Crypto Valleys surges in popularity amid token fluctuations and GameFi security concerns

Crypto Valleys, an onchain pixel art game that is live on Blast, an Ethereum layer 2 network, has grown to more than 5,000 players since its launch on March 14.

The look and feel of the game has many users comparing it with a previously popular crypto game, DeFi Kingdoms, which launched in October 2021. That game’s utility token, JEWEL, surged to a fully diluted valuation of over $1.3 billion during the three months after the game went live, before crashing back down to its current valuation of $28 million.

By comparison, the utility token for Crypto Valleys, YIELD, has soared from about $0.16 to a peak of $16.93, implying a fully diluted value of $169 million, before dropping back down to $11.85.

The rise may be welcomed by speculators trying to make a quick buck, but for users actually playing the game, it has already caused affordability issues.

YIELD functions as a utility token within the game, enabling users to purchase seed packs for their in-game farm, items, equipment, and upgrades.

There is a supply of 10 million YIELD tokens, including 5.5 million that were released when the game was launched. The other 4.5 million tokens will vest linearly over the next one to two years. All YIELD used within the game is immediately burned, removing it from the supply forever.

The gameplay for Crypto Valley is pretty straightforward. Users start by purchasing YIELD tokens that they can use to exchange for in-game seed packs. Once opened, the seed packs contain a collection of randomly selected seeds of different rarities.

After receiving the seeds, the user plants the seeds in his or her farm, and once the seeds grow, the user can harvest the crops for produce to sell in the marketplace or use to make food.

Users can also purchase adventurer NFTs that come with their own attributes and skill sets. Later on, these adventurers will be used in expeditions and quests, with food playing a role in how they perform.

With the price of YIELD rising so quickly, the Crypto Valleys team has admitted that its intention of creating an affordable game has been compromised.

Users can choose from four different seed packs, although the lowest tier, “feeble seeds,” doesn’t generate produce, leading players to choose the next lowest tier, “pico seeds,” as their starting point.

The cost of one seed pack is 20 YIELD, which was only $3.20 when the game was launched, but now, one pico seed pack costs $338. This cost is obviously too high for a casual gamer, prompting the development team to make the statement it did earlier today, with promises to tweak the gameplay in future updates.

Super Sushi Samurai

While Crypto Valley is facing hurdles scaling its game, another GameFi project on Blast fell victim to an exploit today.

Super Sushi Samurai is a social strategy game played through the popular messaging app Telegram.

The utility token of the game, SSS, launched on March 17 and rose nearly 1,700% before the exploit, which drained roughly 1,310 Ether from the liquidity pool.

The issue appeared to be a bug in the smart contract that would double your SSS balance if you sent tokens to yourself.

Since the exploit, the Super Sushi team put out a statement that the exploiter was a white hat, meaning there is a possibility that a portion, or all, of the funds will be returned.

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