GameFi Residency

[BowTiedDeployer]

What's your name/your team's name? Stacks Degens

Best email on which to contact you? stacksdegensteam@gmail.com

Personal Statement What initially started as a two man army (BowTiedSirJonathan, BowTiedDeployer) trying to prove themselves to the Stacks Ecosystem, evolved into a team of 7, bringing together numerous experienced developers such as Andre(ex FAANG, Oxford C.S Graduate) and Flow(10 years exp full stack dev) on the mission of building a better Web3 through Stacks. Words without action have no value, that is why in the past 9 months we have built the first functional P2E blockchain based game, overcoming numerous challenges such as building the first GameFi Stacks smart contracts, or being the first to offer BTC utillity in the GameFi space through Bitcoin Lightning(Via Stacks Smart Contracts).

We believe that the experience gained in those past months by…:

• Being Grantees of Stacks Foundation
• Being Stacks Ventures Cohort 2 Alumni
• Development collaborations with amazing people in the space such as Jamil - Gamma.io, Pseudozach - LNSwap, BowTiedArcticWolf - StacksOnChain, Vidia - StacksFoundation, Philip - Arkadiko
• Promoting Stacks’ GameFi capabilities at events (Web3Week)
• Offering constructive feedback to Hiro Team (Sabby and Elena Giralt)
• Growing a community of over 400 unique players (1.3k Twitter followers)
• Developing unique features and Dapps related to GameFi such as creating your own NFT in-game character (Stackspunks Degenerator +250 characters built)
• Collaborations with tens of proeminent Stacks/CityCoins projects (Crashpunks, CityPacks,ZeroAuthorityDAO etc)

…Is something that we would love to share with the upcoming builders joining this amazing Ecosystem. We know how it feels to be the new guy because we once were him. That is why we want to give back the help by onboarding new GameFi builders, promote Stacks’ GameFi capabilities to the larger public(Companies, Gaming studios,communities), identify issues that future Game devs may have, solve them and document the whole process and more. One of our greatest qualities is that our team fits two big narratives: Developer evangelist (BowTiedSirJonathan) and Game devs/blockchain devs. Efforts from both sides will be put towards speeding up the process of growth of GameFi on Stacks.

End Product

• Continue using the Stacks infrastructure in order to develop other products and while doing so keeping embedding with the Stacks core developer team who is responsible for offering the developer tooling required to develop on top of Stacks. We have already found bugs on some parts of the dev tools and we have reported them to the team. We can also provide feedback and be beta testers for the relevant features the core team is building. If the project structure allows we can implement features for the respective dev tools.

• Investigation and analysis of smart contract efficiency. Blockchain is very different in terms of developer architecture compared to traditional implementations. Running operations on Stacks comes at some costs and we want to create a report including some cost analysis for each of the different implementations one can implement when building their solution. This is very relevant for the community as it raises awareness around cost efficiency, which might lead to a make it or break it sort of situation if not taken into account as early as possible in the life of a project.

• We will act as technical advisors for developers who are in the search of implementing games on chain. We can do that on two verticals. Consulting and posting documentation. We can split our time between offering one on one guidance and writing medium articles around essential topics to consider when deciding on defi gaming architecture.

• We will work on creating a series of tutorials which will range from basics of building a defi gaming app to complex and intricate aspects to consider in terms of building smart contracts and the underlying infrastructure supporting defi games.

• We will publish at least one GameFi tutorial by the end of Q3, with a minimum target of 50 developers to complete said tutorial.

• Organize weekly meetings with the community in order to stay close to builders and help them. It will be either on Discord or Twitter, and at least one developer of the core team will be there in order to answer/guide developers trying to better themselves.

• Connect with Game Studios and Blockchain builders and show the benefits of building GameFi on Stacks: Partner with at least 2 gaming studios. One good opportunity would be a GameFi hackathon for maximum outreach.

