Note: We will cover the game’s dynamics in more detail in our Chikn Strategy Guide which is coming soon ™.
Introduction to Chikn
I think I speak for everyone in that I have spent way too much money on useless jpegs. As a consequence, I have bought a lot of “founders” some really nice stuff over the past 18 months including, shoes, boats, houses and whatever they feel like, for the most part.
I think a lot of people feel like this and yes, this is cope… Despite this, my feelings towards NFT projects that continue to build, innovate and grow couldn’t be stronger. We all know what the past 18 months were. There is no dolling it up. It was the first real iteration of the NFT wave that saw 99% of projects that come to the stage be a complete disaster but in there lies the point.
There are a few projects that have the staying power, community backing and potential for growth at scale. So, for me, (a self-confessed ape) to be talking about an NFT project it has to have something more, something exciting and something truly unique.
I’m often asked what I think the next big narrative or sector of crypto will be and I think the easy answer (in my opinion) is a little half-arsed: GameFi. Saying GameFi will be the next big rotation is a little lazy in my opinion. Naturally, it will happen, but first, the infrastructure-build, to allow it to happen, has to take place.
A more gradual progression where DeFi apes and jpeg connoisseurs can unite and hate each other even more is what I personally see. The NFTFi landscape will be the battleground for new innovation and that is my answer to the next big narrative in crypto.
The merging of DeFi, NFTs and whatever the middle ground in between is, has to first happen to allow the GameFi narrative to take hold. So, with this in mind, this is where I will personally lay my chips.
There are projects already building in this space and have been for a while now. Sudo Swap piqued everyone’s interest and again united the apes and artists once more over the royalty fee argument. The funny thing about both sides of this fence is that both parties are exactly the same but just change their outward-facing appearance on Twitter. Both are in it for the money but say it is for the tech… you cannot kid, a kidder.
Anyway, back to my rant… When NFTs and DeFi meet they create a bastard child that everyone can love. Again, I will die on this hill but, the middle ground still is yet to be fully explored and appreciated in my opinion. I expect the next 12 months to be a boom of those buildings in that bastard-child-middle-ground.
Can you tell I have been watching a little too much House of the Dragon?
As I was saying, there are projects that are there or thereabouts, already. So, today I will cover one of them – Chikn.
This is quite a funny story actually and one that I know the Chikn founders probably had to battle with a lot in the early days…
When I first came across Chikn, I was walking around dragging my feet in a shopping centre in Bangkok. My girlfriend was shopping and I was doing that thing that all guys do when shopping, we get what we came for and then proceed to moan until they can leave. Works. Every. Time.
Anyway, I received a message on Telegram from a friend who was working on Chikn at the time and I was kinda like “A Chicken with some cowboy boots, a funny hat and a katana?”
I’ll still be the first to admit that I thought for quite some time that this would be, you know, “just another NFT project”. So, again I proceeded to buy 3 Chikns, which turned out to be a great investment funnily enough.
I think the beauty of it was that I 100% thought that they would fade into non-existence and that would be it. Some founder somewhere would be eating well on me that night… But, I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I feel kind of bad to admit that.
Those guys smashed it from day 1 and are continuing to do so now. As I mentioned for me to be going back and writing about an NFT project doesn’t usually happen… for one, they are usually boring as cluck, one-dimensional and a writer’s worst nightmare, this isn’t the case here, hence this article…
So, before I get into Chikn, I first need to apologise for my initial thoughts about the project. I was completely wrong and luckily my impulsivity saved me from skipping the project that day. Kudos to the team, it is really refreshing to see such a down-to-earth bunch who are continuing to build incredible products each and every time. I know these guys will be around for a long time to come and thought I would do them the service of documenting how the Chikns came to this point in time. Bok bok!
What is Chikn?
Disclaimer: This is a beginner’s explanation of the Chikn ecosystem. We’ll write another in-depth strategy guide to get into the geeky stuff and understand the ecosystem in and out, and the most optimal strategies within the game.
Landing page: https://chikn.farm/ make sure you turn ON Chikn radio…
As you might have guessed by now, Chikn is an NFT, GameFi, NFTfi project on Avalanche. Based on my estimations of when I was in Bangkok, the project launched roughly around 12 months ago. Since then the project has released a ridiculous amount of upgrades, NFTs, additional tokens and an ever-changing meta landscape that is fkn genius.
There is a lot to unpack here with regard to their NFTs, their tokens and the in-game mechanics so let’s jump straight into it. Once it is laid out (no pun intended) it is really quite easy to follow, so bear with me and the terrible puns that you are about to endure.
