Hello World for Solana Game Development

In this development guide, we will walkthrough a simple on-chain game using the Solana blockchain. This game, lovingly called Tiny Adventure, is a beginner-friendly Solana program created using the Anchor framework. The goal of this program is to show you how to create a simple game that allows players to track their position and move left or right.

You can find the complete source code, available to deploy from your browser, in this Solana Playground example.

If need to familiarize yourself with the Anchor framework, feel free to check out the Anchor module of the Solana Course to get started.

Video Walkthrough

Getting Started

To help make our initial Solana development faster, we will use the Solana Playground (web based IDE) to code, build, and deploy our on-chain program. This will make it so we do not have to setup or install anything locally to get started with Solana development.

Solana Playground

Visit the Solana Playground and create a new Anchor project. If you're new to Solana Playground, you'll also need to create a Playground Wallet. Here is an example of how to use Solana Playground:

Setting up the Solana Playground

Initial Program Code

After creating a new Playground project, replace the default starter code in lib.rs with the code below:

lib.rs

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
 
declare_id!("11111111111111111111111111111111");
 
#[program]
mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
 
    // instruction handlers will go here
}
 
// structs will go here
 
fn print_player(player_position: u8) {
    if player_position == 0 {
        msg!("A Journey Begins!");
        msg!("o.......");
    } else if player_position == 1 {
        msg!("..o.....");
    } else if player_position == 2 {
        msg!("....o...");
    } else if player_position == 3 {
        msg!("........\\o/");
        msg!("You have reached the end! Super!");
    }
}

In this game, the player starts at position 0 and can move left or right. To show the player's progress throughout the game, we'll use message logs to display their journey.

Defining the Game Data Account

The first step in building the game is to define a structure for the on-chain account that will store the player's position.

The GameDataAccount struct contains a single field, player_position, which stores the player's current position as an unsigned 8-bit integer.

lib.rs

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
 
declare_id!("11111111111111111111111111111111");
 
#[program]
mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
 
    ...
}
 
// Define the Game Data Account structure
#[account]
pub struct GameDataAccount {
    player_position: u8,
}
 
...

Program Instructions

Our Tiny Adventure program consists of only 3 instruction handlers:

initialize - sets up an on-chain account to store the player's position
move_left - lets the player move their position to the left
move_right - lets the player move their position to the right

Initialize Instruction

Our initialize instruction initializes the GameDataAccount if it does not already exist, sets the player_position to 0, and print some message logs.

The initialize instruction requires 3 accounts:

new_game_data_account - the GameDataAccount we are initializing
signer - the player paying for the initialization of the GameDataAccount
system_program - a required account when creating a new account

lib.rs

#[program]
pub mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
 
    // Instruction to initialize GameDataAccount and set position to 0
    pub fn initialize(ctx: Context<Initialize>) -> Result<()> {
        ctx.accounts.new_game_data_account.player_position = 0;
        msg!("A Journey Begins!");
        msg!("o.......");
        Ok(())
    }
}
 
// Specify the accounts required by the initialize instruction
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Initialize<'info> {
    #[account(
        init_if_needed,
        seeds = [b"level1"],
        bump,
        payer = signer,
        space = 8 + 1
    )]
    pub new_game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub signer: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
}
 
...

In this example, a Program Derived Address (PDA) is used for the GameDataAccount address. This enables us to deterministically locate the address later on. It is important to note that the PDA in this example is generated with a single fixed value as the seed (level1), limiting our program to creating only one GameDataAccount. The init_if_needed constraint then ensures that the GameDataAccount is initialized only if it doesn't already exist.

It is worth noting that the current implementation does not have any restrictions on who can modify the GameDataAccount. This effectively transforms the game into a multiplayer experience where everyone can control the player's movement.

Alternatively, you can use the signer's address as an extra seed in the initialize instruction, which would enable each player to create their own GameDataAccount.

Move Left Instruction

Now that we can initialize a GameDataAccount account, let's implement the move_left instruction which allows a player update their player_position.

In this example, moving left simply means decrementing the player_position by 1. We'll also set the minimum position to 0. The only account needed for this instruction is the GameDataAccount.

lib.rs

#[program]
pub mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
    ...
 
