SpartaDEX — how to gamify an exchange?

SpartaDEX
8 min readMar 2, 2023

In this article you will find out:

  • How to gamify a decentralized exchange and what’s the purpose of it?
  • Is it possible to train a minotaur to fight for better yield for you?
  • What do ancient Greek buildings have in common with cryptocurrency exchanges?
  • How to monetize your time and enclose your game progress in the NFT?
  • How to create an optimal and attractive exchange that shares the Real Yield from several sources?

If you want to know the answer to the questions above, read the article about the most innovative and original DEX in the whole cryptoworld.

Welcome to SpartaDEX, the first gamified DEX!

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. — Aristotle

If you consider yourself a crypto OG, just the name “SpartaDEX” should clarify what type of project you’re dealing with. After all, almost every crypto geek uses decentralized exchanges and is familiar with their schematic interfaces. So can DEX surprise you? It turns out that yes! Have you ever imagined the Spartan army fighting for your LP staking yield? Or managing an ancient Greek town, mining resources, upgrading buildings, and attacking enemy tribes to optimize your finances? If not, it’s the right time to change that!

Innovation in the minotaur maze

- What do Minotaur and DEX have in common?

- It’s not what they do have in common, but what they might have in common — CEO of SpartaDex, NY HQ, Nov 2022

Originality takes on a gamified mask with SpartaDEX — a trailblazing exchange built on Arbitrum blockchain. A mystical combination of economical functionalities integrated into the gaming interface in a mutually beneficial fashion, constitutes a seamless union of the gaming and financial layers, with each element reducing the impact of each other’s Achilles’ heel. DEXs often struggle with the problem of trader’s commitment and lack of community, with users departing for the competition in pursuit of even little financial benefit, taking their liquidity along with them. By integrating a gaming layer, Sparta is planting in each user’s heart a seed of loyalty watered by daily tasks and commitments.

Furthermore, all good plants give crops, so the loyalty to your homeland — Sparta. Our approach to gamified exchange presents tangible profits for players. SpartaDEX is linking the yield on liquidity added by the player to game progress itself, which generates motivation, imbuing the time spent playing with greater significance and genuine value.
The fact that SpartaDEX’s gameplay can be monetized ensures that hours spent in play are not wasted, as players can convert their progress into financial gains.

Become Leonidas of your Sparta!

One glance at the SpartaDEX interface is sufficient for veteran gamers familiar with classic titles to feel the vibe of time-tested strategies. Legendary games such as Ikariam, Stronghold, Warcraft and Age of Empires have inspired the gameplay patterns we have implemented. However, SpartaDEX is set in a Greek, particularly Spartan, atmosphere.

The player assumes the role of a war leader and governor of a Polis in ancient Greece, in whose hands lies the destiny of the whole land and who makes decisions influencing the direction of the city’s growth and prosperity. The optimal management of natural resources, upgrading of crucial buildings, and the establishment of a Spartan army are central objectives. These efforts culminate in the pursuit of conquest against the barbarian tribes that threaten Greek territories. And even though powerful human units such as hoplites and acolytes are at your disposal, without help of Gods and almost undefeatable mighty creatures the war with barbarians would be a nightmare.

Have we told you that you can train minotaurs? No? Well, you can!

I always wanted to be Leonidas and train a minotaur — Andrew Tate (probably would say if he wasn’t imprisoned)

DEX in an undercover mode

The SpartaDEX user interface resembles the greatest gaming classics so well, that you can forget that the main goal of the entire project is to be a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. This is because all the functionalities and mechanics of DeFi have been cleverly hidden and built into the individual buildings of Polis, and these connections are so logical and consistent that discovering them is almost intuitive.

Two most important buildings, the Senate and the Market, link the blockchain realm (yawning) and the game (yay!).

Probably you’ve heard that sentence a thousand times already: ‘Greece is the cradle of democracy’. We are not creative enough to come up with anything catchier…

Greece is the cradle of democracy and the Senate is the heart of the polis so, (surprise, surprise!) it serves as the hub of governance and deliberation, pivotal in steering the trajectory of the SpartaDEX protocol as well as the financial undertakings of players.

The Senate holds a critical role in the game. It influences all progress and financial benefits, such as LP staking yield boost, which means that the higher the Senate level is, the higher is your yield. To level it up, you need in-game resources, some gems and EXP points which can be acquired only through providing liquidity.

