While most of crypto uses a Web 2 model with token integrations or a federated model reliant on volunteer work, Saito applications operate in true, peer-to-peer Web 3 and are self-funding.
Saito apps prove that premium and everyday applications can be stable and enjoyable under a genuine Web 3 model. Saito apps are open source, peer-to-peer, and end-to-end encrypted by default. To begin understanding why this is uniquely possible on Saito, it's crucial to understand Saito Consensus.
Saito Arcade is an open source game engine that runs as a fully-distributed peer-to-peer blockchain application in the browser. The arcade and its numerous games not only laid the groundwork for a more diverse suite of peer-to-peer applications but represents what we believe to be some of the richest and most genuine Web 3 experiences available to date.
Many of the games leverage sophisticated cryptographic techniques to ensure fair elements of chance can exist without the need for any third-party oversight. Games on Saito require some of the most advanced use of Saito's cryptographic suite in order to ensure fair play in genuine, peer-to-peer Web 3 (rather than a centrally hosted Gacha-style game with token integrations).
All games, whether they rely on complex cryptographic interactivity or are simple single-player experiences, benefit from the Saito Consensus's natural ability to fund open source applications by allowing service providers to earn their share of payment for network bandwidth or service provided.
For these reasons the Web3 Foundation has recognized the Saito Game Engine as a standard for open, cryptographic gaming, where it successfully applied and fulfilled requirements for its grants program.
I like this idea and think it provides something REALLY valuable to the ecosystem, and takes blockchain gaming in a very different (and good!) direction
- Bill Laboon, Head of Education and Grants at Web3 Foundation
High quality games with significant followings often struggle to make money from digital sales. Companies like Apple and Google force developers to list games at extremely low prices to compete for visibility in their distribution channels, and then restrict how publishers can collect money from users.
Web 2 forces publishers to revert to selling physical editions, merchandise, access to lightly-veiled gambling boxes or tokens of questionable utility and origin. Saito blurs the line between developer and publisher through new and better business models which rid developers of the need to pay rent to centralized, digital storefronts.
Saito Arcade, and Saito generally, is an open index of applications which any node, full or lite, can earn fees for serving to users. Open source developers can thus route their application's transactions into the network and earn the larger part of that fee. Developers can simply and permissionlessly become their own publishers. Saito revolutionizes open source monetization.
The best games may still gravitate towards free-to-play models, but alternative services and their monetization are not to be restricted: leader-boards, rankings, match-making services, and the like. Game designers on Saito have the freedom to experiment with different choices. Some games may be better off integrating decentralized advertising networks, or collecting micro-payments on a game-by-game or even a turn-by-turn basis.
For question of how the Saito Game Engine allows multiple parties to fairly agree on the state of truly random elements necessary for many games on the arcade, the answer begins with Mental Poker:
Indeed, the most direct use of the techniques which authors Rivest, Shamir and Adleman (RSA) devised are most directly employed and enhanced in Saito's very own, peer-to-peer, Web 3 Poker - available to play on the arcade or to audit on Github.
Mental Poker exploits the commutative properties of public key encryption schemes to encrypt and shuffle a deck of cards using the keys of each player, and then progressively decrypt card when they must be revealed. A more complete explanation can be sought via Wikipedia.
The Saito Arcade has taken the principles of Mental Poker and generalized and extended the technique to support several adversarial players and to encode and integrate arbitrary values which extend far past a simple game of Poker. Titles like Twilight Struggle and Settlers of Saitoa are two flagship examples.
Because Saito solves the man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) without the need for a trusted party, it is in the unique position to apply the techniques without sweeping related trust assumptions under the rug. The entire process, from peer discovery to setup to gameplay benefits uniquely from taking place on a universal broadcast layer like Saito blockchain.
Whereas many of these steps require a trusted party like Facebook to prevent MITM attacks, Saito does it trustlessly and in the open. While Mental Poker removes trust assumptions from the game, Saito removes trust assumptions from the network infrastructure, and thus can initiate a secure and affordable Web 3 experience through every layer of interaction.
For a more technical dive into how the current suite of games on Saito Arcade work, pay a visit to our Github Repository or ask a question on Saito's social media platform Red Square.
Red Square is the Web 3 public square leveraging the Saito Blockchain and its peer-to-peer capabilities. While it may appear to function like a standard Web 2 Twitter-clone, Red Square's processes have been heavily abstracted down to pure peer-to-peer interactions.
For this reason, Red Square achieves what other incumbents like Mastadon or Nostr have failed: an uncensorable public square without reliance on volunteers. Users of Red Square keep each other up to date and can remain online without the permission of any network nodes or central authorities.
Like many Saito applications, Red Square uses a thoughtful mix of on and off chain protocols. Actions like publishing, liking, reposting and following are carried through public transactions while the re-propagation of that information is shared more discreetly between peers.
The usual features take on new meaning in Web 3: Retweeting actively rebroadcasts the post to other peers, Following subscribes to the data-stream of that user, and in an ecosystem with built-in DoS protections, a user's Likes are unlimited.
