From: thepipeline_xyz
Monad Games was conceived as a “first-of-its-kind content experiment” by the Pipeline, the Monad ecosystem, and the Monad community, designed to be fun and engaging [00:04:32]. It featured OG community members and contributors to the Monad ecosystem competing in various challenges [00:04:40]. The overall production was praised for being “super professionally done” [01:56:58].
Intentional Surprises and Unforeseen Elements
A core design choice for Monad Games was to keep the challenges secret from the contestants in advance [01:15:00]. This was done to elicit “really authentic reactions” and prevent any participant from gaining an edge through prior planning [01:15:16]. Jessup, the brainchild behind Monad Games, planned all the challenges and intentionally kept them confidential [01:15:05]. This approach added a layer of stress for Jessup, who had to manage information flow to the production team while ensuring contestants remained unaware [01:16:18].
The Psychic Challenge
Initially planned as the third game, the psychic challenge was moved up in the schedule, catching contestants off guard [01:23:40]. Participants like Danny were “quite rattled” [01:23:38] by the unexpected nature of the challenge and the fact that they couldn’t back out [01:23:06].
- Setup: Contestants had no idea who would walk in and sit across from them, with Danny expecting a well-known crypto figure like Keone, Eunice, or Brian Armstrong, not a local Denver psychic [01:15:29].
- Contestant Reactions:
- Danny: Felt “brutally painful” [01:29:36] and found the experience “extremely uncomfortable” [01:26:29]. He adopted a tactic of “nod and smile” to play it safe [01:23:11].
- KB: Admitted to being “a little freaked out” because she doesn’t like psychics [01:18:11]. She felt a “pretty big shield” was on, staring into the psychic’s soul to prevent her own from being read [01:18:30]. She ultimately won this challenge, which gave her initial confidence [01:19:10].
- Pre-Ballin: Recalled the psychic saying he was “the type of guy to steal a lighter,” which was “unbelievable” [01:34:04]. He also mentioned the psychic said he was a good cook, which he claims is “the most inaccurate thing ever” [01:20:26], potentially due to his musical “cooking beats” in the studio [01:20:46].
- Spam: The psychic told him he was “so nice and empathetic,” a person “every mother would want you as a kid” [01:47:00]. This was humorously contrasted with a tweet from Spam about “farting on people on public transportation” [01:57:00].
- General Impressions: Contestants were surprised that the psychic didn’t ask questions or engage in a conversation, simply stating observations after hearing their names [01:44:00]. Many felt “defeated after the sidekick” [01:55:00]. KB theorized that the psychic might have been picking up on online personas versus real-life identities, especially after contestants had to provide their government names [02:11:00].
The Spicy Challenge
This challenge involved contestants eating a spicy item (jelly bean, chocolate, or chip) while pitching a dream application for Monad.
- Items and Points:
- Jelly bean: 1,000 points [01:57:00]
- Chocolate: 2,000 points [01:57:00]
- Chip: 3,000 points [01:57:00]
- Contestant Reactions:
- Danny: Chose the chocolate first to “set the tone” and prevent others from taking the “easy route” [01:29:12]. He found it “brutally painful” [01:29:36], making it impossible to focus on his pitch or hear others [01:29:43]. He was also surprised by the unstated rule that he couldn’t drink milk during his pitch [01:29:51].
- Pre-Ballin: Found the jelly bean “not that bad” [01:37:10] and could have eaten five [01:37:14]. He famously chewed his jelly bean for the entire three-minute pitch, which likely intensified the spice [01:37:36]. He mentioned that the dark red jelly beans (ghost pepper) were the worst [01:37:57].
- KB: Initially considered the chocolate for more points but chose the jelly bean after seeing Danny’s reaction, admitting she can’t handle spice well [01:39:18]. She felt her anxiety prevented her from “nailed” her pitch, leading to a “fumbled” performance [01:39:51].
- Spam: “Double stacked” points by consuming both the jelly bean and chocolate [01:30:28]. He swallowed them “like they were pills” without chewing, aiming to minimize immediate discomfort to get through his pitch [01:30:33]. He confirmed the chocolate was sweet and spicy for those who chewed it [01:30:47].
- Intern: Found his jelly bean “very manageable,” regretting not eating “20 of the jelly beans” for 4,000 points [01:42:26].
