What comes to your mind when “Sparta” is mentioned? An ancient Greek military state? Bronze helmet and shield? Leonidas and his 300 men? Hold that thought for a moment; you’re not very far from what this article is all about.

Sparta is short for “SpartaDEX”, a hybrid platform that merges the elements of a real-time strategy game based on ancient Greece and a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. Yep! A gamified decentralized exchange with all shades of the famous Greek military state, Sparta.

Why gamify an exchange, you may ask? The answer is; why not?

Like, have you ever imagined the Spartan army fighting for your LP staking yield? Can you picture yourself overseeing an ancient Greek village, mining resources, upgrading structures, and launching attacks on rival tribes in order to maximize your financial gains? Tell me that doesn’t sound exciting!

So to answer that question before you ask it, SpartaDEX is bringing to the arena; a decentralized exchange with a user-engaging experience similar to that of video games, fostering loyalty and promoting liquidity provision consistency. It goes beyond this, actually; which is why we’ve dedicated the next section to discussing the objectives of this project.

Objectives of SpartaDEX — Why Gamify a DEX?

DEXs frequently face issues related to traders' loyalty and the absence of community, as users tend to switch to rival platforms even for minor financial gains, taking their liquidity with them.

By integrating a gaming layer, SpartaDEX aims to achieve several goals:

• The project intends to provide more stable and deeper liquidity for projects by offering a gamified yield that depends on the player's progress in the game. This approach also allows players to monetize their progress by encapsulating it in tradable NFTs.

• It is community-managed, and the community decides which projects will be whitelisted. Providing liquidity for these projects is incentivized with EXP points and token rewards. The goal is to build a loyal and valuable community for the decentralized exchange by implementing a gaming layer.

• Because gaming naturally leads to high operational activity, SpartaDEX native token, SAS can earn real yield from high volumes of transaction fees realised on the exchange and the basic mechanics implemented in the game, such as microtransactions. This makes SpartaDEX stand out and be more competitive than other exchanges.

• The DEX will promote and facilitate the launch of new, promising projects. The platform rewards liquidity providers of specific pools with the opportunity to receive tokens of other projects in the "Dual Rewards" program.

Being a multichain protocol, SpartaDEX will initially operate on the Arbitrum blockchain because of its modern approach to scalability, transaction fees, and speed of operation. These hold significant value for gaming projects that entail a high volume of player transactions. 

But less talking, more gaming, eh? Let’s see how SpartaDEX gamification works.

Zero Leonidas! Lead Your Spartans

Looking at the SpartaDEX interface, you would probably think you’re back in time, in the era of swords, shields, and scrolls — a classic ancient-war strategy gaming interface. The gameplay patterns are inspired by legendary games such as Ikariam, Stronghold, Warcraft, and Age of Empires. However, SpartaDEX immerses players in a distinctly Greek, Spartan atmosphere.

In the game, you assume the role of a war leader and governor of a Polis in ancient Greece, holding the destiny of the entire land in your hands. Your decisions determine the direction of the city's growth and prosperity, as you manage natural resources, upgrade crucial buildings, and establish a powerful Spartan army. 

These efforts culminate in the pursuit of conquest against barbarian tribes that threaten Greek territories. Though you have access to formidable human units such as hoplites and acolytes, your success in the war against the barbarians hinges on the support of the Gods and almost undefeatable mighty creatures. Without their aid, the battle is certainly lost!

DEX in the Spartan Camp (How DEX is Infused into Gaming)

The SpartaDEX user interface is designed to resemble classic gaming interfaces so well that users may forget it is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. The DeFi functionalities and mechanics are cleverly integrated into the buildings of Polis, making the connections intuitive and consistent.

The Senate and the Market are the two most important buildings that link the blockchain realm and the game. The Senate serves as the hub of governance and deliberation, playing a pivotal role in steering the trajectory of the SpartaDEX protocol and financial undertakings. It influences progress and financial benefits, such as LP staking yield boost, which can be increased by levelling up the Senate through providing liquidity.

In the Senate building, users can vote monthly for new whitelisted liquidity pools, manage their staking, govern their liquidity, and claim prizes. The Market is a bustling centre of city trade, offering token swaps, in-game microtransactions, and exchanging gems for resources needed for Polis development.

To enhance the immersion and ancient Greek atmosphere, there are several other buildings with functional and mining roles, such as the barracks for training units, the academy for research, and the treasury for storing goods. Upgrading each building improves its stats.

Now, let’s look at what’s in store for this project.

O Spartan! Show us thy Roadmap!

Gladly! O Warrior.

SpartaDEX has been in the development phase since September 2022. Since it takes a lot of work to create a DEX with game mechanics alone (not considering figuring out the economics and marketing models) testnet was officially launched in April 2023, a month later than initially planned. The testnet was a crackling success, still is, and had insane gaming and economics features like;

Economics

• Token swaps
• Adding and Staking liquidity
• Claiming rewards
• Staking $SPARTA tokens in SAS
• Minting NFT of the Polis
• Staking minted NFT of the Polis
• Wallet connection

Gaming

• Really cool sounds and music
• Upgrading buildings (the progress will be saved in your NFT)
• Gathering resources necessary to upgrade buildings
• Two modes (DEX/GAME): one for Spartans and one for just DEX users

Testnet is still live and you can jump on that right away. See how to get started here. 

The grand mainnet launch of SpartaDEX is still set for May, after a series of beta and testnet phases. It will be launched on Arbitrum (of course) and will include functional and engaging experiences not currently seen on testnet such as;

• Recruiting diverse units in the Barracks, including Minotaurs and Centaurs!
• Launching an assault on the Barbarian Camp to collect Map fragments.
• Forging a Map NFT and participating in the raffle.
• Conducting advanced research at the Academy.
• Gathering resources from production buildings.
• Buying precious Gems.
• Accelerating the construction of buildings and recruitment of units.
• Procuring vital resources.
• Obtaining EXP points, proportional to the amount of liquidity provided, to upgrade the Senate level.

What’s more? There are plans in place for the protocol’s development to extend far beyond that milestone. Keep your fingers crossed, Warrior!

In the coming weeks, further details about the SpartaDEX ecosystem such as underlying rules, mechanics, and possibilities, will be revealed to users. They will also be invited to participate in some mysterious events, as well as discover SpartaDEX’s first partnerships.

Gaming and trading are never complete without a mobile version for screen lovers, therefore, SpartaDEX will go live on mobile later this year. In the first or second quarter of 2024, SpartaDEX perp trading will be launched. Brace yourself!

Gamified DEX is the future of DEX trading: 

In the end, SpartaDEX wants to create a project that seamlessly blends business and entertainment, offering mutual benefits to the wider Arbitrum ecosystem, participating projects, exchange users, and gaming enthusiasts alike. 

By demonstrating the potential of meticulously designed mechanisms in building a self-sustaining and efficient platform, we are confident that SpartaDEX shall naturally attract a significant and loyal user base.

Where gaming and rewards thrive, people follow and so does liquidity. Are we looking at the future of DEX trading? You tell me.