looks and feels, we gave them the ability to 'Save' their Pudgy, setting their digital identity in stone. A grand and celebratory message welcomes players into Pudgy World as soon as they hit save.

See Next Project

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Once players were able to design and save their Pudgy characters, we wanted them to continue exploring the game environment and be rewarded to do so. We decided to launch simple quests and challenges that would encourage players to go poking around the open-world in an attempt to own more NFTs and in-game currency.

One such quest was the 'Easter Egg Hunt' which asked users to collect 13 unique easter eggs. their efforts would be rewarded by giving them more traits that they can use to further customize their character and increase their NFT assets owned.

2. ENGAGE YOUR PUDGY

Encouraging players to explore Pudgy World with opportunity-based incentives

Another such nudge for players to explore the game was actually by going to a physical Walmart store and purchasing a toy. Players received a unique QR code with every purchase, which they could enter in the game to unlock more traits and rewards. This gave players added incentives to engage with Pudgy World both digitally and physically.

The ultimate goal of Pudgy World is to make it easy and enjoyable for players to play different games available on the platform. This meant that we design a smooth and guided tutorial that was rooted in the community-based gameplay of the platform. We crafted simple instructions that were easy to follow and used Non-Playable Characters to teach players.

3. PLAY WITH YOUR PUDGY

Ensuring that players have an immersive and engaging experience rooted in community

We designed a modern, vibrant and lighthearted homepage that served as the central point of navigation between different aspects of the game. Here, players could access their profile, enter the 'Arcade' to play games, customize characters or trade NFTs on the platform.

We designed a brand new player Profile that doubled up as a marketplace to buy, sell and trade their NFTs. We adorned each player profile with the NFTs that they currently own by connecting them with friends. We also gave each player to link new or existing crypto wallets seamlessly so that they don't feel overwhelmed or abandoned at any stage of the process.

These NFTs also differed in value - with cards ranging from Normal to Epic or Rare. Players compete and play the game in order to unlock more NFTs or buy new ones, ultimately increasing their asset size and NFT collection.