decrypt.co 01 October 2024 18:05, UTC

Classic Ethereum NFT project CryptoKitties is back—but this time as a Telegram game. This is the first official product launch under the IP since the original NFT collection released in 2017 and serves as a “sneak peek” into the collection’s relaunch on Flow.

In recent years Dapper Labs—the creator of CryptoKitties—has focused on expanding its portfolio to include licensed crypto products like NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, and Disney Pinnacle. But with the recent explosion of Telegram gaming, the company was inspired to make a return to the CryptoKitties IP.

Telegram gaming exploded in popularity in 2024 with Hamster Kombat attracting over 300 million players, Notcoin launching the biggest gaming token of the year, and countless other projects (including Flappy Bird) joining the hype train.

Now, the makers CryptoKitties are jumping in on the craze with the launch of the mini app, All The Zen, which appears to follow the same basic screen-tapping premise that has dominated Telegram gaming thus far. Players will work to hatch eggs that birth Kitties to produce “Zen,” which can then be spent on in-game upgrades.

Most Telegram games that have come before CryptoKitties: All The Zen have used the Telegram-linked blockchain The Open Network (TON). However, Dapper Labs will instead be using its self-made blockchain Flow, created after demand for CryptoKitties halted Ethereum as a result of huge congestion in 2017.

Player progression on the Telegram mini app will later unlock CryptoKitties-related airdrops on the Flow network. This model, branded as “play-to-eggdrop,” is a spin on the tap-to-earn and play-to-airdrop models that have largely motivated the Telegram gaming boom.

Gamers have spent months grinding to get their share of a future airdrop—despite sometimes being disappointed with what they receive, such as with Hamster Kombat last week.

The game will serve as a “sneak peek” into what will come with CryptoKitties’ “full-scale relaunch” on Flow—a move that was first teased in 2020, but was apparently put on hold as NBA Top Shot and other Dapper projects gained steam. It promises to dive into the lore of a fearful landscape, in which players will attempt to hatch the “ReGenesis Kitty” from an egg to bring an era of joy to the world.

This follows the release of a new Ethereum NFT collection called “Egg” that served as a teaser for the game. Dapper Labs told Decrypt that the collection will soon provide “strong benefits” for players in the Telegram game.

CryptoKitties were the first NFTs to be minted using Ethereum’s ERC-721 token standard. The project once accounted for 13% of all transactions on Ethereum as players purchased Kitties so they could breed them and create babies.

Edited by Andrew Hayward