Design · Mina
Mina Mastermind
A zero-knowledge game where the UX hides the proof.
A ZK adaptation of Mastermind on Mina, commissioned by o1Labs, the San Francisco crypto company behind the o1js stack. Each guess is proof-verified on-chain, which is slow. The design problem was making that wait vanish: progressive setup, warm-up puzzles, and invisible benchmarking so the proof feels instant.
01 · Challenge
Every move is verified on-chain with a zero-knowledge proof, and proofs take seconds. Players will not wait seconds.
02 · Decision
Move proving out of the critical path: compile circuits during setup, run warm-up puzzles through the slowest steps, and narrate any unavoidable wait with one line of honest copy.
03 · Outcome
The proof feels instant without being weakened. Commissioned and shipped for o1Labs, and the approach became my essay on hiding ZK latency.