You may have just heard about the crazy popular, but really confusing game called “CryptoKitties”, and you really want to try your luck on this one.
Well, you’ve come to the right place as in this article, I’ll be explaining about how to play CryptoKitties and more importantly, how you can actually make real money playing that game.
What are CryptoKitties?
CryptoKitties are unlike any other cute, girlish game that you’ve come across. Trust me with this one because I have seen serious, Crypto and NFT investors playing the game seriously for the sole reason of making money through their investments.
CryptoKitties are basically digital collectibles game or NFT collectibles that are entirely based on the Ethereum blockchain. You can buy, trade and breed digital kittens in some of the most creative ways possible.
The game is basically based on the idea of breeding, customizing and owning the rarest Crypto Kitties. The Cats come with various physical features that they call “Cattributes”. The Cattributes range from having traits such as Eye color, Fur, Eye Shape, Body Color, Elements, Patterns and much much more. It is these Cattributes that make Crypto Kitties such a unique game.
Most players out there are actually trying to breed rare Cats because not only are they expensive but they can fetch you some good amount of money if you breed them properly. One Rare cat was recently sold for more than $100,000 Dollars USD while many other are having an average sale value anywhere between $1000 to $10,000 Dollars.
But how do I buy my first cat?
First, you will need some Ethereum or $ETH
1. Installing MetaMask
First thing you wanna do is to go to CryptoKitties.co and Click on Install MetaMask.
By, Clicking the “Install MetaMask button“, you will be directed to the MetaMask Chrome Extension Page. Here you want to click on the “Add to Chrome” button.
Next click on the “Add Extension” Button. This will install the MetaMask Chrome extension plugin on your Chrome Browser.
Note: If you don’t have Google Chrome Browser, you will need to Install Google Chrome on Your PC or Mac as this extension only works on Google Chrome.
Now you will need to go back to CryptoKitties and click on “Installed MetaMask” Button.
Next a page is going to open saying “Your MetaMask is locked”. Don’t worry about, you haven’t really created a MetaMask account yet.
Next move towards the top right corner of the Screen and Click on the MetaMask Fox Symbol Icon.
A Pop up will appear where you will need to “Accept” the Terms and Conditions. Just scroll through the list and click on the “Accept” Button.
Next, you will need to set a New Password for your MetaMask Account. Once you have typed the Password, Click on the “Create” Button.
Now, you’ve successfully created your MetaMask account, however, there’s one extremely important thing that you will have to take care of. This is called the “12 Secret Words” that probably works like a security gate for your account. You will need to copy these 12 secret words somewhere on a book, paper or wherever you feel comfortable. But remember, that these words have to be written down in sequence and with the correct spellings. What these words help you with is basically, if you ever forget your password, or have probelms logging in into your MetaMask Account, these words act as a security key, that can be used to unlock your account instantly.
So, that’s it, your MetaMask account is created and is now connected with CryptoKitties. Now you can just update your email address, Nicknames and upload a nice profile picture to your account. Once, you’ve updated your information, you can click on “Save Account Info” Button.
Once you save your account info, you may get to another page where you will need to “Accept” another set of Terms and Conditions from Crypto Kitties. Here, Click on the “I Agree” Button.
Once that is done, you will get another pop up from MetaMask, where you will have to sign a “Transaction”. Don’t worry, this is not related to any money. It is just a digital signature that tells CryptoKitties that the MetaMask account you’ve just created is yours.
Once this is done, you are pretty much good to go. Your account is now ready and you will now be able to play CryptoKitties, breed them and you can even use your MetaMask account and add funds to it.
2. How to Buy Ethereum?
Now, that you’ve created your MetaMask and CryptoKitties account and actually connected them together, the next step will be buy the Ethereum itself which will be used to buy cats.
To buy some Ethereum, you will first need to create an Crypto Wallet. The Crypto Wallet that I will be using today is Coinbase. You can create an Coinbase account here.
Next go to top left corner of the screen and click on the MetaMask Fox Icon and then click on the “BUY” button.
You will be directed to the Coinbase website where you will need to Sign in with your Coinbase account details.
Next, go to the “Buy/Sell” Tab on your Coinbase account, choose Ethereum and enter the amount of Ethereum you want to buy.
Next, click on “Buy Ethereum” Button.
You will be directed to another page where you will have to confirm your transaction. Click on the “Confirm Buy” button.
Next, Copy your MetaMask ETH address. This will act as your recipients address as you will be transferring Ethereum from Coinbase to your MetaMask Wallet.
Go to the top right corner of the screen and click on the MetaMask Fox Icon.
