What do you get when you combine Clash of Clans, Pac-Man, and Elden Ring? You get the Aavegotchi Protocol's flagship game, The Gotchiverse.
It’s almost suspicious how the rise of cryptocurrency and NFTs has coincided with the financial emboldening of the Gaming community. Streaming services like Twitch and Hitbox have afforded their gamers consistent and substantial incomes, forcing the mainstream public to recognize Gaming as a respectable and lucrative industry. So, it’s no surprise that Gaming and NFTs have coalesced to conceive a GameFi baby, with countless developers laboring over play-to-earn dApps to capitalize on the growing sector. But the visionaries at Pixelcraft Studios’ premier game, The Gotchiverse, have created what could be the most ambitious and foundational GameFi ecosystem yet, a psychedelic amalgamation of DeFi and NFTs called The Gotchiverse.
Founded by “gotchi summoners” CoderDan (CEO) and gldnXcross (COO), Aavegotchi is a NFT gaming protocol operating on the Polygon sidechain and based on the classic 90s concept, Tamagotchi. Within Aavegotchi’s MMORPG metaverse, players stake interest-generating tokens from the Aave protocol to their NFT avatars – adorable, albeit pixelated, ghosts named Aavegotchis.
Each avatar accrues value through a combination of unique base traits, equipped wearables, and staked collateral (or aTokens). To level up their Aavegotchis, players can participate in various activities such as governance, meetups, and minigame XP events. Leveling up an Aavegotchi helps it climb the leaderboards during Rarity Farming, Aavegotchi’s original play-to-earn mechanism that rewards the most enthusiastic and engaged members of the Aavegotchi ecosystem with GHST, the protocol’s native governance token and base currency for purchasing on-chain assets.
Since its initial launch in 2020, Aavegotchi has garnered a dedicated community of gamers and NFT enthusiasts. But the upcoming release of The Gotchiverse, set for March 31st, will introduce a scalable infrastructure capable of supporting countless users and thousands of transactions per second. Entering The Gotchiverse for the first time can be both daunting in its breadth and comforting in its nostalgia. Its 2D retro aesthetic will take gamers back to the simplicity of the late 80s and 90s, while its tokenomic intricacies may understandably intimidate some. That’s why we’ll be breaking down its many layers and components, so you can learn how to earn in this game-changing (literally) metaverse.
GEOGRAPHY
To understand how to earn in the Gotchiverse, one must first understand its geography. Once an Aavegotchi is purchased from a portal, it manifests within the Gotchiverse, a vast REALM comprising a network of zones and districts where players and their Aavegotchis can explore, build, and make new FRENS (yes, that’s spelt correctly). Its three distinct zones, the Citaadel, the Grid, and the Beyond, each host their own landmarks and exciting discoveries, though contents of the Beyond will remain ambiguous until the beginning of Act 2.
The Citaadel provides the central forum and home base for Aavegotchis, protecting them from their creators and archnemeses, the Lickquidators, via the eternal Force Field. Within this haven, a key landmark called The Great Portal contains the spirits of all Aavegotchis and represents the bridge between the Gotchiverse REALM and its commanding blockchain. It is also the only area inside the Citaadel where players can build Installations (we’ll get to those).
Outside the Citaadel, lies the Grid. Much akin to the Wild West, it’s a largely untapped region encompassing most of the territory within the Gotchiverse. The Grid consists of material-rich segments called REALM parcels, which players can build Installations upon and mine from while avoiding hostile Lickquidators eager to attack their Aavegotchi. Fortunately, those Lickquidators are barred from the Aarena, another key landmark located in the Grid, where Aavegotchis compete in epic Battle Royales for their opponent’s Spirit Force, or interest-bearing aTokens staked by the gotchi owner.
Just as real nations are divided into provinces, states, or cities, the Gotchiverse is divided into numerous Districts, each comprising tightly packed groups of REALM parcels. Due to their consolidation of these valuable parcels, many districts have become home to certain Guilds, such as YGG, BlackPool, and CGU. These exclusive groups offer players the chance to socialize with other Aavegotchi owners, acquire rare NFT-instilled crests, and channel their unique abilities to conquer The Gotchiverse.
CONQUERING THE GOTCHIVERSE
Now that we’ve established geography, it’s time to learn how to survive and thrive in the Gotchiverse. While there are no “end of game” scenarios, one overarching objective is to collect Gotchus Alchemica and craft Installations in preparation for the Great Battle, a recurring event where the Citaadel’s Force Field is lowered and Lickquidators attempt to plunder the Great Portal.
Gotchus Alchemica are ERC-20 tokens that represent the four elements of the Gotchiverse: FUD, FOMO, ALPHA, and KEK. They’re also one of the main factors that giveREALM parcels their value, as each parcel stores either a Humble, Reasonable, or Spacious sized concentration of Alchemica and building space. To make Alchemica hunting more convenient, every parcel contains a Token ID and a unique three-word combination, enabling players to filter for specific parcels by typing their keywords into the Gotchiverse search box. Once a player discovers and eventually purchases a parcel, Chainlink VRF randomizes and calculates the exact Alchemica amounts. They can then deploy their Aavegotchi to harvest the materials. Parcels adjacent to Alchemica deposits will display farming boosters on The Gotchiverse dashboard and when they’re listed on the Baazaar, Aavegtochi’s secondary NFT marketplace.
