The Next Notcoin? How Web3 is Embracing Social Gaming
In Brief
Given the advancing maturity of the Web3 space, projects increasingly need to find new ways to onboard and engage audiences. Tapping into the social factor hasn’t come naturally to a space where pseudonymity and privacy have historically been so carefully prized
The idea of gamified rewards in crypto is nothing new. After all, the entire premise of blockchain networks is developed around reward-based incentives for participation and contribution. However, blockchain’s pseudonymous nature has limitations in terms of introducing real competition that makes a simple game an addictive, viral success.
The gaming history is marked by titles that allow users to show off their capabilities and credentials, from the increasingly dizzying upper levels of the original Tetris to the satisfying green blocks shareable from the daily round of Wordle. After all, what’s the point of being good at a game if a veil of pseudonymity blurs your bragging rights?
It’s one theory that could explain the recent success of Notcoin, the viral Telegram clicker game launching on the TON blockchain. After emerging at the beginning of this year, Notcoin managed to rack up an impressive 20 million players within a month of release and many weeks before it launched its token.
How? Well, according to one reviewer, even though the game has a deceptively simple interface that sounds “pretty dull” in concept, it’s been a viral success thanks to the social aspect. The game itself simply involves tapping on a screen to earn in-game currency. Notcoin’s killer feature appears to be a humble leaderboard, which organizes players into leagues based on their Notcoin earnings. Social competition among friends appears to have been a critical factor in the app’s popularity among Telegram groups, as players try to outdo one another in the ranking tables.
After amassing a vast user base, the game developer upped the stakes by announcing a giveaway of 100,000 TON to players in a new quest, as well as in-game coins for a select group of early adopters. The balances of active game users will also be converted into on-chain Notcoin tokens when the token is generated in the coming weeks.
Not a One-Hit Wonder
Now, another with a concept and viral social potential is emerging – could it replicate the success of Notcoin? Everyworld is a blockchain advertising protocol launched by Everyrealm, a startup backed by influential VCs, including a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Hashed, Animoca, and others. It just launched a new gamified protocol allowing users to accrue rewards for engagement by watching short or engaging with videos on Discord that they can recommend to friends.
Similarly to Notcoin, each player is entered onto a leaderboard, further promoting social sharing and, importantly, competition. Furthermore, Everyworld operates a weekly draw where players can win a jackpot.
However, the project incorporates a social responsibility element into the game. The weekly jackpots, which are funded by advertiser fees, are split equally with environmental conservation organizations, including The Ocean Cleanup, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF Argentina.
This model aligns with Everyworld’s mission to transform everyday acts of engagement by large communities into funding for meaningful social change. While the project accrues funds in its native $EVERY token, it also ensures that recipient charities can receive donations in fiat to ensure the fairest distribution.
Like Everyworld, Apeiron is another project focusing on engagement-based rewards following the success of Notcoin. Apeiron is an established NFT game, a hybrid of the “god game” and “roguelite” genres. It recently launched a “play-to-airdrop” campaign after migrating to Layer 2 scaling chain, Ronin. The game called on players to earn so-called “airdrop points” by engaging in certain in-game tasks, for which they could also earn their place on the leaderboard. Airdrop points could later be converted to the game’s ANIMA tokens.
Given the advancing maturity of the Web3 space, projects increasingly need to find new ways to onboard and engage audiences. Tapping into the social factor hasn’t come naturally to a space where pseudonymity and privacy have historically been so carefully prized. However, adapting to users’ demand with games that have the potential to go viral through social sharing and competition appears to be paying off.
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Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
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Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
