NanoQuakeJS is the brainchild of Twitter user @CommodoreAmig10 and is available to play for free, tournament-style.
All players need to do is fill out the game registration form. A few instructions are listed as well:
After registration, you will receive the link to play. The game will run [in your] browser. At the end of each round, players will receive NANO based on the damage they have caused during the game. Please note that NanoQuakeJS is in beta stage.
How playing Quake 3 for NANO works
@CommodoreAmig10’s form asks players to choose their in-game name, provide their NANO wallet address, and verify their humanity before they can play.
From there, everything works surprisingly well, based on our testing.
The application quickly transfers you into a match of Quake 3 with other players.
There aren’t any menus to jump through or confusing setups – it’s just simple, classic gaming: you, a gun, and something to shoot at.
This version of Quake 3 rewards players in NANO based on how much damage they do per game.
I can vouch for this, having two transactions pending in my wallet – one for each match I played.
According to the registration form, this version of Quake is a port of ioquake3, a free engine based on Quake 3.
That engine was then ported into Javascript for play on a web browser, called QuakeJS.
There are a couple of different maps to play, each with their own weapons and layouts to master.
However, it’s essential that players change their in-game name upon log-in to receive any rewards.
Matches are in the free-for-all game mode and play until a player gets to 25 frags (kills). From there, a new round automatically starts.
As for NANO, the cryptocurrency is meant to be a fast, fee-less, and scalable asset.
The project has been around since 2015 and currently sits at the #44 cryptocurrency by market cap, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
It works thanks to something called a Block Lattice, which essentially gives every NANO account its own blockchain in which to track transactions.
That way, wallet holders aren’t competing for space on a main blockchain, but rather verifying transactions on their own personal blockchain.
A forward push for crypto-gaming
What’s most interesting about this project isn’t so much that it’s a game that rewards you in cryptocurrency.
Those sorts of games exist all over, especially on the Ethereum blockchain. Esports is another popular avenue for blockchain technology.
However, a good amount of those titles require an initial investment and are very simple games that require little to no involvement, like CryptoKitties.
This Quake project instead adapts an old video game to new standards, asking nothing of the player aside from their participation. All they have to do is, well, play.
A similar project called NanoQuake was released earlier this year that utilizes Quake 2.
Unlike NanoQuakeJS, which is entirely free to play, NanoQuake requires that players pay a nominal entry fee to enter the tournament.
Of course, the project is only in a beta state as of now, so who knows if @CommodoreAmig10 will expand support to reward players for wins and other statistics.