NymQuest - Where adventure meets privacy – Introducing the First (?) MMORPG powered by Nym Mixnet technology

[koutakou]

Hi!!
I’m in the process of developing a technical base for an mmorpg that would use mixnet for communication!!

Here is the project presentation:

NymQuest: Privacy-Focused Multiplayer Game

NymQuest is a privacy-preserving multiplayer game that leverages the Nym mixnet to ensure secure, anonymous communications between players. This innovative game demonstrates the practical application of privacy-enhancing technologies in interactive entertainment.

Project Overview

This project showcases how the Nym network can be used to build privacy-preserving applications beyond traditional financial or messaging use cases. The game features (actually):

• Private Communications: All game data is transmitted through the Nym mixnet, preventing network observers from linking players to their actions
• Terminal-Based Interface: Lightweight client with colored UI for an engaging gaming experience
• Real-Time Multiplayer (with bugs): Move around a 2D world, chat with other players, and engage in simple combat
• Anonymous Identity: Players can create characters without revealing their real identity

Architecture

The project consists of two main components:

Server

• Manages the game state and player connections
• Processes player commands (movement, attacks, chat)
• Broadcasts game state updates to all connected players
• Handles player registration and disconnection

Client

• Connects to the server through the Nym mixnet
• Renders the game state in a terminal interface with colors (very experimental haha)
• Processes user input for movement and actions
• Displays a mini-map of the game world showing player positions (bugged for now)

Technical Stack

• Rust: Core programming language for both client and server
• Nym SDK: Privacy infrastructure for anonymous communications
• Tokio: Asynchronous runtime for handling concurrent operations
• Serde: Serialization/deserialization of game messages
• Colored: Terminal text coloring for improved UI

Github repository: GitHub - koutakou/NymQuest: NymQuest - Where adventure meets privacy – Introducing the First MMORPG powered by Nym Mixnet technology

Some screen (in its current state)
Server

Client 1

Client 2

[Beyond]

Hi! Thanks for sharing this — it looks like a really interesting and unique project that brings together privacy and gaming.

I had a few questions about your plans for the game:
1. How do you plan to develop the full version of the game?
Are you building it entirely solo, or planning to expand the dev team?
2. How do you plan to attract users to play the game once it’s live?
Will it be open-source community-driven, or do you plan some kind of marketing or outreach campaign?
3. How will you store user data such as login credentials, character progress, and other persistent information?
Will this be on-chain, off-chain, or some hybrid? And how do you ensure privacy while still keeping data persistent?

Looking forward to seeing how this evolves — it’s a cool concept and I’d love to follow its development!

[koutakou]

Thanks for the interest!

In general
1- For the moment I’m solo but why integrate people, I’m open to all contributions and ideas!
2- For the time being, I plan to promote the game through the community and my personal and professional circle. In my mind, I see a lot of open source stuff
3- The question of storage is a good one, I’d like to play the decentralization and onchain game as much as possible, but we’ll have to see about that in detail, for the moment it’s stored in the program’s internal state, so it’s reset if I cut it.
As for the warranty, since I’m relying heavily on open source, it should be fine ahah, nothing personal will be stored anyway.

I’m also looking forward to making progress on this project!

[Beyond]

Are you planning to create this on the Unity, UE, or some other engine of your own?

[koutakou]

ideally, the client should natively integrate the nym sdk, so probably a 1st web version (with the typescript version of the sdk).
in fact, I’d like to avoid having a kind of middlware between server and client

[koutakou]

I pushed a 1st version of the code → GitHub - koutakou/NymQuest: NymQuest - Where adventure meets privacy – Introducing the First MMORPG powered by Nym Mixnet technology

[koutakou]

NymQuest Update

I’m excited to share the latest developments in NymQuest, my privacy-focused MMORPG powered by Nym Mixnet technology. Since the initial release, I’ve implemented several significant improvements to enhance both the gameplay experience and user interface while maintaining my commitment to privacy

UI Enhancements

• Bordered Interface Sections: I’ve completely redesigned the terminal UI with properly bordered sections using Unicode box-drawing characters for a more polished look
• Enhanced Health Visualization: Health is now displayed as an intuitive progress bar with color-coding (green/yellow/red) based on current health levels
• Distance Indicators: Players can now see the distance to other players with visual indicators showing whether opponents are within attack range
• Improved Mini-Map: The mini-map now features proper borders, grid points, and better player positioning, making it easier to navigate the game world
• Color-Coded Status Information: Player information is now color-coded based on proximity and status, allowing for faster situational awareness