What are Chikn NFTs –
Yes, on the surface, a funny old jpeg… when we dig a little deeper – we tap into each Chikn NFTs utility and varying traits which lead to greater output/profitability.
LeCoq Grande is currently at the top of the Chikn leaderboard. A place where people measure the size of their coqs – for EGG production of course. After all, everyone knows that Chikn lay eggs.
Your Chikn can be grown by using another one of the tokens in the Chikn ecosystem FEED.
FEED is earned by staking EGG or EGG LP i.e. if you decide to provide liquidity for the EGG token, and then stake those LP tokens, you can earn/farm FEED.
However, this will soon be a thing of the past as FEED has a maximum supply which is quickly approaching. Keep that in mind as you read along.
So, users can buy their Chikn, and ‘roost’ (stake) it to lay EGG. From there you can stake EGG or EGG LP tokens to earn FEED, which you can then use to grow your Chikn (again, this is for now). It is a self-perpetuating Chikn growing and EGG laying machine. Naturally, the bigger your Chikn gets, the more EGG it lays per day…
So TLDR; Chikn NFTs lay EGG. Stake EGG or EGG LP to farm FEED (For a limited amount of time). Use FEED to grow Chikn for more EGG. Repeat.
This is a pretty simple dynamic and covers only Chikn NFTs.
Now, on to Roostr. This is where you’ll start to uncover why you would want to produce more EGG.
What is Roostr NFT?
Roostr were the second release of character NFTs in the Chikn ecosystem. These guys sold out in under 15 minutes in the biggest NFT sale on Avalanche to date. 1.2m EGG tokens were burnt in minting ⅓ of the Roostr supply which was over $1.5m in value at the time. The remaining ⅔ supply was minted in AVAX and resulted in congestion of the Avalanche c-chain that had never been seen. Gas prices soared to over $400 in an effort to scramble for one of these cluckers.
Roostr is a little different to the Chikn dynamic. Roostr produces FERT, which is another token to be used for FEED LP farming with permanently boosted rewards, as well as other ‘bonuses’ in the ecosystem…
How do you use FERT? Well, you squirt it on your dirt, of course…
What is FarmLand Chikn NFT?
FarmLand is the first ever upgradable plot of Land in the Metaverse and the first ever gamified LP Farm.
Every FarmLand NFT possesses 2 essential pieces of metadata:
Size and Fertility.
Size: Burn EGG to increase the size of the FarmLand
Fertility: Burn FERT to increase the fertility i.e. LP farming multiplier
FarmLand is completely upgradeable using EGG in size, structures and metadata. This all feeds into the wider game that is being rolled out in the Chikn ecosystem. Nothing these guys do is for vanity metrics or useless marketing. They are always a few steps ahead of the game…
As mentioned earlier, FarmLand which is being developed using FERT will increase FEED LP farm rewards…
So TLDR: Roostr makes FERT. FERT is used/needed to increase your LP rewards multiplier. This rewards multiplier is currently relevant to EGG, FERT and FEED Liquidity pairs, with more farms to come. For a more detailed numbers breakdown of FERT read this.
BIGLY TLDR:
Tokens –
- EGG – Infinite cap, net deflationary. The fuel that runs the Chikn ecosystem. Needed to produce FEED. Use EGG to feed Roostr. Used to upgrade Farmland.
- FEED – 12bn cap, the only way to grow your Chikn. Produced from staking EGG, and EGG LP on your FarmLand. Farming FEED will be a thing of the past soon – as the maximum supply is almost reached.
- FERT – Dropped by Roostr, used to increase all LP farming rewards multipliers.
NFTs –
- Chikn – The OG, produces EGG, and eats FEED to grow big.
- Roostr – Produces FERT, eats EGG to grow big.
- FarmLand – Burn EGG to expand, and FERTilize to increase FEED & rewards production.
What is Foraging – Chikn NFT?
Foraging is the latest and greatest addition to Chikn… by all means, it is the most ambitious and complex initiative by the team to date. From balancing the in-game economy and progression pov though, it was the natural next step in my opinion.
Foraging involves various on-chain and off-chain activities around collecting various resources, crafting items, minting certain rare items as NFTs, and upgrades for crafting and decomposing items.