    // Instruction to move left
    pub fn move_left(ctx: Context<MoveLeft>) -> Result<()> {
        let game_data_account = &mut ctx.accounts.game_data_account;
        if game_data_account.player_position == 0 {
            msg!("You are back at the start.");
        } else {
            game_data_account.player_position -= 1;
            print_player(game_data_account.player_position);
        }
        Ok(())
    }
}
 
// Specify the account required by the move_left instruction
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct MoveLeft<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
}
 
...

Move Right Instruction

Lastly, let's implement the move_right instruction. Similarly, moving right will simply mean incrementing the player_position by 1. We'll also limit the maximum position to 3.

Just like before, the only account needed for this instruction is the GameDataAccount.

lib.rs

#[program]
pub mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
		...
 
  // Instruction to move right
		pub fn move_right(ctx: Context<MoveRight>) -> Result<()> {
		    let game_data_account = &mut ctx.accounts.game_data_account;
		    if game_data_account.player_position == 3 {
		        msg!("You have reached the end! Super!");
		    } else {
		        game_data_account.player_position = game_data_account.player_position + 1;
		        print_player(game_data_account.player_position);
		    }
		    Ok(())
		}
}
 
// Specify the account required by the move_right instruction
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct MoveRight<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
}
 
...

Build and Deploy

We've now completed the Tiny Adventure program! Your final program should resemble the following:

lib.rs

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
 
// This is your program's public key and it will update
// automatically when you build the project.
declare_id!("BouPBVWkdVHbxsdzqeMwkjqd5X67RX5nwMEwxn8MDpor");
 
#[program]
mod tiny_adventure {
    use super::*;
 
    pub fn initialize(ctx: Context<Initialize>) -> Result<()> {
        ctx.accounts.new_game_data_account.player_position = 0;
        msg!("A Journey Begins!");
        msg!("o.......");
        Ok(())
    }
 
    pub fn move_left(ctx: Context<MoveLeft>) -> Result<()> {
        let game_data_account = &mut ctx.accounts.game_data_account;
        if game_data_account.player_position == 0 {
            msg!("You are back at the start.");
        } else {
            game_data_account.player_position -= 1;
            print_player(game_data_account.player_position);
        }
        Ok(())
    }
 
    pub fn move_right(ctx: Context<MoveRight>) -> Result<()> {
        let game_data_account = &mut ctx.accounts.game_data_account;
        if game_data_account.player_position == 3 {
            msg!("You have reached the end! Super!");
        } else {
            game_data_account.player_position = game_data_account.player_position + 1;
            print_player(game_data_account.player_position);
        }
        Ok(())
    }
}
 
fn print_player(player_position: u8) {
    if player_position == 0 {
        msg!("A Journey Begins!");
        msg!("o.......");
    } else if player_position == 1 {
        msg!("..o.....");
    } else if player_position == 2 {
        msg!("....o...");
    } else if player_position == 3 {
        msg!("........\\o/");
        msg!("You have reached the end! Super!");
    }
}
 
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Initialize<'info> {
    #[account(
        init_if_needed,
        seeds = [b"level1"],
        bump,
        payer = signer,
        space = 8 + 1
    )]
    pub new_game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub signer: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
}
 
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct MoveLeft<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
}
 
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct MoveRight<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub game_data_account: Account<'info, GameDataAccount>,
}
 
#[account]
pub struct GameDataAccount {
    player_position: u8,
}

With the program completed, it's time to build and deploy it on Solana Playground!

If this is your first time using Solana Playground, create a Playground Wallet first and ensure that you're connected to a Devnet endpoint. Then, run solana airdrop 5. Once you have enough SOL, build and deploy the program. If the command fails you there are other ways on how to get devnet SOL here.

Get Started with the Client

This next section will guide you through a simple client-side implementation for interacting with the game. We'll break down the code and provide detailed explanations for each step. In Solana Playground, navigate to the client.ts file and add the code snippets from the following sections.

Derive the GameDataAccount Account Address

First, let's derive the PDA for the GameDataAccount using the findProgramAddress function.