• Advocate for gaming teams currently building on Stacks, acting as a liaison between these teams and Stacks engineers to make sure they’re getting the technical support they need

Roadmap We have some items which are ongoing so that is something we can do during our 6 months. The other items can be done in any order, so we are offering the duration rather than the date. Except DEGEN GAMEFI and the GameFi documentation&tutorial(End of Q3)

• Contract efficiency report and technical analysis (mentioned above) - 3 months
• Integrating with the team in order to beta test features and provide feedback - ongoing 6 months
• DEGEN GAMEFI: Weekly series of 1 hour meetings in which at least one of the core team’s developers will attend and help builders with the issues they are facing. - ongoing 6 months
• KEY DOCUMENTATION: Deliver a key documentation for Stacks Game Developers -END OF Q3
• GAMEFI TUTORIAL: Deliver at least one GameFi tutorial with the aim of at least 50 developers to finalise it - END OF Q3
• Medium articles describing interesting findings in the space and exemplifying - 1.5 months
• Tutorial series depicting how to get from zero to hero with defi gaming - 3 months
• Continuous reach outs to developers and companies interested in Blockchain gaming -6 months
• Continuous onboarding of new builders into the Stacks GameFi Space-6 months
• Growth of a Stacks GameFi community for users to come together and debate/ propose ideas. - 6 months
• Explore new possibilities and find the best ways to move forward with Blockchain gaming on Stacks while being in close touch with the Gaming Market. - 6 months

Appendix

• First Stacks NFT in-game integration
• First GameFi Stacks Smart contracts(On chain lobbies, trustless rewards…)
• NFT Building App that allows building your own in-game character(Stackspunks integration)
• First to offer BTC GameFi utility through Stacks Smart contracts(Use BTC as in game currency to race and earn STX)
• Part of Stacks ventures - Cohort 2 Alumni
• Collaborated with tens of Stacks projects and builders
• Onboarded 4 new Developers to Clarity
• Community engagement: >400 players, >1.3k Twitter followers
• Proof of Teamwork: Brought together many of the most prominent STX NFT projects through various events
• Proof of Delivery: All of the above were achieved in less than 9 months.

[The-advisor-btc]

+1 StacksDegen team has been consistently building for months & their in-game lobbies mechanism has enabled sustainable GameFi on Stacks.

Gaming is a vast market & if Stacks can capitalize on that, it will facilitate the ecosystem growth; this is why initiatives like reaching out & onboarding new GameFi projects are essential.

Moreover, the Stacks ecosystem needs new devs & the opportunity to have meetings & tutorials with an expert will accelerate the learning curve for new devs.

I could continue, but the StacksDegens team has proven its capabilities.

[vidiabtc]

StacksDegen are a reliable all-rounded team, very ambitious yet strategic. I'd love to see them continue their work in GameFi 🚀

[xyzerobtc]

Would love to see StacksDegen @BowTiedDeployer lead GameFi on Bitcoin and continue to build the infrastructure that other projects/ teams can use to launch their games and use existing APIs to create seamless game experience

[sabbyanandan]

I have had the opportunity to interact with @BowTiedDeployer, and I can say confidently that they genuinely care and want the Stacks community to succeed. Their thoughtful feedback and recommendations will help polish and refresh the DX of many Hiro products, including the Docs. I am grateful for this partnership with Stacks Degens, and I would +1 to support their mission.

[diopitis]

Have known @BowTiedDeployer for a while and him and his team are leaders in Gamefi on Stacks for a reason! Would love for them to be able to lend their experience to others building in the space!

[Murgo12]

Great game. Great team and roadmap. Happy to see their forward movement.

[owenstrevor]

It's been my pleasure working with this team as part of STXVC Cohort 2 and I'm looking forward to seeing them contribute even more to the STX Ecosystem!

[MVelascoWS]

My total respect to StacksDegens team. The proposal could have a huge impact in Gamefi development on Stacks, and as a future Stacks developer I'm excited about their vision, build with the know how of an experienced team is a game changer.

[egtalbot]

A great team and product, bringing a unique take to the NFT space. Many projects talk about utility, but StacksDegens promised and delivered on a full fledged game not long after their mint. With their track record and expanding team, this project should get the green light!

[diegomey]

An incredible team of innovators, no BS, builders working on the framework of GameFi on Bitcoin and the blocks to be leveraged by gaming studios, developers, and builders to deliver a great game experience and solid tokenomics to many future games in web3.

