Aavegotchi is a game that uses NFTs with dynamic attributes to earn crypto by playing mini-games and upgrading NFT, and despite its three-digit entry price, it is one of the most popular Play-To-Earn (P2E) games in the blockchain. Aave (meaning ‘ghost’ in Finnish) is a cryptocurrency lending and borrowing app that allows users to get crypto loans using their cryptocurrency/stablecoin holdings as collateral.
aTokens are interest-bearing cryptocurrencies that are issued when a user makes a deposit on Aave, and they can be bought and sold on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap or Quickswap. In short, when a user deposits crypto they receive aTokens, and when they deposit aTokens they receive crypto. Each cryptocurrency accepted by Aave has an aToken associated with it, (ie aUSDC, aWETH) and aTokens held in a crypto wallet will slowly accumulate over time.
In accordance Swissborg Academy, Aavegotchi pets, or ‘Gotchis’, can be bought or sold on Aavegotchi’s marketplace with GHST tokens, or they can be created by purchasing a ‘Portal’ and summoning a new one. Each Gotchi requires a minimum of aTokens to exist, which are marked on each Gotchi’s forehead, and each one has unique stats/attributes that can be improved over time by playing with (and petting) the Gotchi pet. Aavegotchi is governed by AavegotchiDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of GHST token holders, and developed by Singapore-based Pixelcraft Studios. GHST is earned by playing mini-games and voting in the DAO, and can be bought or sold on Polygon’s Quickswap DEX.
How do attributes determine their utility?
Used Aavegotchi pets may have better stats, equipment, and a name, while new Aavegotchi pets will start with randomly generated attributes, no NFT equipment, and no name. Currently, the floor price of a low-cost Aavegotchi pet is around 410 GHST, or $471 USD. To summon a new NFT Gotchi pet, a portal must be purchased. Opened portals will show 10 potential Gotchis that can be summoned, but only one can be selected, while closed portals show nothing, but have a small chance of dropping a rare Gotchi when opened (but they probably won’t). Currently, portals are sold at a floor price of 515-570 GHST ($600-655). To summon a Gotchi, the user must first deposit the required amount of aTokens, which is determined by its rarity.
A Gotchi’s attributes determine its rarity, its performance in minigames, and the NFT wearables that can be equipped with it. Most attributes are changed through interaction, leveling, and by equipping NFT wearables. Random properties are assigned by the Chainlink oracle’s VRF random number generator, and are represented on a graphical bell curve to show their rarity. The more extreme to one side a trait is, the more useful it will be for some minigames while being detrimental to others, and the only “bad” traits are average. Gotchis earn experience (XP) for voting and playing mini-games, and with enough XP the pet can “upgrade”. After a few levels, a Gotchi pet will receive a Spirit Point to increase/decrease an attribute of the user’s choice. The more levels a Gotchi pet has, and the more refined its attributes, the more valuable it will be to its owner (and other players).
While a $450+ price tag is a very steep ask to play 2D pixelated mini-games, dedicated players who learn to work the Aavegotchi system can actually make money earning crypto rewards, or they can train and flip Gotchi pets to other players . Currently one of the most advanced P2E games in blockchain, Aavegotchi is a great example of how NFTs and cryptocurrencies can be used to create games that blur the line between gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi), otherwise known as ‘ GameFi.’ While there is little chance of Aavegotchi expanding beyond its crypto-native niche due to the high price of entry, curious players can still rent a Gotchi NFT pets to play mini-games and earn crypto rewards.
Source: Swissborg Academy, Aavegotchi