Gameplay Improvements

• Diagonal Movement: Added full support for diagonal movement with intuitive commands (/ne, /nw, /se, /sw) for more flexible navigation
• Enhanced Command System: Expanded command shortcuts and improved auto-completion for a more responsive gaming experience
• Attack Range Visualization: Clear indicators show when players are within attack range, enhancing combat strategy
• Improved Player Identification: Enhanced display IDs now use word-number combinations (e.g., Warrior123) rather than sequential numbering for better anonymity

Technical Improvements

• Better Message Authentication: Enhanced HMAC-SHA256 implementation ensures all communications are properly authenticated
• Improved Error Handling: More robust error handling with privacy-preserving error messages that don’t leak sensitive information
• Protection Against Replay Attacks: Messages are now verified with sequence numbers and authentication tags to prevent replay attacks
• Session Integrity Protection: The system now prevents identity conflicts by requiring proper disconnection before allowing new registrations

Privacy Enhancements

• Enhanced Metadata Protection: Further reduced metadata leakage in all communications
• Anonymous Authentication Verification: Improved authentication flows maintain anonymity while ensuring security

I encourage everyone to try out these new features and provide feedback. NymQuest remains open source and available on GitHub: github.com/koutakou/NymQuest

Some screen with updated client
Player 1

Player 2

[koutakou]

NymQuest Update 2

UI Enhancements

Console Display Refinements: Fixed critical console formatting issues including border alignment problems, text padding, and width calculations that were causing visual inconsistencies in the terminal interface.

Real-Time Status Dashboard: Implemented a comprehensive client-side monitoring system displaying connection health with 5-level quality indicators (Excellent → Critical), privacy protection levels with visual status indicators, and live message delivery tracking from sent to delivered/failed states.

Enhanced Information Display: Added complete command documentation with detailed movement shortcuts, comprehensive emote listings, and improved overall visual consistency throughout the console interface.

Network Statistics Visualization: Real-time metrics now show average latency, packet loss rates, success rates, and anonymity set size monitoring for enhanced privacy awareness.

Gameplay Improvements

Emote System: Introduced eight distinct emote types (wave, bow, laugh, dance, salute, shrug, cheer, clap) with visual emoji representations, processed through the Nym mixnet for privacy-preserving social interaction.

Command Aliases & Shortcuts: Added intuitive command aliases (/r, /m, /a, /c, /h, /q) and direct movement shortcuts including diagonal movement (/ne, /nw, /se, /sw) with interactive tab completion.

Improved Movement Mechanics: Enhanced diagonal movement normalization and synchronized world boundaries between client and server for smoother gameplay experience.

Configuration Management: Integrated comprehensive configuration system with environment variable override support, allowing customization of movement speed, attack range, damage values, and combat mechanics.

Technical Improvements

Game State Persistence: Implemented automatic game state saves every 2 minutes with backup creation, player data recovery on server restart, and automatic cleanup of offline players (>5 minutes), all while maintaining privacy-preserving design.

Heartbeat Mechanism: Added robust connection monitoring with server-side heartbeat requests, automatic client responses, and proper removal of inactive players to maintain game state consistency.

Structured Logging System: Replaced basic output with comprehensive structured logging using JSON formatting, rolling daily logs, environment-based filtering, and privacy-compliant logging that avoids sensitive data exposure.

Concurrent Architecture: Enhanced server with background task scheduling, asynchronous event loops, and non-blocking concurrent processing for optimal performance under load.

Security & Privacy Enhancements

Critical Replay Protection Fix: Resolved a critical vulnerability in the sliding window approach, replacing unsafe sequence number generators with thread-safe atomic implementations.

Multiple Registration Prevention: Implemented safeguards to prevent multiple registrations from the same client, enhancing identity protection and preventing conflicts.

Enhanced Mutex Operations: Improved robustness of mutex operations to prevent application crashes and replaced Mutex with RwLock in GameState for better concurrent access patterns.

Privacy-Preserving Monitoring: All new monitoring and logging features are designed with privacy-first principles, ensuring no compromise to user anonymity while providing valuable insights.

As always NymQuest remains open source and available on GitHub: GitHub - koutakou/NymQuest: NymQuest - Where adventure meets privacy – Introducing the First MMORPG powered by Nym Mixnet technology

Here is some updated screen

Server

Client 1

Client 2

Server