It may look like an arbitrary concept, however, foraging is intended to set the foundation for new and exciting forms of idle gameplay, NFT upgradability and ecosystem growth. It introduces new utility for your Chikn, Roostr and FarmLand. Your NFTs will be able to produce more NFTs via resource accumulation and crafting. Did someone say ‘play-to-own’?
Foraging aims to help the entire ecosystem grow and scale. The idea is to eventually allow all NFTs to be able to gather resources on FarmLand.
Foraging Rollouts
- Open Alpha: Testing accumulation of resources and off-chain infrastructure and gathering feedback from the community.
- Accumulation: Send your NFTs out to forage and collect resources.
- WORM and WormFarm: Turns out a WormFarm has existed under each and every FarmLand NFT this whole time. Again, it is important to remember that everything is connected.
- Crafting: Craft items and equip them to chikn, Roostr and FarmLand. Using said WORM.
- Minting items as NFTs: Move items on-chain to trade on the secondary market.
- Upgradability: Upgrades for crafting, item slots for NFTs, and more.
- Decomposition: Decompose items back into resources.
They are currently up to item 4 of this rollout.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about Foraging here.
What is WORM – Chikn NFT?
WORM is the latest fungible token addition after EGG, FEED and FERT to the Chikn ecosystem. Similar to other tokens, it will be used as a rewards and utility token – will serve an integral purpose and be interconnected to the entire in-game economy. As FEED is a finite token, WORM is its replacement – finite also, but with significant longevity.
Earn WORM
- Attract WORM to your FarmLand using EGG LP
- Collect your WORM — claim them to your wallet
- Deploy your WORM to your WormFarm — which already exists underneath your FarmLand
WORM Utility
- Just like FarmLand — your WormFarm can be EGGspanded to allow for a higher WormCount (Number of WORM deployed in your WormFarm)
- Burn EGG to tunnel deeper into your WormFarm and allow for more WORM to be deployed. Note: there is an increasing cooldown
- Higher WormCount = reduced foraging (base) time
- Higher WormCount = more item blueprints discovered
- You’ll use WORM from your WormFarm for Crafting, Composting and item decomposition — this will Lower your WORM Count
- Don’t forget there are a lot of buried treasures in each WormFarm, making the ‘deployment’ of your WORM to your WormFarm extremely worthwhile.
Understanding Tokenomics & the Incentive Structure of Chikn NFT
Well, one thing’s certain – the Chikn team has carefully, innovatively, and thoughtfully crafted the in-game economy, tokenomics of various fungible tokens and NFTs, and the overall incentive structure.
The only way an in-game economy can sustain and thrive is if the users are not overly extractive and reinvest their earnings and rewards within the economy. However, that’s only possible if there are enough use cases for all the various assets, and a significant part of the user base consists of people who’re more interested in the game and not just the economic value of their NFTs and tokens.
From what I’ve gauged from the community, I can safely say that is the case. Whilst, I cannot deny that most people are in this space to make money – we all know that this is a zero-sum game i.e. all of us cannot win, for a winner, there’s a loser unless the overall market expands, and even in that case, the newer participants will have to suffer. Regardless, the Chikn community consists of people that have looked beyond the financial aspect, and truly enjoy the experience & comradery.
The Chikn team, as I previously mentioned, have created such a robust and intertwined economy, that users have ample use cases for the tokens and NFTs that they earn. This ensures that value extraction is minimized. Every token can be earned by performing some in-game action, and used through another. However, unlike many valueless farming tokens from other games (or in DeFi for that matter), Chikn tokens have strong utility attached to them – and most importantly, a means for constant deflation.
The ecosystem has expanded vertically and horizontally. Vertically, as in creating a positive and increasing feedback loop – particularly with upgradable elements – and horizontally, as in expanding the ecosystem with new NFTs, tokens, and gameplay.
Longevity
Looking at the future – at least I’m optimistic. NFTfi, GameFi, P2E (in some way), and utility-driven NFTs will be a HUGE narrative going forward, or so I hope.
In my opinion, what lacked with; let’s say Axie Infinity, was the lack of complexity within the economy – which isn’t the case with Chikn. Like, sure I farm some SLP from P2E, now what? Ok, I can breed Axies, but I need to buy AXS for that, and maybe I don’t want to breed Axies, what do I do then? Sell obviously, right?
Whereas with Chikn, all the tokens and NFTs have multiple layers of utilities (and the team continues to ship more) – which is a good way somewhat confuse the user as to what may be the most optimized use of those assets. This in turn ensures that the user does what he/she derives the most fun out of, and not what will yield the highest ROI. If the focus is on ‘fun’, the ROI will follow.