After extracting Alchemicafrom a parcel, players can either trade them on the Gotchus Alchemica Exchange (GAX) or usethem to craft Installation NFTs like towers, reservoirs, aaltars, and even black holes. These special structures serve a myriad of purposes, from defending against Lickquidators and acquiring more Alchemica to constructing dApps and equipping in-parcel voice chat. They can even be upgraded and freely traded for GHST on the Baazaar. Though it takes a given number of blockchain blocks to finish constructing an Installation, players can reduce its block time by spending GLTR (GAX Liquidity Mining Rewards), an in-game currency that can be earned by providing liquidity on the GAX.
During the crafting process, 5% of the Alchemica is burned forever, while the rest is allotted to three sources: 30% is distributed to the AavegotchiDAO, a reward for their participation in the Gotchiverse; 30% goes to the summoners, or The Gotchiverse creators at Pixelcraft Studios, for user acquisition, strategic allocations, and marketing initiatives; another 35% is sacrificed to the Great Portal, which recycles excess amounts back into the Gotchiverse through rewards activities like Alchemical Channeling. This distribution maintains the Gotchiverse by allowing inhabitants to share its spoils.
As valuable as Gotchus Alchemica may be, there’s plenty to go around in the Gotchiverse, with various means for players to extract them from the REALM. The easiest is simply keeping your little ghost alive to receive a daily stipend through Alchemical Channeling. Roaming the map and collecting Alchemica from spilled mining can make for a real bullion, although it can be time consuming.. Reinvesting elements to build harvester and reservoir Installations is a more passive method to earn in The Gotchiverse. Finally, those lucky enough to have been accepted into a Guild can gather on any REALM parcel with a Gotchi Lodge Installation and engage in Communal Channeling to receive Alchemica, as long as they each bear their Guild’s Insignia Crest.
Guilds might not be for everyone. But the Gotchiverse is a big place, and it can be lonely roaming the Grid solo, not to mention risky. That’s why it’s always a good idea to socialize with other Aavegotchis, which the game makes quite easy, even for the unaffiliated. Gotchis within proximity can automatically engage in text chat, while REALM parcel owners can craft Installations that enable voice chat for Gotchis occupying the same parcel and even upgrade them to support global voice chat. Those communication channels are particularly useful for Gotchis who want to band together and embark on Aadventures, special regions outside the Citaadel where players can put their Gotchi’s traits and wearables to the test as they explore dungeons, fight baadies, and gain XP.
Ultimately, Aavegotchi’s metaverse is a highly inclusive one that strives to give anyone and everyone the opportunity to experience its play-to-earn ecosystem. The more players the better, which is why the generous summoners have instituted a Sharing Economy with two distinct ways for non Gotchi owners to participate. The first is through Gotchi Lending, a 100% on-chain model that allows users to borrow Aavegotchis from FRENS or strangers. Through the Aavegotchi Baazaar, Gotchi owners can advertise their ghosts on their own terms and conditions, such as lend time and rewards split, while backed by smart contracts and the security of the blockchain, so borrowers can never steal their NFT.
The second and more nefarious entry point, coming soon, is to play as a Lickquidator. Players
opting for this method are granted a one-time use NFT to enter the Gotchiverse and collect spilled Alchemica from the map’s surface. They can also battle Aavegotchis and their offensive Installations to acquire more of the elements. However, to play as the evil Lickquidators, users must possess Lickquidator Credits, which can be purchased with GHST or earned by referring friends, participating in airdrops, and completing tasks, among others.
REALM TOKENOMICS
Geography and gameplay aside, let’s go down the tokenomics rabbit hole. There will be a total supply of 420,069 REALM parcels constituting The Gotchiverse. The Citaadel and the Grid comprise the initial 155,069 REALM parcels, which will be unlocked and distributed over the course of two years, or Act 1. The remaining REALM parcels are presently obscured in The Beyond. However, each new Act and passing milestone will uncover more of the mysterious zone and unlock fresh gameplay experiences. In short, Aavegotchi is just getting started.
The Aavegotchi team will distribute REALM parcels to players via two methods. Incentivized GBM Auctions will make up the predominant 80% of parcel distribution, through which players can select and bid on specific parcels within the Gotchiverse world map. First pioneered by Cryptographs in 2019, this revolutionary GBM is a patent-pending system, licensed to Pixelcraft, that allows participants to earn GHST even if they don’t win the auctioned NFT. The remaining 20% of REALM parcels will be distributed via a Chainlink-VRF powered Raffle system. To enter an NFT Raffle, participants must acquire and submit Drop Tickets, ERC-1155 tokens that represent one Raffle entry and are fully tradable on the Baazaar. Players can obtain these Drop Tickets by either converting 10,000 FRENS into a Drop Ticket or converting other Raffle Tickets.
The days when we regarded gaming as a time-wasting hobby for slackers, stoners, and introverts are well in the past. With the inception of GameFi, gamers everywhere can play-to-earn the future of financial capital. Video game publishers and dApp developers know this and are eagerly striving to profit from the burgeoning industry by building the next great GameFi experience. But none are nearly as visionary, elaborate, and beautiful as Aavegotchi’s genre-bending metaverse. From an expansive geography and enthralling gameplay to a methodical token economy, the Gotchiverse could be the trailblazing play-to-earn ecosystem that the gaming and crypto communities deserve. And even if the breadth of its kaleidoscopic world appears initially daunting, the Gotchiverse is simple at heart – Buy a portal, summon an Aavegotchi, and have fun getting rich.
To get involved and learn more visit aavegotchi.com.