Recently, Wolf Game launched their second mini-game (or pre-game): Cave Game. This is their first 3rd-person-view game, after the previous mini-game Alpha Game was interface-only, where users could stake their NFT assets in one of several Wolf Packs to compete for $WOOL — the game's native currency, which can then can be used to buy digital objects within the game’s internal economy in the yet-to-be released full game.
Risk-based NFT Games
Wolf Game was a pioneer in combining NFT and DeFi elements and piloting a risk component in smart contracts in a very exciting, playful way.
In Wolf Game’s first iteration, I could "wager" my NFT as part of the game mechanics in exchange for $WOOL. But: there was also a certain probability that my NFT would be "lost" when betting, i.e. technically speaking: burned. This worked automatically and was in fact randomized by the algorithm.
Other innovative experiments that are being tried out are of a game-theoretical nature, for example a scenario, where I as an individual player have advantages or disadvantages depending on how many players also decide for or against an option; as well as a team aspect in Alpha Game (Wolf Pack), where different players can join forces and thus increase their chances of winning.
Devs on Top of their Game
Wolf Game’s developers are, in my opinion, some of the best builders in the NFT gaming space—not put off by setbacks, publicly iterating their clever pre-games, implementing community feedback on features in a matter of days.
And setbacks, there were several. Not only the affiliation with an (in)famous NFT influencer, but also a malicious smart contract during the first weeks of existence:
After tips by members of the community, the initial smart contract was paused. This would have been the end for a lot of young projects, but the Wolf Game developers — known as Shepherd — publicly proposed a plan, hired a famous outside auditor and introduced a bug bounty system.
Active Community
Wolf Game, not even fully launched today, already has an active community, invested monetarily and culturally. For example, there exist now several tools built by the community around Wolf Game and its token $WOOL, including a lot of strategy frameworks during the Alpha Game and Cave Game pre-games.
Future Challenges & Solutions
The traditional model for NFT projects is that original holders — those who are early — get rewarded the most while the ecosystem grows.
A key challenge for Wolf Game will be how to offer new users opportunities for “late entries” and onboard new players (also those with limited access to capital), for example through a new, more affordable asset class or a renting mechanism for existing ones. There are several possible solutions, one is “breeding”.
Wolf Game will have to come up with a strategy to address the two very distinctive interesting target groups you find in NFT-based games today:
It would also not be the first time for the (I guess) collective known as Shepherd to introduce innovations in the space.
Another huge challenge, where even I as a day one holder have sometimes trouble understanding all nuances — which is a also general issue for every project that has evolved into a multi-asset ecosystem — is explaining all rules, asset classes and their connections in a user-friendly, approachable way.
But here as well, I trust in the Shepherd’s ability to deliver. The release of the full game is expected for early 2022.