RatPool White Paper

1. Introduction

Play-to-earn games often build their reward systems around a token. Token ownership and early participation can matter more than performance in the game. That model ties the player experience to demand for an asset as well as to the quality of play.

Crypto onboarding adds another barrier. Installing a wallet, managing a seed phrase and acquiring a network token can interrupt a player before a match begins. RatPool addresses these problems through skill-based competition with USDC stakes and an account flow that handles the wallet and network fees within the game.

2. The solution

RatPool organises arena matches into pools with a fixed USDC entry. Every player in a pool enters on the same stake. Performance determines the finishing order, and the top three receive a defined share of the pool.

Rewards come from the players' own stakes. RatPool has no token, and pool payouts do not depend on token issuance or rewards for early holders. Free Play provides a way to learn the game without a stake.

3. Gameplay

Rats fight in a real-time 2D arena using guns, grenades, jetpacks and a cutlass. Movement, aim and position all affect the result. Points come from kills and from holding a moving zone, so the contest rewards both combat and control of space.

The 0.10 and 1 USDC pools run for five minutes. The 10 and 100 USDC pools run for ten minutes. The room server owns the match clock and scores.

Free Play

The Yards offer Free Play without a pool stake. Players can practise movement, weapons and zone control before entering a paid pool.

4. Pools and progression

The lobby

A pool starts with at least six staked players and holds up to forty. Joining approves exactly one entry; no funds move while players wait in the lobby.

The room shares a one-minute lobby timer. While fewer than six players are staked, the minute restarts. When the timer ends with at least six staked players, the room locks and the escrow program collects the stakes. Approving an entry and collecting it are separate steps.

The unlock ladder

The 1 USDC pool unlocks after 2 matches in the 0.10 USDC pool. The 10 USDC pool unlocks after 2 matches in the 1 USDC pool. The 100 USDC pool unlocks after 2 matches in the 10 USDC pool.

5. Economics

The pool is the total of the collected entries. The top three receive 90% of that total, split 50% to first, 30% to second and 20% to third. The platform share is 10%. Fourth place and below receive no podium payout.

Invite rewards

If a podium finisher joined through someone's invite, a total of 1% of the pool is paid to the inviters of the invited podium finishers. That amount is split equally among those inviters. It comes out of the platform's 10%, leaving the finishers' 90% unchanged. The platform retains 9% when an invite reward is paid, and 10% otherwise.

No token or pay-to-win

RatPool has no token. The store sells weapons with trade-offs, never health, armour or a bigger share of the pool. Buying a weapon does not change the payout formula.

Players never pay network fees. The platform sponsors every transaction, including entry approvals, collection, settlement and refunds. No SOL is needed to play.

6. Technology

Clients and accounts

RatPool runs in the browser at ratpool.xyz/play and as an Android app downloaded from ratpool.xyz. Sign-in is Google only. An embedded Solana wallet is created for the player, with no seed phrase to manage and no SOL required.

The room server

The room server owns health, scores, the clock and the zone. It checks every hit against the shot that caused it and reports the finishing order for settlement. The platform admits on-chain seats only for players actually seated in the room.

The escrow lifecycle

RatPool uses a non-custodial, on-chain escrow built as an Anchor program on Solana. Stakes are collected into a vault owned by the match and controlled by the program. Each match fixes its fee, fee destination, minimum players and refund delay when it is created.

1. Approve. Joining approves exactly one entry. Nothing moves while the player waits in the lobby.
2. Collect. When the room locks, the program collects the approved stakes into the match's vault.
3. Settle. The room server reports the result. The program pays the podium, the platform share and any invite rewards in one settlement.
4. Refund. If a match is not paid within 30 minutes of collection, settlement is refused and every stake is returned in full. No fee is deducted, and the platform pays the network fees.

7. Security and fairness

Escrow guarantees and limits

Escrow separates the collection and distribution of stakes from the game server. The program applies the match's fixed payout rules and refund deadline. It does not observe the arena or verify who won: the room server reports the results, and the escrow trusts them. Players therefore rely on the server's integrity for the finishing order.

The program's upgrade key is held offline. It is a single key for now; a multisig is planned before or at mainnet. The key that pays out cannot change the program. The current single upgrade key remains a trust dependency because its holder can change the program.

Fair play

RatPool never flags a player for skill. Only physically impossible actions are measured, such as moving or firing faster than the game allows. The room server checks every hit against the shot that caused it while retaining control of health, scores, the clock and the zone.

Transaction checks and audit

The app checks every transaction before the wallet signs it. This check sits alongside the escrow rules and the separation between the payout and upgrade keys. Mainnet follows an independent audit; the current deployment remains on devnet.

8. Roadmap

1. Current deployment: live multiplayer pools on Solana devnet with test USDC, browser access and the Android app.
2. Independent audit: complete the audit and address its findings before mainnet.
3. Upgrade governance: replace the single offline upgrade key with a multisig before or at mainnet.
4. Mainnet: move to mainnet after the independent audit.

9. Risks and disclaimer

RatPool currently runs on Solana devnet. Test USDC has no cash value. The pool amounts and examples in this paper describe the accounting rules, not cash earnings available from the current deployment.

Competitive pool play involves the risk of losing the entry stake. A podium finish is not guaranteed. Service interruptions, network disruption, software defects and compromised results reporting can affect matches or the timing of transactions. Escrow cannot establish the accuracy of the server's finishing order.

This paper describes the project and is not financial advice. Access to RatPool and paid pools is subject to applicable law and availability by jurisdiction.

10. Credits

Firearm recordings by Vincent Sevedge, CC-BY 3.0.