This ‘Unhinged’ Weed Farming Game Is Catching Fire on Solana

Addicted, a Solana-powered hashish farming simulator described as “unhinged” by its creators, has attracted the eyes of the crypto gaming neighborhood as gamers boast about dizzying play-to-earn positive aspects through a skyrocketing token.

Gamers are invited to construct and develop their very own on-chain drug empires in Addicted, after paying 0.5 SOL (roughly $110) to buy their first digital hashish plant. The digital farms yield WEED tokens for gamers based mostly on their “develop energy,” decided by what number of vegetation a farm has and the way uncommon they’re. These tokens can be utilized to buy farm upgrades and packs that include seeds of varied rarities. 

On account of Addicted’s fiendish launch—boosted by a repost from the official Solana X account—the WEED token soared to a peak market capitalization of $82.48 million. It has since fallen 36% to $52.6 million, in response to DEX Screener.

“My yield develop energy output was like 1,200. After I ripped new packs on my second day and bought uncommon strains, my develop energy went to 12,000. At peak market cap, give or take, that’s $10,000 a day in yield,” crypto dealer and Addicted participant Tyler Stockfield, higher referred to as Anon on-line, instructed Decrypt. He conceded that the worth fluctuates with the token’s worth, together with broader in-game dynamics.

Stockfield isn’t alone in boasting about wild positive aspects for enjoying the sport, though he seems to be making greater than others—due to packing uncommon strains. Pump.enjoyable livestreamer Richard Podgurski claims to have sufficient develop energy to probably earn $5,000 a day, after unpacking a two “Unicorn Poop” tremendous uncommon strains, whereas X person Fetakii claims to have earned roughly $629 price of WEED of their first 12 hours of taking part in.

Such huge positive aspects from lower than 48 hours’ price of gaming have led to gamers referring to Addicted as one other “Ponzi recreation”—a kind of playful time period that is used to explain the type of crypto recreation wherein gamers can count on probably giant short-term positive aspects, however little or no long-term worth.

“Sure, you do have a bonus if you’re earlier, which might resemble that of a Ponzi, however based mostly on their cool-down options and their halving cycle… I believe they’re doing what they will to make this truthful and sustainable,” Stockfield stated.

He defined that gamers are restricted on what number of packs they will open through a every day cool-down characteristic, and that reward measurement is halved each seven days. This seems to be an try to elongate the sport’s lifecycle. Based on the sport’s documentation, it is usually trying so as to add new recreation mechanics, together with a “Warfare Zone,” which is prone to combine up the dynamics. 

Addicted developer Pandemic Labs didn’t reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.

This isn’t the primary crypto title to be branded a “Ponzi recreation” by gamers and observers alike.

In April, an Summary-based crypto mining simulation recreation known as Bigcoin caught the business’s consideration, with its token hitting an enormous peak $172 million market cap, per DEX Screener. When Bigcoin was sizzling, gamers equally calculated how a lot they have been probably incomes every day, and boasted about these positive aspects throughout social media.

However when Bigcoin’s token crashed 83% in a single day, these earnings have been hardly price bragging about any longer.

Bigcoin prompted a stream of comparable “Ponzi video games” to roll out afterwards, with gamers itching for an additional probability at gaming fortunes. Stockfield stated he’s conscious of different “Ponzi-style video games” which can be getting ready to launch, following Addicted’s success, and predicts that many extra will attempt to seize the identical form of hype.

And he welcomes it as a brand new pattern—and an alternative choice to buying and selling meme cash.

“This can be a wholesome and warranted tradition shift within the crypto market, within the ‘trenches of Solana.’ Persons are exhausted of bundled, vaporware meme cash which can be usually arrange in a manner that they have been by no means meant to final,” Stockfield instructed Decrypt.

Based on a Wednesday report from Galaxy Analysis, Solana meme cash are solely being held for a median time of 100 seconds—down from 300 seconds a yr in the past—as merchants purchase, promote, and transfer on to the subsequent potential huge factor.

Stockfield stated that Addicted seems to be extra “enjoyable and community-oriented” than buying and selling within the meme coin trenches, and that he believes it is “extra aligned with blockchain” than flipping memes.

“I actually suppose that that is going to draw extra individuals to have constructive experiences,” he completed. “And sure, there shall be folks that inevitably purchase the highest and lose a bit of bit of cash as properly—all a part of the sport we play daily in crypto.”