The Platform

Lootverse is a non-pixelated parallel world built around virtual real estate, community governance, and an internal economy. Users own land, form factions, and interact with a layered system of features: from financial tools to social infrastructure. It operates less like a game and more like a city with its own rules.

The Brief

The task was to design the onboarding experience: the moment a new user arrives and needs to understand what they're inside. From account creation to character personalisation through “Orbs”, to a structured walkthrough of the platform's core features. The design needed to orient without overwhelming, and carry the complexity of this world lightly on first impression.

Design Direction

Early concepts covered a wide range: playful, colourful treatments on one end; dark, atmospheric, and grounded on the other. The client chose the latter. Lootverse's identity is that of a sophisticated parallel world, not a game, and the interface needed to reflect that distinction clearly. Every screen was treated as a space, not a level.

Research

I studied how comparable platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox introduce users to layered virtual ecosystems. Alongside that, I looked at how game design handles information architecture without triggering tutorial fatigue. What surfaced was a consistent principle: users need just enough context to feel oriented, not so much that they feel managed.