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Designing Better Web3 Gaming: The NGU UI/UX Approach

Published → Sunday, March 23, 2025

Seamless UI/UX is the difference between rage-quitting and Number Go Up. We obsessed over getting it right.

Alright frens, let’s talk UI/UX.

It’s something we obsessed over for Number Go Up. Seriously. Because we’ve felt the pain of bad crypto UX too, and we knew NGU had to be better.

That obsession focused us on one core goal: crafting an interface that’s intuitive, responsive, visually slick, and actually helps you play the game, rather than fighting you every step of the way.

Gameboard screenshot

Why Most Crypto Games Feel Like Beta Tests (Forever)

Let’s be real: the player experience in many crypto games often feels like an afterthought.

Opaque mechanics leaving you guessing what’s happening, interfaces only a dev could love, vital info buried deep in Discord lore... it’s often high-friction and low-fun.

Players deserve better than deciphering Etherscan just to see if their transaction went through.

NGU’s Approach: Player-First Design, Expertly Crafted

We knew NGU had to be different. We didn’t just stumble into this; our team leveraged decades of collective experience in digital design and web development to architect the entire player journey from the ground up. Our goal wasn’t just functional: it was excellence.

We focused on creating an experience that is:

  • Intuitive: Easy to grasp, even if you’re new to crypto.
  • Engaging: Dynamic feedback, playful elements, and clear progression keep you hooked.
  • Performant: Smooth and responsive, even when things get wild on-chain.
  • Cohesive: Everything fits together seamlessly on the unified Gameboard.

Highlights from the Design Trenches

Building this wasn’t trivial. We poured serious thought into solving common Web3 pain points:

  • Frictionless Onboarding: We designed a focused, skeleton UI approach with smart auto-reconnection. Get in, connect smoothly, start playing. Simple.
  • The Living Gameboard: Your Potatoes animate into the Queue; the Vault clearly shows rarity and multiplier boosts; the integrated Swap Widget means no more tab-juggling; real-time Stats pop with color on updates. It feels alive.
  • Performance Under Pressure: We built the Queue and Vault using smart rendering techniques (like virtualization) so the UI stays snappy even with thousands of Potato collectibles.

This is The Way (We Build)

We’re incredibly proud of the UI/UX work detailed in our whitepaper. It represents a commitment to quality and a belief that crypto gaming can and should offer polished, player-centric experiences.

MC standing proudly beside a polished flaming Potato sculpture, with messy crypto UX sketches faded in the background

This isn’t about just shipping contracts; it’s about crafting a genuinely fun and usable game. It’s taking complex blockchain mechanics and making them feel intuitive.

We didn’t run from the hard problems; we leaned into them with expertise and a clear vision for what a great Web3 game should feel like.

Our UI/UX Whitepaper

We’ve only touched on the highlights here. The full whitepaper digs into the nitty-gritty: the design rationale behind every component, screenshots, accessibility considerations, and the specific techniques used to achieve this level of polish and performance.

If you appreciate thoughtful design or want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, check it out:

UI/UX Excellence in Crypto Game Design: The Digital Gameboard Behind "Number Go Up"

Experience the difference meticulous UI/UX makes. Then, get ready to make your Number Go Up.

- The NGU Team