Sure, I can sell the EGG laid by my Chikn, but I can also use it to participate in the governance of the protocol, be entitled to certain community perks, stake EGG and EGG LP tokens to earn FEED and make my Chikn larger, feed EGG to my Roostr, use EGG LP to earn WORM, and god knows what other utilities will be added in the future. So as a Chikn holder have a real dilemma when Chikn lays an EGG, do I sell it or make use of it?
I look at Chikn as a fun and engaging web3 experience and an economic experiment. Money can be made, but I’d focus on the experience and derive enjoyment from a game like how I do from Fortnite or Valorant with 0 ROI. Or should I say negative ROI, because I spend time, money, and energy with no return? The focus of games should be… THE GAME. Which a lot of projects overlook. Chikn has managed to create a game through economics and strategy which has surpassed all of our expectations at blocmates and I don’t even think they have started properly yet which is quite insane.
This is all, quite uniquely, with a truly organic community – jump in their Discord if you don’t believe me – and ZERO VC funding. Meaning no early seed-round investors dumping on retail. This is something we’ve never seen in an ecosystem this comprehensive.
Future Gameplay Plans
From a gameplay perspective, the Chikn team have a lot planned. The goal is to offer increased and improved in-game offerings in terms of new games, upgrade potential, crafting items and NFTs. I’d like to briefly touch on two of their milestone offerings: CoqFight and ChiknQuest. But first, broadly speaking, there are two types of game types in Chikn:
- Idle gaming: Roost, Feed, Farm, Forage, Breed.
- Active gaming: Battle (CoqFight), Explore & Conquer (ChiknQuest)
Roost: The ‘Roost’ is where the magic happens. Simply Roost your chikn and it lays EGG automatically. Want to lay more EGG per day? Simply FEED your chikn to make it Biggr.
Farm: Farm for FEED to FEED your Chikn. Farming FEED, a token of finite supply – and the only method with which to upgrade your chikn – is executed by staking EGG, and/or EGG LP tokens on chikn.farm
Breed: This element of the gameplay isn’t live yet, and we know very little about it. However, it will involve breeding Chikn + Roostr to produce some sort of an NFT – only a guess at this point. Also, as per the updated roadmap, EGG and FERT will be used/burned to mint these new NFTs – which will have a significantly larger supply to lower the barrier-to-entry (thus expanding the market).
As for the active gameplay component – something I’m more excited about, the team has a lot planned too.
ChiknQuest: Exploring & competing in mini-games & psychological warfare? Yes, please. Again, not much has been disclosed about the offering so far. However, as the name suggests, we’d perhaps see Chikns and Roostrs going on various PvE quests, maybe PvP too? Foraging, while mostly ‘idle’ gameplay, could also be considered another mini-game of sorts.
CoqFight: This will be the main active game offering. It will be a real-time multiplayer game experience. The vision is to build a sustainable play-and-earn active game which drives even more interaction with (and value into) the Chikn & Roostr NFTs.
Conclusion
As a concluding remark, I’d say that it isn’t easy to navigate in an industry where maybe 90% of the people are in to make a quick buck.
However, I can see a thriving and engaging community brewing at Chikn. Users are genuinely passionate about the future and the game. They resonate with the lore and storytelling, and that is a massive win. There’s even a community Twitter Spaces called The Bokcast that has taken on a life of its own, with hundreds of people having joined every day (for 100 days straight) to talk optimal strategy, tactics & alpha.
The team are some of the most down-to-earth people we have met in the industry and I’d love to sink a few beers or 10 with them.
I am excited about the future, too. Chikn isn’t a cheap and low-effort fork thrown out – it is a genuinely original NFTfi project with serious stumpy legs and staying power. Serious developments are happening on the Avalanche front too… The CLI upgrade is quite frankly ridiculous allowing people to deploy a subnet in under a minute. The possibilities are endless… Particularly with the Chikn team forging plans to deploy a ‘Bokchain’ subnet, too – with EGG as the custom gas token.
I hope this overall broad look at the Chikn NFT ecosystem was useful and informative. There are simply too many details to break down and explain everything in development – and had I spent the time, this article would be well over 15,000 words long. So if you’re interested, visit their Website, follow them on Twitter, or join their Discord server and become a part of the discussion.
We will cover the game’s dynamics in more detail in our Chikn Strategy Guide which is coming soon ™.
Chikn Resources –
Website/app: https://chikn.farm/
Discord: https://discord.gg/chikn
