CryptoKitties – The First Big Blockchain Game

What is CryptoKitties?

CryptoKitties is a blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) game developed by AxiomZen in 2017 and was the first ETH non-fungible token (NFT) game. Using the ERC-271 token standard, it was the first gamification aspect of the blockchain space where game developers could randomize kitten rarity and create asset scarcity – similar to a card collectibles game. In short, it’s a collect-and-breed game that uses blockchain technology to generate rarer and more valuable felines.

How CryptoKitties Is Actually Played

The game is played by buying, breeding, and selling digital cats for a higher price. Players can buy a digital cat from the games marketplace or OpenSea using Ethereum (ETH). Once you have at least one cat, you can start breeding them to create rarer kitties with new attributes by breeding them with one another or by siring them. Cattributes are immutably stored traits in the cat’s smart contract and can determine the rarity and value of each NFT. The game’s goal is to collect or breed rarer and more valuable NFTs, which can then be sold at a much higher price.

The Basic Gaming Rules to Know

The game’s rules are embedded into the blockchain’s smart contract making every player equal in terms of chances and ways to play the game. For example, players can only sell their virtual cats on Ethereum-based marketplaces like OpenSea, the official game’s market. Players are also required to hold ETH to make purchases and must pay gas for most game interactions, such as breeding or placing a cat on sale.

Two Kitties can breed anyhow, except with their siblings, and one wallet should own both Kitties. One workaround is if players use siring, the second cat can belong to another user.

After breeding is actioned, the female and the male enter a cooling period where they cannot breed again. As the cat breeds over time, the cooling period also increases to prevent NFT saturation.

1. Earn a Profit – Players can profit by trading CryptoKitties for higher prices than what they initially purchased them for.

2. Collect Rare Digital Assets – CryptoKitties are collectibles with various attributes and traits, making them rare and desirable to collectors.

3. Investment Potential – CryptoKitties have the potential to increase in value over time as they become rarer.

4. Low-Cost Investment – Investing in CryptoKitties requires little capital compared to other investments

5. NFT Market Access – Provides you with an understanding of NFT gaming while also generating revenue

6. Decentralized Ownership – CryptoKitties are secured on the blockchain and grant players full ownership of their digital cats without third-party interference.

7. Different Types of Game – Financial gamification gives players more benefits for playing an NFT game that can also be converted into money.

Here are Core Benefits of Playing CryptoKitties

Flipping

Flipping is the simplest form of trading and involves buying CryptoKitties at a low price and then immediately selling them again at a higher price. This can be done quickly and easily on any NFT marketplace.
You can look for opportune moments to track large CK offloads and consider buying them when there is a lot of demand and the floor price decreases.

WCK Exchange

WrappedKitties (WCK) gives holders new ways to generate revenue by buying into the WCK token and trading it for NFT contracts. This creates ways for players to swap their digital cats for tokens and scan for ones that could increase in value in the short/long term based on some of their traits and unique characteristics.

WCK Arbitrage

There are instances when the price of a cat and the WCK token has a price discrepancy between 20%-30%. In that scenario, players could use tokens to purchase cats, sell them at a higher floor price, and then repurchase WCK tokens. This helps players generate additional K tokens.

WCK Trading

WCK are tokens with market value, so by understanding basic technical analysis and market volatility, players can buy and sell tokens to increase their stake. The easiest way is to hold stablecoins and buy into WCK when the market dips, as the price of a WCK token could recover in the long term.

Skills and Strategic Goals to Leverage

Entry Level Play (Less than 0.1 ETH/ 0 cats)

The entry-level play is for people on a budget who want to seek ways to get their foot into the door and build their collection. With that in mind, always research before buying or breeding any cats. Read about some of the best cost-effective strategies, and when a low capital is involved, you must pay attention and make purchases when gas prices are at their lowest level. Then, without a big budget, you can seek opportunities for giveaways to get started!

