Scradabble.xyz - the ADA word puzzle game

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Phil Khoo

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

info@scradabble.xyz

Additional applicants

• Lucio Baglione
• Victor Corcino

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

3

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

The whole code base will not be shared as a lot of resources were invested into the development of the project, to intended as commercial.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

dApp

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

In order to complete the game to a customer ready standard the following required additions include:

Tx builder:

this will dramatically reduce the cost of playing the game. The current gameplay mechanism involves transactions that are sent by the users to the Scradabble engine, which then computes them and produces an additional transaction to send back to the users the resulting product.

For example a user sends a selection of NFT letters and gets back an NFT word.

With the new tx builder that we are proposing we’ll be able to create one transaction on the backend side that will be executed directly from the user, removing the need of two transactions.

In this way the cost to play (in transaction fees) for users is halved.

Code refactoring:

this will improve the performance of execution and will make the game capable of handling more users in parallel.

Improve testing:

this will simplify the development of the features in the future without introducing bugs and breaking changes.

At the moment the utility library that is used from frontend and backend contains tests for ~50% of the code and backend contains tests only for 10%. The goal is to reach 80-90% of tested code in the utility library and 50% for the backend code. We are not aiming to have full test coverage in order to reduce the budget request and have more chances of getting funded.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Scradabble is a word puzzle and collectible game.

Using the Cardano network players can collect and trade letter tiles that can be used to make words and combos of words. By connecting a wallet and purchasing letter bags players can then use purchased letters to mint words made up of those letters. Players earn Scradabble unity tokens that can then be used for a variety of purposes. Additionally the words players own can be traded on asset exchange marketplaces, sold or traded directly with other players and can be used to create a larger asset type of Combos of words.

Scradabble can be used as a teaching aim to show the real utility of Cardano NFTs. It’s a straightforward showcase of wallet integration, asset purchase, asset ‘melding’ through burning, and asset transfer between wallets. We feel that nothing like this exists in the Cardano ecosystem and offers a fun and simple way to teach and learn the basics of digital native assets.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of the project can be measured by:

• the number of transactions generated by the users
• the number of wallets owning Scradabble assets
• the activity on marketplaces involving Scradabble assets
• Number of NFT words minted by players
• Number of NFT combos minted by players
• ADA fees saved by users due to code update

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The project is already in production at https://scradabble.xyz

The implementation of the “TX Builder” will be visible when released by any player, as they will be able to perform actions on the game in one transaction without waiting for a return tx from Scradabble engine.

The code refactoring will be demonstrated by showing the activity on the private GitHub repos.

The results of the additional test suites passing will be publicly released.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

The main and more complex part of the project is already available and usable by users at https://scradabble.xyz, demonstrating the capability of the team to deliver a full working product.

The current product, whose development was fully financed by the team, involves a large set of specific skills.

The current current architecture includes:

• Vue.js frontend. The interface that is used by the users and allows them to actively play the game, by placing tiles, words and combos in the main board.
• Scradabble utils library. A javascript library that manages all the validation and the operations of the board game (validity of moves, extraction of words from a combo, etc.). 
• Cardano dApp connector: by using the cardano serialization lib, the frontend creates and prepares all the txs that are necessary to play the game, based on the actions performed by the user on the game board.
• Scradabble engine / backend. It’s a node.js server that scans and analyzes all the transactions received and prepares the txs for minting and distribution of assets to final users. It is also responsible for the interaction with the database and for the communication with the Blockfrost API.

The funds requested will be completely allocated for development and project management.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals for the project are to lift the quality of the code base to be user ready and to reduce the cost to players which will enable greater playability and engagement.

Validation will be through the bug free operation of https://scradabble.xyz.  

Details about the TX builder:

At the moment the usual user interaction involves two different steps:

• The user, by playing on the frontend, prepare his moves and action
• The frontend assembles a tx that contains metadata specific to the Scradabble Protocol and the assets necessary to complete the action. This tx is sent to the Scradabble wallet.
• The backend analyzes the txs received by the Scradabble wallet, verifies the correctness and builds and sends a tx that includes new minted assets or tokens back to the user.

The whole process involves 2 txs and user has to pay (directly and indirectly transaction fees twice).

With the new approach:

• user sends a request to the server with the action he wants to perform.
• Server makes checks, and prepares a half backed tx. The tx can:
• include minting of assets
• include transfers from player wallets (ada or assets)
• include transfers from faucet (Scradabble tokens as points)
• everything is condensed in one TX and signed on backend by policies and faucet
• Signed body is sent to client that signs it and submit it
• Minting happens directly in client side, as well as the other operations (no need for back tx)

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1 - Code refactoring

• Identify performance issues in the current backend code execution
• Plan and design improvements
• Implementation

Milestone 2 - Tx builder release

• Finalize the design of the new TX builder
• Implement core logic of the TX builder
• Introduce new backend endpoint to consume TX builder
• Adapt frontend to utilize the new TX builder

Milestone 3 - Tests

• Define test cases
• Implement tests

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1 - Code refactoring.

The implementation will happen on private repositories and the activity of those repos will be published. The code refactoring that will involve the frontend will produce new releases that will be published on the main website.

Milestone 2 - Tx Builder

The implementation will happen on private repositories. Once the backend logic and endpoints will be fully implemented and also the frontend will be adapted, a new release will be published on https://scradabble.xyz and users will be able to interact with the new mechanism that will allow them to perform an action in one transaction without the need to wait for the engine to send the returning transaction.

Milestone 3 - Tests

The results of the test suites passing will be publicly released.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Developers - 330 hours @ $52/hour = 65000 ada

Code refactoring - 60 hr @ $52/hour = ~9000 ada

Tx builder - 180 hr @ $52/hour = ~27000 ada

Tests - 90hr @ $52/hour = ~13500 ada

Project Administration - 10000 ada

Monthly/Milestone Reporting $2000

Funds management 

Close out report and video - $750

Total Budget - 74999 ada ($20,000 @ 0.267) (We decided to keep this exchange rate, used at the first submission of proposal, to protect from market fluctuation)

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The money allocated for this project will enable the finalization of a dApp that will be available for the Cardano ecosystem, that will be finally ready for a big launch and the adoption of Cardano users.

Once ready and with a consistent user base, it will produce transactions and native assets on the Cardano network, triggering a virtuous mechanism which, by making the players pay the fees, will feed the network itself.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept