Welcome To The Pirateverse

How we created a fascinating pirate world through UX Design

The sea was smooth when we landed on Tortuga, where a new society was developing: The Damned Pirates Society. Our pirates have just arrived on the island but didn’t have much time to explore their home. Steven Seagull, the keeper of the Tavern, was actively handing over treasure maps to all the pirates who dared to venture here. And pirates, not staying still for any moment, have started to give those promising journeys a try. They were embarking on voyages based on their treasure maps, looking to earn more. Some of them returned pretty upset, as their innate skills were not sufficient for them to conquer all. Their ships were getting damaged, and their voyages were more and more complex.

The start of the journey

Ok, so how did they arrive in Tortuga in the first place? The Damned Pirates Society (DPS) is one of the latest and most exciting blockchain gaming concepts. In Tortuga, players stake their assets (NFTs), such as Ships, Pirates, and Artefacts, to head on voyages, find treasures, and earn $DOUBLOONS — the currency of the metaverse. Voyages have different randomly generated obstacles, each challenging one of the three primary skills in the game: Navigation, Luck, and Strenght.

To play the game, you first need to mint a Pirate. Each one comes with three skills (Navigation, Luck, and Strenght), each having between 150 and 300 skill points. Pirates are the only assets that can be staked to generate Treasure Maps, which are necessary for beginning voyages. If your pirate is not the best of the bunch, he still has a chance by upgrading his ships and buying support ships or artifacts, but everything will cost some doubloons. Different support ships and different artifacts will offer a different skill boost.

Here is where our journey started. Our main goal as Product Designers was to keep the pirates engaged and create a safe but fun environment, leveraging UX to facilitate easy and fast strategizing and tokens management.

Initial screens of the game | Showcasing gallery of pirates

Initial screens of the game | Showcasing voyages in progress, which pirate is on the voyage, together with which Flagship

Pirates can actually be complex, so we started by understanding their world, their current problems, and what Tortuga aims to be, by getting familiar with blockchain mechanics and what others were building on neighboring islands. How Tortuga connected to the real world via wallets, how pirates should receive feedback on their transactions, and how to make sure they are not lost on their way. Those were all points we had on the agenda as soon as we started.

Tortuga was going well, many other pirates and non-playing characters were preparing to make their entrance, as they saw the opportunities. Who would assist the pirates in selling their treasure maps if they don’t need them anymore? Who would help them open those hefty chests? And to win those chests, who would be able to sell them support ships or artifacts to boost their skills? We all know that pirates love a good challenge, but not as much as the easiest way out or the fastest way to a chest.

It was an expedition worth writing stories about. Our journey to make Tortuga even better took two months. During this time, our team of explorers was in constant communication with the pirate heads, among which the fierce Davy Jones. We needed to make sure all citizens of Tortuga would be happy in their new home and have all the safe earning opportunities that pirates so desperately crave. All on the promising yet new land of the blockchain.

The rise of Tortuga

While we were zealously working on the new version, our pirates did not waste any minute. What about all those ambitious ones with so many voyages ready to explore? How could they know which one to choose, as they were so many? How to choose the best fleet?

This is where we first came to the rescue of Tortuga citizens. Using different patterns, paying close attention to flows, and testing our views with our pirates, we made it easier for everyone to prepare for their voyage.

Thinking about ease of use from the wireframing stage, we used filters and sorting options and tested them to make sure the experience is perceived the way we wanted it to

For users with too many voyages, we also tested the option of having a UI toggle, allowing them to see more voyages at a time, not one by one as initially planned

“No Prey, No Pay” goes an old pirate saying, so the crew embarked on the most dangerous voyages and, even against all odds, were accumulating chests, waiting to come with them to Tortuga to get some help on opening them. Opening them one by one would take ages.

So we needed to step up. To allow winners to see their precious possessions and to agree on a maximum number to open them. Tortuga seemed like a typical island, but the metaverse and the blockchain have their own rules. But don’t tell pirates they are above theirs.

Plunderer’s Guild — the place where pirates could go through and open their chests. There is a maximum number for each chest that pirates can open at the same time.

Still, the most vital flow within the game was to prepare for a voyage, and everything depended on it. A good strategy in selecting your fleet would ensure more $DOUBLOONS, more delight, and more pirates hearing about Tortuga and coming here on new adventures. And also more fun.

We started by thinking about the entire flow at the wireframing stage. Players needed to go through each voyage (or maps) first, select one, and then choose the rest of the fleet (pirates, flagship, support ships). As players advance in planning and selecting assets, they must be aware of what they’ve previously chosen. The skill points of the previous choice would impact the next. A not-so-lucky pirate might need a luckier ship.