Flipping

Flipping is the simplest form of trading and involves buying CryptoKitties at a low price and then immediately selling them again at a higher price. This can be done quickly and easily on any NFT marketplace.
You can look for opportune moments to track large CK offloads and consider buying them when there is a lot of demand and the floor price decreases.

WCK Exchange

WrappedKitties (WCK) gives holders new ways to generate revenue by buying into the WCK token and trading it for NFT contracts. This creates ways for players to swap their digital cats for tokens and scan for ones that could increase in value in the short/long term based on some of their traits and unique characteristics.

WCK Arbitrage

There are instances when the price of a cat and the WCK token has a price discrepancy between 20%-30%. In that scenario, players could use tokens to purchase cats, sell them at a higher floor price, and then repurchase WCK tokens. This helps players generate additional K tokens.

WCK Trading

WCK are tokens with market value, so by understanding basic technical analysis and market volatility, players can buy and sell tokens to increase their stake. The easiest way is to hold stablecoins and buy into WCK when the market dips, as the price of a WCK token could recover in the long term.

Intermediate Play (0.1 ETH to 5 ETH)

Supply a Fancy Chase

You can take advantage of this Play during Fancy Chase events by paying attention to the desired traits and making rapid purchases on the marketplace to flip them for profit. With the demand for NFTs with a wanted characteristic growing, selling them for a profit will be easier, but don’t go full throttle into a buying spree.

Breeding

With enough capital, players should consider breeding cats, but it’s essential to know the percentage of getting a rarer cat with unique attributes before entering the game. In addition, selling new cats is a long-term play; each player should weigh out the benefits and disadvantages of having a high-value cat for sale or having liquidity to engage with other strategies. The bottom line is that you should know what you are breeding and your expectations before making any purchases.

This is a great strategy that can be scaled as funds increase, potentially yielding even greater rewards.

CryptoKitties Blockchain Data and Methods

Blockchain Transactions

CryptoKitties’s smart contract interacts in several ways with the users and completes 9 networks interacting and involving the smart contract owner, buyer, sales auction, sender, lender, siring action, and reviver. According to research on almost 2 million kitties between 2017 and 2020, the most interaction occurred with users purchasing digital cats on the marketplace, which was done by 86% of the sample.

In addition, 68% of players were likely to breed kittens and create new breeds, while almost half of them, 51.8%, sold them on the marketplace. The lowest amount of interactions took place in lending cats or renting cats for breeding.

CryptoKitties Ownership Transfer Explained

On the blockchain, ownership transfer of NFTs takes place when the sales auction is completed and approved by the network. Next, the smart contract approves and confirms the offered contract and sends information to the core contract. Finally, by sending the receivers’ address details to the core contract, the CK network finalizes the transfer of ownership between the original seller and the new owner.

The Rise and Fall of CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties set out with the goal of making blockchain technology more accessible and easier to understand for the average person, and was one of the first products to capitalize on the idea of NFTs. The game was an immediate success on Ethereum as players bought, traded, and sold virtual cats. The game quickly became a popular trend among crypto enthusiasts, generating FOMO with news about digital cats selling for over 100ETH. It resulted in an ever-expanding marketplace taking up 15% of all network traffic at its peak and even congesting the Ethereum network, causing transaction costs to skyrocket. As network fees were still high, it led to a decrease in popularity over time.

The play-to-earn game was always a money grab for users as players wanted to cash out as much as possible. After the 2018 market meltdown, demand for them dropped, resulting in decreases in support from developers. More than that, the other NFT games that became more appealing started to take center stage; however, that’s not the only reason.

The game’s tokenomics meant that more kitties would become available on the market, resulting in a depleted sense of scarcity. The more players joined, the more kittens would be available, resulting in rarer opportunities for players to chase that 100 ETH NFT. Even with the NFT market kicking off, high network fees meant that users would have to spend a lot on gas fees – sometimes up to $50-$60 for a single, smart contract interaction. With no real incentives for players to continue breeding cats and losing hundreds of dollars in the process, they focused on more affordable networks.