Moderation in Web 3
Red Square is as much the community's go-to hub as it is an experiment on the cutting edge of Web 3. One of the most interesting and difficult questions to answer with any public square, but especially a Web 3 site is: how is unsavory content moderated without reliance on centralized authorities?
Red Square is not centralized like X, nor is it federated like Mastadon or Nostr, it is a fully peer-to-peer social media platform. Since individual users are the fundamental unit of Red Square, it is approaching this question by starting with user choice:
If a user wishes to hide and refrain from rebroadcasting certain posts or accounts to their peers, they have that choice. As Red Square scales up we expect that being leaders in Web 3 will reveal yet unsolved problems and give way to more sophisticated solutions.
Spam and fraud prevention, curation and moderation tools are all ameneties users come to expect, but also the most effective avenues of traditional tech tyranny. Open source and opt-in mechanisms will be required to provide users desiring a more refined experience the ability to have it.
Community Notes is a great example of an open source tool which allows users to issue corrections on social media without oversight; tools like this will very likely be an important part of Red Square's, and Web 3's future.
The team is always open to feedback and ideas.
Saito Talk is a peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted video conferencing software for everyday use. No user account, phone number, credit card or personal information of any kind is required to use it - simply click the link and invite a friend. Saito Talk currently supports up to four callers.
Transient Saito Transactions securely bootstraps a STUN connection for the participants based around their public keys. Users then enjoy a fully private, fully encrypted video call independent of the node originally providing STUN services.
We encourage users of centralized conferencing or video call software concerned with privacy and open source values to head over to migrate to Saito Talk - it's only a few clicks away and partners can join via a one-click invitation link.
Saito Talk can be accessed directly via the above link or through Red Square: click on the hamburger menu and find the Saito Talk button:
Saito Chat is an end-to-end encrypted (with the exception of public chats) peer-to-peer chat client which leverages the Saito blockchain to securely find and initiate key exchanges with peers. While the premise is simple and familiar, the privacy implications are profound:
Unlike other chat applications which require a user account and sometimes even a phone number, Saito Chat offers sovereign account creation and access by merely opening the web page (as do all Saito apps); a public key is automatically and locally generated. Not only is account creation more private, open and secure, but so is the key exchange process:
While the key exchange for a Web 2 encrypted messaging application relies on a central authority to assert that the true owners of the encryption keys are who they claim to be, Saito, defends against the man-in-the-middle attack by making it prohibitively costly to censor users, thus making the public-key identity theft as expensive, and more so over time.
Users with the greatest need for security would be encouraged to delay sensitive messaging until the cost-to-attack the blockchain grows sufficiently large for the situation. Saito Chat demonstrates that the basic function as a leaderless yet secure public key infrastructure has compelling reason to exist beneath all of our basic online needs.
Many of the beloved Saito apps like Beleaguered Castle and even Red Square were built or spurred to life by community members.
The community page attempts to keep track of all Saito community efforts, including Saito Web 3 applications built by developers outside the Saito team. This section features a non-comprehensive list of noteworthy projects:
Graffiti is universal pixel canvas atop the Saito blockchain. Inspired by r/place, the application serves to test the social experiment in the context of Web 3.
CD (@abbababaababb on Telegram) takes credit for the current implementation with help from team developer Daniel Worlton.
Saito Mania is a single player Saito-themed shoot em' up which can be accessed from the Arcade. It features a fully-integrated leaderboard and sophisticated pacing despite its classic skeleton.
The game is a labor of love from community member SaitoWeb3 - 22jWAzPBoAqn9hUsec9UydbXvaj862qB6q4mBpa9Bex4P
Beleaguered Castle Solitaire is a puzzling variation on the classic. If grokking the Saito Whitepaper was easy for you, then you may be game for this challenging community created card conundrum. See how you stack up on the Arcade.
Realms is a strategic fantasy card game in development for the Saito Arcade. The artwork for the cards is in production thanks to Darkus. The current development on cards can be watched on Github.
Realms cards are distributed as NFTs and their launch marks the inaugural release of non-fungible tokens on the Saito network, with consensus development taking place alongside the artwork. Some highlights from the first batch of cards are shown below:
Livedocs is an interactive documentation application available for developers to install and tweak on their machines. The user interface shows some of the most important functions developers need to make dApps on Saito and allows the user to experiment with them in real time.
It also serves as a useful skeleton to quickly get started applying Saito's most powerful features. Feedback for Livedocs can be directed towards Muk.
Those interested in building on Saito should start here. The SDK used to make the all apps on this page is fully available for anyone to begin using. It has built-in functions to interact with the blockchain, perform basic cryptography, establish peer-to-peer connections, perform secure p2p dice rolls and shuffles, and more.
Any developers seeking assistance or who want to offer feedback can reach the lead developers on Red Square, Saito Community Chat, Saito Community Telegram or make an issue on the Github. The team is thrilled to see what the community builds and values developer feedback.