A recent AION grant has green-lighted Pocket Network to build iOS and Android plugins that will enable developers access to the AION network using native or cross-platform implementation, through connection to any Pocket Node with AION support. Another exciting aspect of this work is the joint release of a pilot application named “Monster Chase” on the AION network.

Getting started is as simple as setting up a password. Monster Chase allows users to access their AION wallet, send, and receive transactions right from their mobile devices. No confusing downloads, or key maintenance, just gameplay, and tokens for keeps.

DApps all around

Here’s a quick glimpse of the backstory on Pocket’s delivery of pilot applications, and how worthwhile proof of concept work is for any blockchain platform today:

Hackathons are an amazing place to have a blast, test your team’s ability to collaborate on the fly, and code something interesting up on a limited scope that can showcase long term potential for other developers. This is precisely the case for Pocket Network. During summer 2018, our lead developers whipped up “Banano Quest” at ETH Buenos Aires. It’s a gleeful, quest-based game that allows users to hide AR bananas at GPS enabled locations for their peers to search and find with clues.

This application was the genesis for the AION application “Monster Chase!” Let’s break it down.

Features and capabilities

Monster Chase is fun, and straight forward. The game is comprised of a few main components:

Create a Chase.

Pick the Name, Color, and GPS location of your Monster!

Give everyone a good clue about where it is.

Find a Monster.

Scroll through the names of Chases, look at the clues, and large circles on the map that indicate their relative location.

Cut to the Chase! When you reach a spot where a Monster may lurk, your phone will display an AR graphic of the Monster. Claim it!

Client-side wallet for AION tokens.

Monster collection.

Leaderboard.

AION smart contracts

The primary function of Monster Chase is the ability to post real token bounties for users who successfully find hidden Monsters. This works in a secure fashion thanks to smart contracts. By utilizing Merkle-proofs, Pocket developers have created encrypted hashes of GPS coordinates that are fed from the Chase creators mobile device and match them the GPS location of the user who finds the Monster in that specified location. This allows for sound verification and dispenses the token reward to the user’s wallet who finds the Monster.

Client-side wallets: Gas is Covered

This is a fantastic aspect of the user experience. When you open Monster Chase, wallet creation only requires a password combination. This lets the user interact with the blockchain in a way that is familiar to them. More time can be spent playing the game and less is asked in terms of understanding cryptocurrency wallets.

Implications

Secure storage and transfer of AION tokens can take place on iOS devices in a fluid manner, directly through gameplay. Illustrating this integration firsthand serves as a prototype for future AION dApp implementations.

Maybe you’d like to create something completely different from an application where users chase and gather collectibles. Anything from friendly questing competition, to hardcore gaming, is now a possibility for AION dApps. Running promotions through verifiable GPS location-based rewards is a great way to reimagine loyalty programs for local businesses. The abstraction of the crypto-wallet and token transfer functionalities makes dApps much more approachable from an end user perspective. Pocket tools serve as templates that developers can utilize to make it all happen without exhausting time and resources. Open source philosophy fosters ideation, directly supports experimentation and ultimately results in real-world application. So don’t let building on the blockchain spook you, check out Monster Chase and the AION network.

Play Monster Chase for IOS testflight now using this link: http://bit.ly/MonsterChase_TestFlight.

Join our Discord channel for feedback on MC and Pocket Core MVP: https://discord.gg/F2MuQNk