[nickstxnft]

Hard-working team bringing fun and functional GameFi experiences to Stacks.

[ceramicwhite]

+1 Huge fan of the [REDACTED] teams work and glad we have such a strong team taking on this role for Stacks. As the team with the first game on Stacks, I think they are positioned well for this role. I know the team is well aware of the fine line between Play 2 Earn and Pay to Win and will represent the community well with coaching teams building these games on Stacks to not become a Diablo Immortal disaster. I've also got a cool idea and another dev interested to be involved to build a seriously interesting concept for degenerate gamers in the space, let's chat more about the idea.

[philiphacks]

+1 GameFi on Stacks could have some value, especially if it has a chance at unlocking native Bitcoin functionality.

[BowTiedSirJonathan]

+1 Huge fan of the [REDACTED] teams work and glad we have such a strong team taking on this role for Stacks. As the team with the first game on Stacks, I think they are positioned well for this role. I know the team is well aware of the fine line between Play 2 Earn and Pay to Win and will represent the community well with coaching teams building these games on Stacks to not become a Diablo Immortal disaster. I've also got a cool idea and another dev interested to be involved to build a seriously interesting concept for degenerate gamers in the space, let's chat more about the idea.

Sounds great man! Let's set up a meeting and get the party started! DM'ed you

[Rapha-btc]

+1 Not only Stacks Degens are pioneers who get the job done... Moreover Stacks Degens are community players with a track record of giving back to the community.

An ideal combination to lead in the GameFi space under a Stacks foundation grant.

[Jamil]

I've been in communication with the Stacks Degens team since the first days of Gamma/STXNFT — few projects constantly deliver the way that they do. So many projects promise stuff like P2E or a game, but the Degens team actually delivered. Is always a pleasure to work with their team.

[pseudozach]

This team can execute! No doubt they'll find a way to deliver on their promises. I love their Bitcoin focus and vision as well.

[jennymith]

What's your name/your team's name? Stacks Degens

Best email on which to contact you? stacksdegensteam@gmail.com

Personal Statement What initially started as a two man army (BowTiedSirJonathan, BowTiedDeployer) trying to prove themselves to the Stacks Ecosystem, evolved into a team of 7, bringing together numerous experienced developers such as Andre(ex FAANG, Oxford C.S Graduate) and Flow(10 years exp full stack dev) on the mission of building a better Web3 through Stacks. Words without action have no value, that is why in the past 9 months we have built the first functional P2E blockchain based game, overcoming numerous challenges such as building the first GameFi Stacks smart contracts, or being the first to offer BTC utillity in the GameFi space through Bitcoin Lightning(Via Stacks Smart Contracts).

We believe that the experience gained in those past months by…:

* Being Grantees of Stacks Foundation

* Being Stacks Ventures Cohort 2 Alumni

* Development collaborations with amazing people in the space such as Jamil - Gamma.io, Pseudozach - LNSwap, BowTiedArcticWolf - StacksOnChain, Vidia - StacksFoundation, Philip - Arkadiko

* Promoting Stacks’ GameFi capabilities at events (Web3Week)

* Offering constructive feedback to Hiro Team (Sabby and Elena Giralt)

* Growing a community of over 400 unique players (1.3k Twitter followers)

* Developing unique features and Dapps related to GameFi such as creating your own NFT in-game character (Stackspunks Degenerator +250 characters built)

* Collaborations with tens of proeminent Stacks/CityCoins projects (Crashpunks, CityPacks,ZeroAuthorityDAO etc)

…Is something that we would love to share with the upcoming builders joining this amazing Ecosystem. We know how it feels to be the new guy because we once were him. That is why we want to give back the help by onboarding new GameFi builders, promote Stacks’ GameFi capabilities to the larger public(Companies, Gaming studios,communities), identify issues that future Game devs may have, solve them and document the whole process and more. One of our greatest qualities is that our team fits two big narratives: Developer evangelist (BowTiedSirJonathan) and Game devs/blockchain devs. Efforts from both sides will be put towards speeding up the process of growth of GameFi on Stacks.

