In an industry where testnets are often perceived to be monotonous task grinders, ZIGChain, a wealth generation-focused L1, has embarked on an innovative gamified journey on its way to launching its mainnet.
Dubbed the Wealth Generation Quest, the program transforms ZIGChain’s testnet experience from a repetitive button-clicking process into a rich, game-like progression replete with interesting narratives, challenges, and even a mascot guide.
All of this has been done in a bid to solve one of Web3’s biggest hurdles, i.e., preserving user adoption and maintaining high customer retention rates.
By teaming up with the Octalysis Group — founded by gamification guru Yu-kai Chou — ZIGChain has adopted a “human-focused design”, allowing its testnet to feel like a collective quest.
The first phase of the Wealth Generation Quest went live during October 2024 and was unveiled at a Token2049 Singapore meetup with ZIGChain co-founder Abdul Rafay Gadit announcing: “This isn’t just another run-of-the-mill testnet — it’s designed to connect our community with a sense of mission and culture.”
A Closer Look at What’s on Offer!
Unlike typical testnets, ZIGChain’s gamified approach is designed in a way that early participants aren’t merely required to hunt for potential airdrops. Instead, they’re required to embark on a storyline that ties into ZIGChain’s broader mission of democratizing quality financial opportunities for everyone.
The Octalysis influence has been clear in this regard, offering up progression systems, challenges, and community collaboration to replace the “click-for-coins” ethos that has plagued many blockchain projects’ user acquisition efforts historically.
Critically, Octalysis’s track record has lent tremendous credibility to ZIGChain’s vision, with the firm’s gamified designs having previously delivered a 46% boost in Brazilian banking giant CiaxaBank’s recurring profits and a staggering 712% increase in the sales for popular hotel chain Hilton. Not only that, the firm has also driven growth in eCommerce revenues for tech giants like Microsoft, Verizon, and Booking (dot) com.
Some of the organizations for which the Octalysis Group has provided consultancy
Product Mascot Sparks Community Creativity
If Octalysis has provided the brains behind ZIGChain’s gamified testnet venture, “Zella” seems to be at the heart of its operations. In essence, Zella is ZIGChain’s official mascot and the virtual guide leading users through the Wealth Generation Quest. Since its debut late last year, Zella has become a beloved figure and an interactive product in her own right.
Within the testnet’s interface, Zella greets participants and offers guidance, making complex onboarding feel more like a guided game tutorial than a series of tech prompts.
Most recently, ZIGChain announced a campaign inviting users to imagine and design new looks for the mascot. That call-to-action kicked off the Zella Art Quest, a community contest that ignited a wave of creativity across ZIGChain’s socials.
The response from the community was explosive, with dozens of enthusiasts sketching and submitting their own interpretations of Zella, ranging from cyberpunk heroines to anime-style avatars, showcasing the depth of engagement the mascot had inspired.
Originally slated to award three winners, the team expanded the prizes to five to recognize more of the community’s talent and enthusiasm. Each winner was provided with a 1,000 $ZIG token reward alongside a sense of ownership in Zella’s story.
Not only that, the ZIGChain Army — as the project’s community dubs itself — even took Zella’s fame offline as March 2025 saw Zella’s neon visage light up a billboard in the heart of Times Square, New York City, in a bold publicity move coinciding with the White House Crypto Summit and a video captioned “Wealth Seekers, wherever you are, our time has arrived!”.
A New Model for Web3 Engagement
Beyond the fun and fanfare, ZIGChain’s gamification venture has sought to iron out the problem of “misaligned incentives” that has plagued the blockchain arena for many years now. By infusing its testnet with elements of gamification, an engaging narrative, and even a sense of shared purpose, ZIGChain seems to be aligning user motivation with a stark sense of loyalty and curiosity.
In this context, Zella’s success in driving community engagement has exemplified this shift from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation. Therefore, as ZIGChain prepares for its mainnet launch in the near future, the project stands out from the rest of the fray, especially when it comes to proving that a little playfulness can go a long way toward leveling up user engagement. Interesting times ahead!
