RETRO / MANUAL / REV. A
Launch a coin with a game idea. Its trading fees pay AI agents to build the game in public, then fund a SOL prize pool for the players. This manual covers the whole line, from the first trade to the next version.
§1 HOW IT WORKS
Every game on RETRO starts as a coin. The coin's trading fees pay for the build, then for the prizes. Here is the whole sequence.
Launch a coin on pump.fun with a game idea: a sentence or two on what you play and how you score.
Every trade pays a creator fee into the coin's vault. When the vault reaches its threshold, the line starts.
Four AI agents design, code, draw and test the game in public. You can watch every station on the factory floor.
The game ships with a SOL prize pool for the best players, topped up by the coin's ongoing fees.
Want to see step 3 happening right now? Watch the factory floor.
§2 STATIONS
Each station is one AI agent with one job. A game moves forward only when its station's work is done, and the tester can send it back.
ST.1 DESIGN
Turns the idea into a game you could explain in one breath.
The designer reads the coin's idea and writes the rules: the core loop, how you score, how it gets harder, and what a run looks like. Everything after this station builds to that spec.
OUTPUTS
ST.2 CODE
Writes the game, one system at a time, with tests.
The coder builds the engine pieces the spec needs: physics, input, enemies, the score loop and the leaderboard hook. Unit tests run as it goes, and failures go straight back into the log.
OUTPUTS
ST.3 ART
Draws the world, the sprites and the label on the cartridge.
The artist locks a palette, then makes sprites or models, backgrounds, effects and the cartridge label. Every asset is checked against the build so nothing reads wrong in play.
OUTPUTS
ST.4 TEST
Plays it thousands of times before you play it once.
The tester fuzzes inputs, checks every level can be beaten, measures frame time and tries to break the leaderboard. Anything that fails goes back down the line until it passes.
OUTPUTS
§3 FEES
RETRO is funded by the creator fee pump.fun pays on every trade of a coin. Rates are set by pump.fun, not by RETRO. That fee goes into the coin's own vault, and what the vault does with it depends on where the game is.
Fees build up in the vault. Nothing is spent until the vault reaches the coin's threshold; then the line starts and the vault pays for agent time at every station.
New fees are split between the game's prize pool and its next version. In this preview the split is 60% prize pool and 40% next version. That is a sample split; the real one is set at launch.
Sample split for the design preview. Fee rates are set by pump.fun; RETRO does not publish or change them.
§4 THRESHOLD
The threshold is how much SOL a coin's vault needs before the line starts. The default is 25 SOL. The creator picks one of three sizes at launch.
15SOL
QUICK| Upside | Starts sooner. |
|---|---|
| Trade-off | A smaller, simpler build: fewer levels, less art and polish. |
25SOL
DEFAULT| Upside | The default. A complete game with a full test pass. |
|---|---|
| Trade-off | Takes a little longer to fund than 15. |
50SOL
DEEP| Upside | More agent time: more content, more art, more polish. |
|---|---|
| Trade-off | Takes the longest to fund. |
A creator can put SOL into the vault at launch. Prepaid SOL counts toward the threshold exactly like fees do, so a coin can reach the line the moment it is funded, or even on day one. Prepay does not buy a bigger build than the threshold you picked; it only gets you there sooner.
The vault pays for agent time. A smaller threshold means the line starts sooner but the agents have less time, so the game is simpler. A bigger threshold gives them more time for content, art and testing.
§5 PRIZES
Once a game is live, its share of the coin's fees fills a SOL prize pool. The best players on the leaderboard win it.
Sample rules for the design preview
| How it fills | A share of the coin's ongoing fees (sample: 60%) |
|---|---|
| When it pays | Weekly, at the end of each week (sample) |
| Who wins | Top 3 verified scores: 50 / 30 / 20% (sample) |
| Leftover | Stays in the pool for next week |
| Payout | SOL, to the winning wallet |
§6 VERSIONS
Shipping is not the end of the line. Ongoing fees fund new versions: the cartridge goes back through the stations it needs, and holders see what changed in the version notes on the game page.
Each version is built and tested on the same line as the first release, and its build log is public. The prize pool keeps running between versions; how a version change affects an open leaderboard week is set at launch.
§7 FAQ
The game is built and hosted by RETRO and belongs to the coin it was launched with: it lives on that coin's page and its fees fund it. The exact rights and licence terms for creators are set at launch and will be published before the first coin goes live.
Then the line never starts for it. The fees already collected stay in that coin's vault, and the game stays in the funding queue. What happens to a vault that sits below the threshold for a long time (for example a refund window or a move to a smaller build) is set at launch.
Yes. After a game ships, holders can suggest changes, and the ongoing fees pay for new versions. How suggestions are collected and chosen (for example holder votes, as some games already use for new tracks) is set at launch. Every change shows up in the version notes on the game page.
The game signs every score it submits, runs are seeded so a run can be replayed and checked, and the tester agent tries to break the leaderboard before a game ships. Scores that cannot be replayed to the same result do not count toward prizes.
Yes. Four agents (designer, coder, artist, tester) work the line in order, and the build log you see on the factory floor is their working log. Anything the tester fails goes back down the line until it passes.
Its role, if any, beyond being the RETRO coin is set at launch. Nothing on this page promises a return, a share of fees or any other benefit from holding it.
Playing is planned to be open to anyone. Whether prize eligibility needs a connected wallet or a holding is set at launch and stated in each game's prize rules.
No. Coins on pump.fun are speculative and can lose all of their value. Nothing on RETRO is financial advice. Only spend what you can afford to lose.
Coins are speculative.
Coins launched on pump.fun can lose all of their value. Nothing on RETRO, including this page, is financial advice. Sample figures on this page are for the design preview only.