Click on the three square dots and then choose the option “Copy Address to Clipboard”. This will copy your MetaMask wallet address.
Next, go back to your Coinbase account and choose the “Accounts” Tab. Then move to the ETH Wallet section and click on the “Send” Button.
On the next screen, paste your MetaMask ETH address on the Recipient section. Enter the amount of ETH you want to transfer and click on the “Continue” Button.
Now, you have successfully bought and transferred Ethereum to your MetaMask account. Which means you are now ready to actually buy some Crypto Kitties Cats and Breed them. Make sure to check the amount on your MetaMask account, as sometimes, it can take some time for the funds to be shown on your MetaMask account. Normally, its an instant process.
BUYING YOUR FIRST CRYPTOKITTIES CAT
Now that you’ve setup everything from your CryptoKitties account, to creating your MetaMask account and you’ve also transferred funds to your MetaMask account, it’s time to buy your first cat!.
Go through some of the cats on the CryptoKitties website. Choose the cat you are interested in and click on the cat.
Next click on the “Ok Buy this Kitty” Button.
This will bring you a pop up from MetaMask. Hit the “Submit” button.
There you have it, you’ve just purchased your first Kitty in less than a few minutes!.
Please note that, your request to buy the Kitty make take some time for the Ethereum Network to process. However, it won’t take much time and you can easily check whether your Kitty has arrived to your collection or not by clicking on the “My Kitties” section on the navigation.
COMING TO THE SERIOUS STUFF
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CRYPTOKITTY INVESTMENT?
If you are like me and many others who got into this whole CryptoKitty thing for the sole reason to make money, then you are in the right track as the question really arises, “What or Which Kitty Should I Buy?”.
And trust me, it’s pretty difficult in the beginning as you don’t really know much about the deeper aspects of the game, the Cattributes, the generations and many more stuff. Because, if you want to really make money from this game, you’ve got to understand these things properly as it will help you make a good investment.
Of course, if you are playing CryptoKitties just for the sake of fun and the fact that you love cats, there’s no problem with that. In fact, I believe that that’s how CryptoKitties must be played as it was created for the sole purpose of enjoying the experience of collecting and breeding cats.
WHAT ARE GENERATIONS IN CRYPTOKITTIES?
The first thing you will need to know about CryptoKitties is generations. What are they exactly?.
Every CryptoKitty is born with a generation one higher than its highest-generation parent. Meaning that if a Gen 1 Kitty Breeds with a Gen 5 Kitty, the Offspring will be a Gen 6.
Pretty confusing right, but just note here that, lower the generations, higher is the value of the Kitty. The more expensive the Kitty gets. Imagine, if you have 10 Generation 1 CryptoKitties. You can literally breed 5 Gen 2 Crypto Kitties all of which have the capability to breed 3 more Gen 3 Kitties. All of this means, you can breed a lot of valuable and rare low gen kitties and make tons of money from it.
Also, when you have a low Generation Kitty, it will normally have a faster cooldown. While, the higher the generation, the slower the cooldown.
The game was seeded with 100 Founder Kitties, and every 15 minutes , there will be one Gen 0 cat released which are listed for the average price of the last five sold, plus 50%
WHAT IS COOLDOWN IN CRYPTOKITTIES?
Cooldown is basically the rest period for your CryptoKitty after it breeds. As according to the game, making babies and kittens is hard-work and every Kitty knows that. So, every Kitty you purchase comes with a specific cooldown period. A Kitty’s cooldown at birth is determined by its generation (not genetics). The higher the generation, the slower the cooldown.
Here are some of the different types Cooldown periods you can expect from your Kitties.
- Fast – 1m – Gen 0, 1
- Swift – 2m -5m – Gen 2, 3, 4, 5
- Snappy – 10m -30m – Gen 6, 7, 8, 9
- Brisk – 1h -2h – Gen 10, 11, 12, 13
- Plodding – 4h-8h – Gen 14, 15, 16, 17
- Slow – 16h -24h – Gen 18, 19, 20, 21
- Sluggish – 2d -4d – Gen 22, 23, 24, 25
- Catatonic – 1 week – Gen 26+
Cooldown is solely based on Kitty’s generation and it has nothing to do with Genes, Prices or Kittys traits. Also, note that every time, a kitty breeds, it’s cool down period increases.
Everytime, a Kitty produces an offspring through breeding, it’s cooldown period increases by 1 level or 2 Generations.
HOW DOES BREEDING ACTUALLY WORK IN CRYPTO KITTIES?
Now we do know that if we breed or if our Kitties breed, their cooldown speed increases. This means that there is a certain limit to how many Offsprings we can really breed. We can’t really go all in as the more offsprings our cats breed, the longer their cooldown gets.
