This Week in Crypto Games: 'The Lost Glitches' Beta Hits Epic Store, Members-Only Ethereum Chain

The crypto and NFT gaming space is busier than ever lately, what with prominent games starting to release, token airdrops piling up, and a seemingly constant array of other things happening at all times. It’s a lot to take in!

Luckily, Decrypt’s GG is all over it. And if you need a quick way to get caught up on the latest moves around crypto video games, we’re happy to present This Week in Crypto Games.

Our weekend roundup serves up the biggest news from the past week, along with a few other tidbits you might have missed. We also showcase a few of our original stories from the week.

Biggest news

The Lost Glitches open beta: Ethereum layer-3 network Xai’s trading card game The Lost Glitches entered open beta on Thursday, available for download on the Epic Games Store. The game mixes in role-playing game (RPG) elements to layer in depth for players. As they complete tasks and quests, they are able to build out a skill tree, which will then influence the way they build their decks.

Head of publishing and marketing for Lost Glitches publisher Mimunga, Franco De Cesare, told Decrypt's GG that the game's vibrant artistic style was "critically important." Its something that the company sees as lacking in the latest crop of huge AAA games, plus it helps set the game apart from the likes of Hearthstone and Parallel.

How Artistry Sets Ethereum Card Game 'The Lost Glitches' Apart as Open Beta Hits Epic Store

For the creators of blockchain trading card game The Lost Glitches, artistry is “critically important” as a tool to draw players in—something that they see as lacking in the latest crop of huge “AAA” games. But speaking with Decrypt’s GG ahead of Thursday’s open beta launch for the card-battler, which runs on Ethereum layer-3 network Xai, the developers said they understand they must offer more than just slick and vibrant artwork to keep players engaged. “I think for us, [art] is critically impo...

A new layer-3 network: Pixelcraft Studios, the company behind the crypto game Aavegotchi, announced Thursday that it plans to launch a “members only” Ethereum layer-3 gaming blockchain called Geist. Like Ronin and Xai, rival Ethereum gaming networks, Geist will be permissioned—which means the developers can determine which teams can build on the chain.

Powered by multiple Ethereum scaling technologies, including Base and Arbitrum, Geist is designed to overcome various hurdles facing the current crypto gaming environment, including high player turnover and a prevalence of “botting” used to manipulate rewards initiatives.

Aavegotchi Studio Reveals ‘Members Only’ Ethereum Layer-3 Gaming Chain

Pixelcraft Studios, the company behind the crypto game Aavegotchi, announced Thursday that it plans to launch a “members only” Ethereum layer-3 gaming blockchain called Geist. Powered by multiple Ethereum scaling technologies, Geist is designed to overcome various hurdles facing the current crypto gaming environment, including high player turnover and a prevalence of “botting” used to manipulate rewards initiatives. "Geist is our response to the call for a more trustworthy and innovative gaming...

TapSwap city builder: Launched on Monday, Tappy Town is a new game mode found within the TapSwap mini app on Telegram that lets you upgrade and enhance numerous buildings to unlock additional rewards.

Tappy Town ties into existing play-to-earn elements within TapSwap, such as the ability to watch certain YouTube videos to earn in-game coins. Now you’ll also earn purple play buttons by watching videos, which can be used to upgrade one of the buildings and then start to passively earn blocks in the game by upgrading buildings. It's said to tie into the game's upcoming token airdrop on The Open Network (TON).

Telegram Game ‘TapSwap’ Adds City Builder Mode Linked to TON Token Airdrop

Telegram game TapSwap racked up tens of millions of players in recent months ahead of a planned token launch and airdrop on The Open Network (TON)—and now it’s expanded beyond the original Notcoin-esque tap-to-earn premise with a new city builder mode. Launched on Monday, Tappy Town is a new game mode found within the TapSwap mini app on Telegram that lets you upgrade and enhance numerous buildings to unlock additional rewards. Tappy Town ties into existing play-to-earn elements within TapSwap,...

ICYMI

• Ethereum gaming arcade BSMNT launched on B3.fun, a new layer-3 chain running on Coinbase's Base.
• BMW will launch an official Uno card game playable via its luxury car screens.
• Confiction Labs introduced a new in-game verification system aimed at curbing increased bot activity.
• Ronin play-to-earn hit Axie Infinity revealed upcoming upgrades to its Homeland Adventure system.

• Dr. Disrespect deleted his Twitter post admitting to having conversations with a minor that “leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
• Rainbow Rumble, Crypto Unicorns’ battle royale mode akin to Fall Guys, launched on the Xai network
• An $800 rotating chair specifically built for virtual reality headset the Meta Quest 3 launched.
• Monster-taming RPG Zeeverse announced phase one of its play-to-airdrop campaign.

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from the past weeks that we think are well worth a weekend read:

 NFT Revolution

How Midnight Society Moves Forward After Dr. Disrespect 'Shock'—And What's Next for Deadrop

More than a month after famed gaming influencer Dr. Disrespect was dropped by Midnight Society, the studio building the first-person shooter Deadrop, the team has broken its silence in an exclusive interview with Decrypt’s GG—to discuss removing the popular streamer from the company, and how the game can move forward without him. Dr. Disrespect, aka Guy Beahm, was alleged to have inappropriately chatted with a minor. The streamer later admitted to having conversations with a minor that “leaned t...

'Dog Pooper' Is the Rare Telegram Game You'll Want to Play for More Than Just an Airdrop

Over the last few months, I’ve played a lot of Telegram tap-to-earn games. From Hamster Kombat through to Catizen and X Empire, I’ve tried them all—and almost always come away disappointed at how little there is to actually do in them. Now, amazingly, a game about pooping dogs is keeping my interest.  Dog Pooper, which is its actual name, has a similar swipe-to-combine mechanic as Catizen. But instead of combining cats, you drop piles of dog poop on top of each other to generate even better (or...

The Hottest Telegram Tap-to-Earn Games That Let You Earn Crypto

Notcoin led to this year’s biggest and buzziest gaming token launch so far, but the Telegram mini app is no one-off sensation. Hamster Kombat has already surged to greater heights in terms of pre-token players, claiming more than 300 million users already ahead of its launch on The Open Network (TON), while other games on Telegram are gaining steam with the same kind of model. Like Hamster Kombat, games like PixelTap and Yescoin are expanding upon the basic “clicker” or screen-tapping premise in...

Edited by Andrew Hayward