A Program Derived Address (PDA) is unique address in the format of a public key, derived using the program's ID and additional seeds.

client.ts

// The PDA address everyone will be able to control the character if the interact with your program
const [globalLevel1GameDataAccount, bump] =
  await anchor.web3.PublicKey.findProgramAddress(
    [Buffer.from("level1", "utf8")],
    pg.program.programId,
  );

Initialize the Game State

Next, let's try to fetch the game data account using the PDA from the previous step. If the account doesn't exist, we'll create it by invoking the initialize instruction from our program.

client.ts

let txHash;
let gameDateAccount;
 
try {
  gameDateAccount = await pg.program.account.gameDataAccount.fetch(
    globalLevel1GameDataAccount,
  );
} catch {
  // Check if the account is already initialized, other wise initialize it
  txHash = await pg.program.methods
    .initialize()
    .accounts({
      newGameDataAccount: globalLevel1GameDataAccount,
      signer: pg.wallet.publicKey,
      systemProgram: web3.SystemProgram.programId,
    })
    .signers([pg.wallet.keypair])
    .rpc();
 
  console.log(`Use 'solana confirm -v ${txHash}' to see the logs`);
  await pg.connection.confirmTransaction(txHash);
  console.log("A journey begins...");
  console.log("o........");
}

Move Left and Right

Now we are ready to interact with the game by moving left or right. This is done by invoking the moveLeft or moveRight instructions from the program by submitting a transaction to the Solana network.

You can repeat this step as many times as you like, each will execute the move logic on-chain, updating the player's state.

client.ts

// Here you can play around now, move left and right
txHash = await pg.program.methods
  //.moveLeft()
  .moveRight()
  .accounts({
    gameDataAccount: globalLevel1GameDataAccount,
  })
  .signers([pg.wallet.keypair])
  .rpc();
console.log(`Use 'solana confirm -v ${txHash}' to see the logs`);
await pg.connection.confirmTransaction(txHash);
 
gameDateAccount = await pg.program.account.gameDataAccount.fetch(
  globalLevel1GameDataAccount,
);
 
console.log("Player position is:", gameDateAccount.playerPosition.toString());

Logging the Player's Position

Lastly, let's use a switch statement to log the character's position based on the playerPosition value stored in the gameDateAccount. We'll use this as a visual representation of the character's movement in the game.

client.ts

switch (gameDateAccount.playerPosition) {
  case 0:
    console.log("A journey begins...");
    console.log("o........");
    break;
  case 1:
    console.log("....o....");
    break;
  case 2:
    console.log("......o..");
    break;
  case 3:
    console.log(".........\\o/");
    break;
}

Run the Client Program

Finally, run the client by clicking the “Run” button in Solana Playground. The output should be similar to the following:

Running client...
  client.ts:
    My address: 8ujtDmwpkQ4Bp4GU4zUWmzf65sc21utdcxFAELESca22
    My balance: 4.649749614 SOL
    Use 'solana confirm -v 4MRXEWfGqvmro1KsKb94Zz8qTZsPa9x99oMFbLBz2WicLnr8vdYYsQwT5u3pK5Vt1i9BDrVH5qqTXwtif6sCRJCy' to see the logs
    Player position is: 1
    ....o....

Congratulations! You have successfully built, deployed, and invoked the Tiny Adventure game from the client.

To further illustrate the possibilities, check out this frontend demo that demonstrates how to interact with the Tiny Adventure program through a Next.js frontend. You can also view this Next.js project's source code here.

What's Next?

With the basic game complete, unleash your creativity and practice building independently by implementing your own ideas to enrich the game experience. Here are a few suggestions:

Modify the in-game texts to create an intriguing story. Invite a friend to play through your custom narrative and observe the on-chain transactions as they unfold!
Add a chest that rewards players with SOL Rewards or let the player collect coins and interact with tokens as they progress through the game.
Create a grid that allows the player to move up, down, left, and right, and introduce multiple players for a more dynamic experience.

Part Two

You can continue the guided development of our Tiny Adventure game, with this guide Tiny Adventure - Part Two, where we will demonstrate how to store SOL in the program and distribute it to players as rewards.

More Resources

You can also discover more Solana game development resources here:

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