| Aave | Aavegotchi | decentralized finance | Pixelcraft Studios | yield farming |
The Tamagotchi-inspired decentralized finance game Aavegotchi is getting its main net launch on January 4th 2021. So far users have been collecting ghosts and wearable NFTs, but with the launch of the game there’s more utility coming for the cute pixelated ghosts.
Aavegotchi will have its Haunt of Aavegotchi launch event on January 4th. This event will include ten thousand summoning portals. A summoner receives ten completely unique Aavegotchi ghosts, but they can only claim one. Each portal costs 100 GHST, which currently equals 70 dollars. GHST can be acquired from Uniswap or earned by interacting with the Aavegotchi platform. Likely these portals will sell out fast.
The idea behind Aavegotchi is to make decentralized finance a bit more fun. The Singapore-based studio Pixelcraft Studios made this gamified DeFi experience. That cute little ghost is actually DeFi collateral that’s earning yield on financial platform Aave. However, you can also use your little ghost to battle other critters, level them up and dress them up with wearables. These wearables are – obviously – also NFTs.
How to get a cute ghost?
Users can acquire their own little ghost by staking specific aTokens into their desired ghost. An aToken is a specific token on the Aave platform, and these tokens earn interest thanks to the underlying crypto assets that has been deposited. Users can acquire aTokens on Uniswap or create some themselves through Aave.
Currently the developers at Pixelcraft Studios are doing some giveaways for vouchers to claim wearables. For example, they had superhero-themed wearables which they named ‘Aavevengers’, or wearables based on army clothing.
They use a new NFT mining program that allows users to lock up their GHST tokens and earn game items. By staking GHST tokens users can earn FRENS points, which is the core if NFT mining in Aavegotchi. Users earn one point per 24 hours for every GHST token they are staking. Token holders can’t transfer their FRENS points. Instead they can only use them to acquire Aavegotchi Wearables raffle tickets.
Crypto pet ghost
In an interview with Coindesk the founder of Aavegotchi, Jesse Johnson, told them his plans for the future of Aavegotchi. Aavegotchi’s will be first generation crypto pets in an upcoming metaverse called The Realm. In this world the Aavegotchis can play minigames or socialize. “Imagine your gotchis running around in a top-down, 2D classic Zelda game,” said Johnson.
What is Aavegotchi and how do I get one?
Aave is the Finnish word for ghost. An Aavegotchi is a cute little pixelated ghost that has several traits. First of all, there’s financial collateral backing the existence of the little ghost. In addition these ghosts have random traits, they can wear clothes and others items, and they come with a certain rarity level.
To acquire such a cute little ghost, you need to get familiar with the relative complexity of decentralized finance. To gain more understanding about this, please check out the official website.
With GHST Aavegotchi has a newly announced eco-governance token. Users can acquire GHST through Uniswap and other exchanges, or through the Aavegotchi platform. You buy GHST using DAI, and you need some Aave aTokens, like aDAI for example. Then you need to spend GHST to get a portal, which will give you a cute little Aavegotchi. Owners can use this little ghost in games, sell them for a profit or burn them to regain the money backing its existence.
Decentralized finance and gaming
Gaming and decentralized finance may sound like a weird combination. But when a game has its own economy with real world value, it actually makes a lot of sense. We’ve seen multiple examples already over the past couple of weeks. Staking COIN earns gamers CRED, which will soon be used inside the game Neon District. Users earn MEGA tokens by staking resources in MegaCryptoPolis, which they can use to cross the bridge between different blockchains.
Decentralized finance adds a reward mechanism to gaming, which is a valuable proposition. It’s a very good match with the play-to-earn business model, as DeFi is able to maintain and control supply and therefore brings purpose to the use of a token.
Community participation and commitment is key for the success of an online economy, no matter whether we’re talking about gaming or decentralized finance. In decentralized finance they do this by providing yield, while gaming taps into game items and resources. Aavegotchi really bridges these two approaches, and that makes it an interesting concept.
Robert Hoogendoorn is a gamer and blockchain enthusiast. He got in touch with crypto in 2014, but the fire really lit in 2017. Professionally he’s a content optimization expert and worked for press agencies and video production companies, always with a focus on the video games & tech industry. He’s a content manager and creator at heart, working on Play to Earn and for a variety of third party magazines and websites.