In the Senate building we vote monthly for new, whitelisted liquidity pools, giving its providers special incentives, we manage our staking (both LP and the native $SPARTA token), govern our liquidity and claim all the prizes we managed to receive progressing through the game.

Let’s move to the second important point on the map — Market. A bustling center of city trade. It perfectly represents what is happening on the typical exchange, so incorporation of exchange mechanisms into this building is a logical and intuitive combination. So what are the real possibilities offered by the Market? Token swaps, in-game microtransactions (buying gems) and also exchanging gems for resources needed to Polis development.

But the Senate and Market alone are not enough! To boost the immersion and feeling of the ancient Greek atmosphere, we also have a number of buildings that are contributing to the ecosystem with functional and mining roles. In the barracks the player trains units (yes, also minotaurs), in the academy conducts research (yes, he needs to research the minotaur gene), and the treasury stores goods (which is guarded by the minotaur). Stats of each building are improving upon upgrading.

Sometimes I think that it’s all about the minotaur — Anon article reader.

The ultimate aim of SpartaDEX is to undertake perpetual development, gather resources, create a strong army, attack the barbarian tribes, and after all to increase the Polis level, which is ultimately leading to more favorable economic gains for providing liquidity.

My mother told me, someday I will… monetize my time using NFTs

SpartaDEX also draws a lot from NFT technology, showing that it has power that can give opportunities unattainable in any other way. The towns that players develop and the hours they dedicate to the game are encapsulated within non-fungible tokens that can be sold on the open market. The fortunate purchaser of a developed Polis can then save time on building it on his own. Minting the NFT is also a prerequisite for starting the game (Oh baby it’s a freemint!). Adding just 100$ worth of liquidity in any of the whitelisted pools is enough to start boosting the yield, further progressing in the game and unveiling the true potential of SpartaDEX.

In essence, while minting the NFT we mint user’s dedication and loyalty. It represents the time and effort expended, but also belonging to the ecosystem. This attitude is also of high value from the perspective of projects willing to cooperate with SpartaDEX. After all, stable and long lasting liquidity is of paramount importance, and mintable loyalty significantly bolsters this objective.

Self-sufficiency and loyalty are the way

When people show loyalty to you, you take care of those who are with you. It’s how it goes with everything. — John Cena

SpartaDEX was envisioned as a community-driven and self-funded project right from its inception. This principle shots down any pre-sale or seed stages for venture capital investors in our business model. Gamification and monetization will enable the platform to generate income from small fees levied on various processes within the protocol, including NFT claiming, microtransactions, and swap fees.

We are not greedy, we share our earnings, whereby one-third of the funds will be used for buy & burn, one-third will be retained as development funds, and the remaining one-third will be distributed among the $SPARTA stakers as Real Yield.

Such a distribution has many economic advantages. Firstly, it reduces inflation thanks to native token supply reduction, secondly, it makes the exchange profitable, which will ensure its development and stability. Finally thanks to Real Yield, it creates an attractive place for users, giving them the opportunity to earn, while ensuring their loyalty and thus being the guarantee of greater liquidity.

Unveiling the vision of the future

The forthcoming mainnet launch of SpartaDEX is scheduled for May, following a series of beta and testnet phases. While the initial release will provide a fully functional and engaging experience, our plans for the protocol’s development extend far beyond that milestone. In the coming weeks, we will gradually reveal the details of the SpartaDEX ecosystem, introducing users to its underlying rules, mechanics, and possibilities, and offering them a chance to participate in some mysterious events, as well as learn about our first partnerships.

Ultimately, our aim is to create a project that seamlessly integrates business and entertainment, delivering mutual benefits to the broader Arbitrum ecosystem, participating projects, users of the exchange, and gaming enthusiasts alike. By showcasing the potential of carefully conceived mechanisms to create a self-sustaining and effective platform, we are confident that SpartaDEX will naturally draw in a significant and loyal user base.

Join us Warriors, in this ancient journey and help us build better Sparta, better Arbitrum, better crypto!

Also, give us a follow to not miss out on big things that are coming! If you give us a follow, we’ll call you Leonidas and gib you a coupon for a free minotaur!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Spartadex_io
Discord: Coming Soon

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