Autonomous Gaming Can Be A Sustainable Alternative To Traditional Tap-to-Earn
Traditional Tap-to-Earn games are relatively primitive and typically involve tapping on a screen and waiting for the airdrop, after which players abandon the project. T2E needs a gameplay element, autonomous elements, and appealing rewards to provoke FOMO and ignite user growth.
The tap-to-earn genre was traditionally limited to Telegram due to the network’s impressive ability to launch mini-apps. Native wallet integration via TON was another factor. What’s more, Telegram has a large user base, helps build communities, supports bots, and is intuitive. The majority of gaming projects have Telegram channels to interact with players. With so many users, tap-to-play projects can reach new players easily, particularly crypto enthusiasts. The messaging platform’s bots help automate processes. Finally, creating an account is effortless.
There is no doubt that many factors alleviate the launch of tap-to-earn projects on Telegram. However, traditional games tend to lack uniqueness and autonomy. Typically, they involve tapping on a screen, possibly completing tasks, and then the wait for the airdrop begins. Users get bored quickly, and many abandon the project after the airdrop. This happened with Hamster Kombat; interest began to wane after the airdrop.
Existing users need ongoing benefits to ensure sustained growth and new ones need compelling incentives to start playing. These approaches are being explored by tap-to-earn projects like SonicX, which attracted a million players within a month of debuting on TikTok. Sonic SVM, a Solana-based project, found a way to create this type of game on the prominent social medium, opening it up to a whole new audience. Telegram games don’t require phone numbers and identity verification for KYC, but TikTok does, bringing higher-quality registrants. SonicX aims to avoid the risk of diminishing interest by using the platform as an app layer for other projects to integrate into.
To attract an even wider audience, Sonic has entered into a Web3 partnership with Hashkey Global that aims to enhance autonomy in gaming via a collaboration around Solana. They plan to launch a community reward event as part of this goal.
Autonomous games ignite user growth through a gameplay element
Traditional tap-to-earn needs a gameplay element to provoke FOMO and ignite user growth. DeFi had yield farming and staking, while GameFi used in-game currencies and NFTs. Some GameFi projects feature autonomous gaming elements and tangible rewards, both of which propel sustainable growth. Autonomous gaming is a focal point of the free-to-play game FIFA Rivals, a new mobile soccer game created by FIFA and Mythical Games. It will be available on Android and iOS devices and enable players to build and manage soccer clubs while playing matches against others in real-time. FIFA Rivals will also allow players to trade and collect current and historical professional soccer stars via the Mythos blockchain.
Tap-to-earn games are heavily reliant on the prospect of “free money” from airdrops. Without clear backing or a strong team behind a game, this promise isn’t compelling enough. What’s more, low rewards make it challenging for players without tools to participate in a meaningful way. Integrating autonomous gaming elements with appealing rewards can create the FOMO needed to attract players, even ones currently outside the crypto ecosystem. One of the most compelling ways to elicit FOMO is by designing a universe beyond the core game, which is what the creators of the multiplayer game My Neighbor Alice aim to do. This builds a sense of belonging that transcends game mechanics.
Certain profit-seeking practices have become typical of traditional tap-to-earn and the gaming industry in general. These include making the competitive advantage entirely contingent upon microtransactions and blocking “modding” communities, a group of gamers who modify existing games. These communities can potentially create a new gaming generation using highly effective open-source systems.
Autonomous gaming can align the incentives of developers and players. It involves game worlds where all digital assets and player interactions are stored on the blockchain, giving rise to new game genres and gaming experiences. Smart contracts’ unique properties enable permissionless extension of gaming ecosystems. Autonomous games also implement decentralized logic, creating trust-based ecosystems.
Traditional tap-to-earn games typically rely on a client-server model for their operation. The game app installed on the player’s device acts as the “client” and handles the user interface, taps, animations, and offline computations. It sends the server information about the number of taps, user progress, and in-app purchases for validation and synchronization. The server acts as the central hub for storing user data and managing reward distribution.
In contrast, autonomous gaming implements a decentralized approach to distribute game logic across devices. So-called lock-step frame synchronization makes sure that each client can run the game autonomously while the server handles input synchronization.
Autonomous gaming is evolving through the introduction of new gameplay features, striking a balance between novelty and stability to guarantee that games remain dynamic and engaging for all kinds of players. Its inherent sustainability lends it the prospect of becoming a staple of tap-to-earn.