Exploring blockchain wallets: Trading crypto through a farm metaphor

Creating a research tool in form of a game to gain insights for building better wallets

We aimed to transform a complex topic into a game-like experience to make learning easier for young adults. Fun, competition, and fresh perspectives enhance the learning process. Using a farm metaphor, we made blockchain technology more relatable. The farm represents your digital wallet, with cryptocurrencies as wool, milk, and bacon. Instead of mining rewards, animals produce goods that can be traded in the market for profit. To protect your assets from theft, you can store them in a vault, much like how people secure their digital currencies.

Low-fi prototyping and testing the game mechanics

We created an analogue game to test its mechanics, where we manually calculated values and drew cards with numbers to adjust the market. While the game was fun, we observed that users were overwhelmed by the amount of information. As a result, we decided to divide the game into different phases to keep the introduction simple and enjoyable.

Wireframing the user journey for different phases

Based on the results of our initial testing, we developed a storyline, and I created low-fidelity wireframes to outline the different phases of the game: onboarding, buying and selling goods and animals, managing and upgrading stock and vaults, and using action cards to attack other players.

Illustrating the protagonists

I created the illustrations based on a storyline I developed earlier. To balance our playful “farm” metaphor with an adult audience, I used a minimalistic style inspired by Malika Favre. Her bold use of color theory—sometimes breaking its rules to create mystery—influenced our approach. Paired with simple shapes like circles and rectangles, this defined our final illustration style.

Buy or produce your own goods

A new merchant has arrived in town. At first, he only offers wool for sale, giving players a quick way to earn and trade. But later in the game, he returns with livestock—specifically sheep that produce wool on their own. This introduces a new layer of strategy: will you continue buying goods, or invest in production to build a more self-sustaining farm?

Sell and buy goods on the market

At this stage, players compete with one another to earn money by trading goods—like wool, milk, and bacon—as well as animals such as sheep, cows, and pigs. You can buy from the merchant or produce goods on your own farm. Prices are driven by supply and demand: wool holds the most stable value, while bacon is the most volatile. Strategic timing and market awareness are key to making a profit.

Don't forget your vault password

The vault is secured with a password made up of small pictures. If you forget it, you’ll lose access—and your belongings will be gone for good. This mirrors real-world scenarios, where people lose access to their digital wallets simply by forgetting their password.

Buy addons to improve your farm and market conditions

Addons represent the different features found in digital wallets. You decide which ones to add to your farm—whether to boost buying and selling conditions or to enhance security. It's especially interesting to observe which addons users prioritise when faced with time pressure and limited funds.

Draw action cards to boost your chances of winning

In the final round, players are introduced to action cards, which make the gameplay more interactive and dynamic. These cards allow you to influence other players and add a fun twist—raising both the level of strategy and excitement.