We proposed a drop-down list for each selection step, allowing players to see their entire selection, even from a couple of steps back.

Planning a voyage. Users have selected their pirate to go on the voyage, and they can proceed to choose their flagship, based on the skills of the pirate

Planning a voyage. Whenever they need, users can see their entire selection and can edit whenever they need

Pirates are not easily impressed, but they were happy with the solution after a few tests. They could easily plan, and they were happy with the possibilities.

Tortuga is growing

While preparing the logistics for the game and ensuring our pirates were as engaged and happy as possible, Tortuga was being built, turning into a bustling port with stores and non-playing characters, one more exciting — or sketchier — than the other.

Where there were once only empty stores, now the walls have been painted, the empty bottles removed, the world started to look better, and our new residents wanted to shine.

Commissioned art in progress, which needed to be integrated into the game and the User Interface

We needed to make sure our new residents were at the center of attention. That pirates relate to them and find them delightful and valuable, enhancing their experience here. We wouldn’t want our pirates to be distracted by the new world, but we also wanted them to enjoy it.

The commissioned artwork started coming in, and we needed to decide how to solve this dilemma. As confident craftsmen, we used desaturation and background blur whenever different UI modules were open. These modules we also semi-transparent to allow a glimpse of the world behind them. This combination of decisions allowed pirates to focus on the elements of the UI and the actions they needed to perform while also keeping track of where they were in the game.

Docks stores and tutorial dialogue with the keeper — semi-transparent dialogue box — increased readability, while being minimally intrusive in the artwork.

Support Ships screen — Users can swipe through all the types and add some to the selection. While users focus on selection, the world awaits them in the background without distracting attention.

There is always room for improvement

The best conversations with pirates tend to happen over a bottle of rum, so we head over to the Tavern in the Discord channel and lend an ear to our community. We found out that sending pirates one by one on a voyage costs more money than expected, and if there is something pirates hate the most, it is losing them. Not to mention choosing through the entire fleet to create the most promising pair. There was the perfect flagship for every pirate, and with the proper selection of support ships, everyone could win even more. It was time for an improvement.

We wanted to find a way to launch multiple voyages simultaneously while preserving the experience and the feeling of being part of the Tortuga world, not looking at a control board. After many empty rum bottles and conversations with our pirates and Davy Jones, we’ve settled on allowing players to plan and launch a maximum of three voyages at a time. This new type of planning would lead to fewer fees on the blockchain, easier planning and allocation of resources, and overall more excitement.

We have undergone several changes in this process as we added new elements to the game and considered rapidly changing blockchain mechanics. In the end — our pirates were dancing on the deck with joy.

New planning voyages screen | Allowing users to select their fleet from the left side and see their selections in parallel. Users could plan up to 3 voyages at a time.

To make planning even more efficient for our pirates, we’ve added the opportunity to sort and filter through their ships and support artifacts. Saving them even a dime from their hard-earned chests — was something that ensured their trust and prolonged our stay in Tortuga.

Sorting and filtering screens we implemented, to avoid cluttering the selection screens and to make the experience seamless

Get pirates talking

Pirates are not always the friendliest bunch, but there is nothing to stop them if you get them talking, especially when it means finding a way to a treasure. We wanted to make them feel at home in Tortuga — no matter when they arrive here- and learn the ropes as fast as possible. Our non-playing characters were delighted to help them, so our role was to enable these connections.

We thought about blending the point-and-click genre with the delight of discovering the following dialogue line. We wanted to avoid simply going through documentation screens.

We built tutorials in the form of dialogues with some inspiration from entertaining 90s games and after talking to our pirates and engineers. Tortuga seemed a more peaceful place now; everybody was getting along, and non-playing characters felt they had a role.

Dialogue with Stevan Seagull — orientation for new pirates

Dialogue with the dock keeper — orientation for starting a voyage

What happens next?

The new Tortuga is still under construction, and we couldn’t be happier with our plans and how things are turning out. The main pirates’ team is working on it and staying in touch with us, and we are honored to have been part of this journey. We are confident that the world we managed to build will attract more and more pirates, make for legendary voyages and opportunities, and encourage people to look at the blockchain world as a new realm of possibilities.

Balancing the rapidly changing environment of a blockchain-based game with keeping a high-quality UX made for an incredible experience, which we are happy to relive anytime. Raising a glass of rum to that!

At Ixperi, we follow a human-centered design process from idea to a fully fleshed digital product, for results that will make customers fall in love with you. No matter your business size, we’re here to help you bring new products to life or improve your existing ones. We’d love to hear about your goals! Ready to partner up?

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