Cryptokitties: A GameFi pioneer review

What is CryptoKitties?

CryptoKitties is the first Ethereum blockchain game that uses NFT and has become a development factor in the GameFi sphere. The project was created by the Canadian company Axiom Zen. The decentralized app emerged in 2017 and has taken a groundbreaking position in the industry due to the “play to earn” model. Its creators have enjoyed tremendous success, with 1.5 million users and transactions worth $40 million. P2E is now a popular format many online game founders resort to using.

CryproKitties pointed out additional applications of blockchain technology and revealed the GameFi and NFT directions in the crypto market.

The cutesy Tamagotchi-like game, where the main and only characters are NFT kitties, hides a viral concept that worked at just the right time. The point of the game is to breed digital CryptoKitties, which can then be sold to other users. The more unique the progeny is, the better the chance of getting a higher profit.

How did the project develop?

The active growth rate of new users lasted less than 10 days, then the number of players declined sharply. The project became popular very quickly, but as the number of users grew, the Ethereum throughput decreased. The more people joined, the slower the network worked. This led to severe problems noted in other projects and tasks in the blockchain.

CryptoKitties accounted for 13% of all transactions in Ethereum within 7 days of its launch. This hype around the new product slowed down the rest of the work in the network.

As time passed, CryptoKitties’ rating began to fall. Then Axiom Zen decided to create a more scalable blockchain and switch to it. So, in 2020, they began to develop the Flow network, which became the basis for a new generation of games and apps. Due to the transition to the latest high-speed blockchain, CryptoKitties had new features and benefits:

3D CryptoKitties:

• support for more people online;
• free cryptokitties: free game mode;
• cross-compatibility with games developed on Flow;
• the payment for gas is much lower than in Ethereum.

Later, puzzles, collections, and quests were added to the game. However, it did not save the situation. The creators could not stimulate the game’s expansion with the new blockchain and features. With each passing month, there were fewer and fewer people willing to buy NFT kitten. According to statistics provided by DappRadar, in June 2022, CryptoKitties attracted 462 new users, and 2,342 transactions were made.

The phenomenon of CryptoKitties’ popularity

The popularity of CryptoKitties is largely related to innovation. The project became the first NFT game on the Ethereum blockchain in the Play to Earn format, which made users very interested. In addition, the choice of kitties to breed and the fact that the game resembled a Tamagotchi contributed to its fame.

Thanks to CryptoKitties, other developers could see a broader application of blockchain technology and were inspired to create their projects. The crypto community was excited by the game’s interesting example: the way it uses distributed ledger technology.

Also, kittens attracted attention by the opportunity to get a rare NFT. An NFT market has just begun to develop in small circles at the time of the game’s release.

How to play CryptoKitties?

First, you need a cryptocurrency wallet with some ETH in it.

The standard option is MetaMask, but the game supports many other apps and wallet extensions.

Once this step is completed, you can go to the official CryptoKitties website to create an account. To do this, click the “start” button in the upper right corner of the screen. Enter your email address and come up with a nickname. Then connect your wallet to the game and confirm that it can interact with it.

From then on, you can play CryptoKitties. There are three main components of the gameplay:

• buying NFT kitties;
• breeding;
• selling.

Currently, CryproKitties prices are low: from 0.001 to 0.7 ETH. While the most expensive CryproKitties cat once cost $114,481.59. You can buy a pet in the game or on the secondary marketplace.

One cat is enough to get a new cryptokitties nft, but then you will have to search a pair for it from other pet owners. Some provide the service for free, but most often, you will have to pay for it. That’s why people usually buy two crypto cats at once. Each of them can be both male and female. You determine the role yourself, but it cannot be changed during the game. Any CryptoKitties, except for relatives, can be crossbred with each other. As a result, you have a completely unique cryptokitties nft with its own attributes, which are determined by the genes kept in the smart contract.

After that, you can continue breeding, or you can sell the progeny. In the first case, your kitten will be seen in the Siring section, where other users choose a pair for their crypto-cat, and in the second case, you will create an auction to sell.

Features of CryptoKitties

Each cryptokitty is distinguished by a unique attribute that determines its appearance and breeding abilities.

Kitties vary in their attributes, which are the genetic algorithm responsible for their traits. The new pet inherits the traits from its parents.

There are over a billion different traits in the world of CryptoKitties.

You can’t create new animals one by one in the game. Each kitten has its post-breeding recovery rate, which is determined by its genes and the number of pairings. Besides, the older the mother cat is, the more time it takes to recover. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to indicators such as the time needed to rest after breeding and the generation number before buying.

A kitten’s DNA holds 4 types of genes: eye shape, color, fur pattern, and others. Each type has one dominant trait and 3 secret traits that are latent but can be transmitted from generation to generation. The dominant genes are transmitted with 75% probability, and the latent genes with 25% probability. It is important to understand genetic inheritance if you want to get a cryptokitty with specific attributes.

Occasionally, some pets do not inherit their parents’ characteristics. This often happens when the parents’ genome is completely different. This is called a mutation. The genes of a mutated kitten can be inherited by its offspring.

CryptoKitties also have family jewels that symbolize their pedigree. You can get them at the first mutation and for other achievements.

Now that you know all the features of the game and the lore of its origin, it’s not hard to understand why it became popular in 2017. Although there is very little demand for CryptoKitties right now, it continues to exist and evolve. Moreover, CryptoKitties remains attractive to users who are interested in collecting NFTs.

CryptoKitties has been an innovator in the cryptocurrency sector. It helped show blockchain technology from a different angle and inspired the crypto community to conquer the GameFi market.