The One Chip Challenge (Bonus Content)
Although no contestant ate the chip during Monad Games, Sophie, a member of the Monad Foundation team, took the one-chip challenge on camera as bonus content [01:32:07]. She refused the glove and milk, stating she’d “do anything for the Monad community” [01:33:08]. Sophie described the chip as “really spicy” [01:35:30], causing a “physical reaction” [01:33:29] and making her mouth feel like it was “dying” [01:33:30]. She could feel the chip move through her digestive system for 24 hours [01:36:34].
The Ice Challenge
Contestants had to extract a word from a block of ice using a provided tool.
- Tools and Strategy: Tools varied, including a keyboard, spoon, hammer, and lighter [01:43:00]. Danny, who had the keyboard, found it ineffective, leading him to use his hands to break the ice on the ground, which turned out to be the “best strategy” [01:43:53]. KB and Intern used a hammer and spoon, respectively, while Pre-Ballin used a lighter, which was “good for nothing” except for him “stealing” [01:44:15].
- Contestant Reactions:
- Danny: Won the challenge by breaking the ice on the ground and stomping on smaller chunks [01:43:56].
- Spam: Made a deal with Danny, revealing he had a duplicate of Danny’s word, which saved Danny [01:47:47]. He mentioned he was close to winning by breaking his ice against the ground [01:48:08].
- Intern: Was offered to choose his tool first but declined for “content” and to ensure a “level playing field” [01:42:10]. He later suggested this might have caused him to lose, implying he would have chosen the keyboard [01:42:57]. He asserted that not choosing first was an act of “good sportsmanship” [01:43:17].
- KB: Finished seventh [01:40:21]. Sophie was “rooting for KB” in this challenge and was “pretty disappointed in the results” [01:38:34].
Onchain Elements and Community Engagement
Monad Games incorporated several on-chain elements to engage the community:
- Prediction Markets: Prior to the premiere, prediction markets were live on the Monad testnet, powered by Opinion Labs, a product building on the Monad protocol [00:05:30]. This generated community energy and speculation [00:05:48].
- The Cipher Challenge: A surprise on-chain activation involved a cipher hidden within the Monad Games video [00:05:57].
- Development: Jessup had the idea, and the engineering team at Monad Foundation (Harpaul, Marcus, Box, Mo, and others) built a “really cool app using ZK and some cool onchain features” for submissions [00:51:29].
- Community Engagement: The community submitted over 30,000 guesses to crack the cipher [00:06:09]. The challenge was intentionally designed to be “really really hard” to prolong the competition [00:54:40].
- Technological Sophistication: Unlike typical on-chain ciphers that can be simulated off-chain with bots, the Monad Games cipher was built with ZK (Zero-Knowledge) technology, making off-chain cracking impossible [00:56:52].
- Outcome: It didn’t take long to crack [00:06:23], but the identity of the solver remains unknown [00:54:48].
- Rewards: Participants who submitted a guess received a valueless testnet NFT as a commemorative token of participation [00:54:22].
- Upcoming Content: A recap video will soon explain how the cipher was created and solved [00:06:28].
Contestant Reflections and Future Ambitions
Overall, contestants were pleasantly surprised by how Monad Games turned out.
- KB: Feared it would be “cringe” but found it “a lot less cringe” than expected [00:47:42]. She felt the editing successfully conveyed the fun atmosphere of the day [00:47:55].
- Pre-Ballin: Was “definitely nervous” [01:11:05] due to feeling hungover during filming, but was “really surprised” by the great outcome and didn’t hate watching himself [01:11:21].
- Spam: Expected a simple trimming of footage but was “really impressed by like the the mememory behind it and like the actual like meme video style edits” [01:12:21].
- Intern: Was surprised by the 40-minute episode length given only “four, six hours” of filming, praising the “super smooth” editing [01:13:28]. He found the experience a “blast” and “so much better” than typical conference interactions [01:14:04].
There is a strong desire to run Monad Games again, potentially featuring more community members, ecosystem projects, and team members from the Monad Foundation [01:37:27]. Suggestions include a “Mr. Beast style” event with 100 players, eliminations, and live voting [01:59:33]. The team hopes for continued community engagement to make a second season possible [01:58:48].