CTG is back for S3!

One of the areas of innovation I’ve consistently been excited about in blockchain has been around how experiences can be empowered, enriched, and/or expanded with the tech, and Crypto The Game does just that with online interactive gameshow experiences.

A quick recap of what CTG is:

• Participants mint Player NFTs for 0.1 ETH (~$215 at the time of mint)

• There are up to 800 players who can participate, and the last one standing after the 10-day game takes home the 80 ETH pot

• Players are assigned a tribe and compete in group and individual challenges to receive immunity

• Players are voted off every night. On the last day, Players who were voted off conduct one final vote to determine the winner.

• Season 3’s theme is Resurrection Island. Eliminated players will have a second chance to fight their way back into the competition, so the game has a double-elimination component.

• Player NFTs are tradeable/transferrable, but when a player is fully eliminated the NFT becomes soulbound, preventing any trading from that point forward

• CTG Season 2 Preview

• My CTG Season 2 Experience up to Day 4. I bowed out of the game later in the week because I headed off for my Honeymoon 😉

Season 3 is now under way and we’re on Day 4 of the 10-day game.

What are some themes, observations, and thoughts from participating the second time around?

The Player NFTs did not sell out

Unlike previous seasons, only 716 of 800 Player NFTs were sold, so the prize pool totaled 71.6 ETH (~$132k), which is still a hefty prize for the winner! Considering the near-unanimous fanfare for the game, why didn’t CTG sell out this season?

I have two hypotheses:

Broader market conditions: Market uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and post-meme mania have caused crypto prices to drop considerably, leaving less disposable income tokens on the table for people who may have shelled out 0.1 ETH otherwise.

Minting on Unichain: Last year, Uniswap acquired Crypto The Game so this year’s Player NFTs were minted on their newish Layer 2 blockchain, Unichain. This may have caused some additional friction in the purchase process with the ETH bridging process.

Although this is unlikely to be the main reason for not selling out, it’s indicative of the larger issue around assets and capital split across a bunch of different blockchains.

It’s sorta like if you’re trying to split the bill for dinner, but everyone has different payment methods.

Ok, it’s not THAT bad, but you get the point. Bridging to the 50th new blockchain gets tiresome and less appealing over time. Fortunately, more tools are coming to make this easier for both the new and experienced.

Tools for the game are popping up

With CTG’s diverse player base, a number of Player-built tools have popped up as a resource. One great example of this is Caster Island, built by gayatri.

Users can easily search for players and filter by tribe and player status. You can even make bets on which tribe will win immunity for the day in DEGEN. Although many elements of CTG aren’t onchain, the ones that are (eg: Player status based on the metadata from the Player NFT) being reflected in other tools.

Other players are using their team’s products to commemorate the experience. For example, Jye from POAP created a POAP to commemorate today’s sequence of events.

Brand participation

In Season 2, we saw several companies such as Lens, Wormhole, and adidas sponsor Partner Challenges with the CTG team. In S3, there’s only 1 that’s been announced (so far?) with Farcaster. TBD on what this challenge will look like.

On the other hand, we have our first brand participating in the game thanks to Moonpay and their social media ‘intern’!

MoonPay was voted off yesterday night, but this is yet another example of how marketing in crypto/web3 is a completely different game, and you can just do things…like participate in an online reality TV show.

Do you like gameshows? If you don’t, share this with 100 people!

Are legacy alliances a threat

Because of the way CTG is structured and true to crypto roots, anyone can purchase a Player NFT (or multiple) and participate. As a result this is the second, or even third time for some players a consideration some first-timers may not be aware of.

Alliances are a natural part of a game when people get voted off the digital island, but what happens when experienced players leverage friendships and alliances from previous seasons? Does that create an unfair advantage that leads to an unpleasant experience newcomers?

It seems like the team is aware of this risk because today, they announced The Swap, shuffling the tribes just as everyone was getting cozy with each other. We’ll see what other tricks the team has up its sleeve to keep things fresh for all players, regardless of experience.

And if you’re wondering what the challenges have been so far:

• Day 1: Coordinating amongst the newly assigned tribes

• Day 2: A puzzle challenge

• Day 3: A pinball gaming challenge, paying homage to the OG Space Pinball

• Day 4 (today): The Swap, requiring everyone to coordinate in their newly assigned tribes

Wish me luck, folks! 🫡

Abstract turns FUD into a meme

Yesterday evening, an influencer shared a post criticizing Abstract for only producing $77 of revenue through its apps.

This seems like a great dunk and juicy stat to share, but Abstract’s team and apps came to clear the air on the reported numbers.

Although the post was addressed, the Abstract community reverse-uno’ed it into an opportunity, turning the $77 figure into a meme for the laughs while enriching the lore.

So next time your project receives some FUD (hopefully never!), see if you can reverse uno it into a meme and cultural moment.

See you next week!