End Product

* Continue using the Stacks infrastructure in order to develop other products and while doing so keeping embedding with the Stacks core developer team who is responsible for offering the developer tooling required to develop on top of Stacks. We have already found bugs on some parts of the dev tools and we have reported them to the team. We can also provide feedback and be beta testers for the relevant features the core team is building. If the project structure allows we can implement features for the respective dev tools.

* Investigation and analysis of smart contract efficiency. Blockchain is very different in terms of developer architecture compared to traditional implementations. Running operations on Stacks comes at some costs and we want to create a report including some cost analysis for each of the different implementations one can implement when building their solution.
  This is very relevant for the community as it raises awareness around cost efficiency, which might lead to a make it or break it sort of situation if not taken into account as early as possible in the life of a project.

* We will act as technical advisors for developers who are in the search of implementing games on chain. We can do that on two verticals. Consulting and posting documentation. We can split our time between offering one on one guidance and writing medium articles around essential topics to consider when deciding on defi gaming architecture.

* We will work on creating a series of tutorials which will range from basics of building a defi gaming app to complex and intricate aspects to consider in terms of building smart contracts and the underlying infrastructure supporting defi games.

* We will publish at least one GameFi tutorial by the end of Q3, with a minimum target of 50 developers to complete said tutorial.

* Organize weekly meetings with the community in order to stay close to builders and help them. It will be either on Discord or Twitter, and at least one developer of the core team will be there in order to answer/guide developers trying to better themselves.

* Connect with Game Studios and Blockchain builders and show the benefits of building GameFi on Stacks: Partner with at least 2 gaming studios. One good opportunity would be a GameFi hackathon for maximum outreach.

* Advocate for gaming teams currently building on Stacks, acting as a liaison between these teams and Stacks engineers to make sure they’re getting the technical support they need

Roadmap We have some items which are ongoing so that is something we can do during our 6 months. The other items can be done in any order, so we are offering the duration rather than the date. Except DEGEN GAMEFI and the GameFi documentation&tutorial(End of Q3)

* Contract efficiency report and technical analysis (mentioned above) - 3 months

* Integrating with the team in order to beta test features and provide feedback - ongoing 6 months

* DEGEN GAMEFI: Weekly series of 1 hour meetings in which at least one of the core team’s developers will attend and help builders with the issues they are facing. - ongoing 6 months

* KEY DOCUMENTATION: Deliver a key documentation for Stacks Game Developers -END OF Q3

* GAMEFI TUTORIAL: Deliver at least one GameFi tutorial with the aim of at least 50 developers to finalise it - END OF Q3

* Medium articles describing interesting findings in the space and exemplifying - 1.5 months

* Tutorial series depicting how to get from zero to hero with defi gaming - 3 months

* Continuous reach outs to developers and companies interested in Blockchain gaming -6 months

* Continuous onboarding of new builders into the Stacks GameFi Space-6 months

* Growth of a Stacks GameFi community for users to come together and debate/ propose ideas. - 6 months

* Explore new possibilities and find the best ways to move forward with Blockchain gaming on Stacks while being in close touch with the Gaming Market. - 6 months

Appendix

* First Stacks NFT in-game integration

* First GameFi Stacks Smart contracts(On chain lobbies, trustless rewards…)

* NFT Building App that allows building your own in-game character(Stackspunks integration)

* First to offer BTC GameFi utility through Stacks Smart contracts(Use BTC as in game currency to race and earn STX)

* Part of Stacks ventures - Cohort 2 Alumni

* Collaborated with tens of Stacks projects and builders

* Onboarded 4 new Developers to Clarity

* Community engagement: >400 players, >1.3k Twitter followers

* Proof of Teamwork: Brought together many of the most prominent STX NFT projects through various events

* Proof of Delivery: All of the above were achieved in less than 9 months.

Quick application update: Before launching this residency, the StacksDegens team will be producing an in-depth research report on demand for gamefi on Stacks, as well as the infrastructure and tools needed to develop a thriving gamefi community on Stacks. This report will be covered by the grant that the StacksDegens team currently has open cc: @will-at-stacks to share details on this grant.