Analysis of Uniswaps New Acquisition Crypto The Game A Blockchain Version of The Hunger Games

Original | Odaily Planet Daily
Author | Azuma


On the evening of June 10th, Beijing time, Uniswap Labs officially announced the acquisition of the interactive encrypted survival game Crypto: The Game (CTG) based on the Base blockchain. The specific amount was not disclosed. The three co-founders of CTG, Dylan Abruscato, Tyler Cagle, and Bryan Lee, will all join Uniswap to jointly promote the development of the third season of CTG.


From a positioning perspective, CTG is a blockchain-based “real-life Battle Royale” type game. You can simply think of it as an online version of “The Hunger Games” or “Squid Game.”
In CTG, players need to purchase tickets to obtain limited game participation qualifications (410 people in the first season, 800 people in the second season, and the third season is undecided). The tickets are in the form of NFTs, initially sold at a price of 0.1 ETH, and are also allowed for free trading thereafter – meaning that players can indirectly obtain participation qualifications through the secondary market, including those players who have been eliminated and wish to “make a comeback.”
After the game starts, players holding NFT tickets will be randomly assigned to 10 different tribes, and then the Battle Royale officially begins.
During the game period (with a maximum time limit of 10 days to ensure timely completion of the game), all players will conduct daily “immunity challenges” as tribes. The challenges come in various forms (such as arcade games or treasure hunts, etc.), and the tribe with the highest challenge points each day will have a “safe night” (meaning all members are safe), while other tribes must vote internally to eliminate a player.
When discussing the selection criteria for voting, a player who has actually participated in the game once told UnChained: “When deciding to vote someone out, we consider various factors, such as whether the player’s X account looks like a bot, or how active the player is in team chats, or even whether the player’s chosen NFT avatar is likable – in my tribe, someone with a Moonbird NFT was voted out right away.”
When eliminated, the player’s NFT ticket will also undergo changes – from a player identity to a jury identity, to vote for the final winner on the last day of the game’s longest time limit. The ultimate winner will then enjoy all the amounts in the prize pool alone.


In the past few months, CTG has successfully held two seasons of games. In the first season game, a total of 410 players participated, with a total prize pool of 41 ETH, and in the end, an anonymous player named MFL emerged victorious; in the second season game, a total of 800 players participated, with a total prize pool of 80 ETH, and ultimately player number 733 emerged victorious.
When talking about his winning experience, MFL once told Decrypt that he believed most other players were smarter than him. Since he did not form alliances privately, he initially expected to be eliminated early on. Therefore, his attitude towards the game was to “enjoy the competition,” such as making interesting emojis for other players or writing poems to express his views on the game.


However, the reality was that MFL never received an elimination vote from start to finish and ultimately won the grand prize. CTG co-founder Dylan Abruscato stated that MFL’s behavior won the favor of other players in the game, proving that this was also a successful strategy.
In conclusion, the appeal of CTG lies in its successful combination of competitiveness and human interaction. Another crucial point is that CTG will commentate on the daily real-time game progress through official podcasts to fully engage external audiences, increase discussions on social media, and promote the game.


As for Uniswap, as an absolute leader in the DeFi field, Uniswap has previously expanded its business into non-DeFi areas, such as acquiring the NFT aggregation trading platform Genie and developing mobile wallet services. However, directly venturing into the gaming industry is a first for them (with some indirect cooperation cases before).
When discussing the transaction, Uniswap described it as follows: “This year has been very busy for Uniswap. We launched UniswapX, submitted v4, launched Uniswap Wallet, added support for more chains, and we have more plans. Uniswap’s goal has always been simple – to create products that provide users with the best on-chain experience. That’s why we are very excited to welcome CTG on board.”
As for whether Uniswap’s entry will affect CTG’s game mechanics, Uniswap also explained that fans need not worry, as there will be no changes in the game mechanics, but there will be some new designs. Specific details cannot be disclosed, but it is believed that the third season will be the best one yet.