Kittens can be created by breeding them and the process of breeding is called “Siring” in the game. The way breeding works is that you can put your Kitten for Sire on the site for a specific amount of Ethereum.
If someone else finds your Kitty, they can breed with it and they get the offspring, you get the Ether.
Else, you can do the opposite. You can pay to breed your cat with someone else and you get the offspring while the latter gets the Ether.
Kittens also come with a 256-bit genome that holds all the genetic information of the Kittens. This includes the different variations of color, whiskers, face, beards, stripes, eyes and so on. By breeding, there is a specific way by which the Genes mix with each other and will create an Offspring that is similar to both the parents. However, sometimes, there can be chances of gene mutation where the offspring can have a completely new unexpected trait. This is where, CryptoKitties can become really interesting as if you are able to produce or get a really unique and rare trait or cattribute, that could mean that you can fetch a lot of money from it too.
HOW TO FIND OR SPOT A RARE CRYPTOKITTY?
Assessing the value of your Kitty is probably one of the hardest thing in the game. Especially, if you are to the game, you will have no idea what you are up to.
But I will try my best to make things simple for you.
Value and rarity in CryptoKitty is determined by these things mentioned below.
Gen 0 – If you find a Cat from Generation 0, I’d say just buy it. Especially if you get it for a discount. As there are only 50,000 of Gen 0 cats and although, every 15 minutes, one Gen 0 cat is being produced, the limit will always be 50,000. Why only Gen 0 cats are so valuable and Not Gen 1 or Gen 2? – The reason is they are rare and limited and one can easily produce higher generation cats but to produce a Gen 0 is close to impossible. Gen 0 cats can only be purchased, so even if you get or find a Gen 0 cat for $10,000 consider that to be a huge discount!.
Fancy Cats – Fancy cats are basically unique and special cats that can be recognized as them wearing Caps. Fancy Cats are rare and they are extremely valuable. There is also a certain limit to how many Fancy Cats are bred. Which means once the limit is reached, one can only get the cat by buying it. If you get hold of a Fancy Cat, I’d say you are really lucky.
Low ID Number – Each cat comes with a specific ID number starting with a #. Kitties are number according to the sequence in which they are born. Meaning a Kitty with number #1 was the first one to be born in the game and a Kitty with #10 was the 10th kitty born. Of course, the first 100 Kitties born in the game are the most valuable, rarest and most expensive ones, as they are also the founders. However, having a low ID number in your Kitties means that your Kitty is rare and valuable. Kittes with lower ID numbers sell for a significantly higher amount, and that figure just quadruples, the moment it is a Fancy Cat, and is a low generation one.
Exclusive Cats – Exclusive Cats are basically cats that cannot be produced through breeding. They are dropped on special occasions in the game and are exclusive to the events that the game hosts. Some of the rare exclusive cats include Genesis, Cathena, the three BugCats, the eleven KnightKitties, and the sixteen Golden DogCats. Exclusive Cats also go for huge price tags as they are also rare and in one occassion, only 2000 to 5000 of such cats are dropped in the game.
Founder Cats / Jaguars – Founder cats are basically the first 100 cats that started the game. The mother of all cats is Genesis with a serial ID of #1. While the rest of the 99 cats are called “Jaguars”. All of the founder cats are extremely valuable in the game and not only that, they are also very hard to acquire as most of the owners do not just sell the founder cats. If you ever get hold of one, do ping me, as I would be really interested in buying one.
Just like this there are several other factors that determine the value of a kitty like Purebred Kitties, Multiple Mutations, Low Generation Kitties with mutations, Original Artwork / “Misprint” Kitties, Fancy Breeders and much much more. However, these factors don’t massively impact the value of the Kitty like Fancy Cats and Gen 0 as normally these cats run for more than $100k to $1 Million+. But definitely, with these, you can fetch a price tag of more than $10K to $50K, if you ever find a lucky one.
Conclusion
Lastly, the game wasn’t designed for people to use it as a method to earn real money from the game. In fact, the team was very much focused into building the real idea behind the game, that was being able to breed cats, enjoy the experience of collecting cats and kittens. The team is now currently focused on improving the UI on the web platform and they are also working on improving the on-boarding process easier as it’s really difficult for people to figure out MetaMask, connecting wallets and then transferring funds to just buy the Kitties.
But the hype of CryptoKitties is real and today there are people who are making a living out of it. There are people who have been able to completely change their financial life by flipping cats and doing intelligent breeding and collecting. So, you never know, what you can make out of this game.
If you really want to give a shot to this game, you can try your luck, start with small amounts and then see what happens next. However, just becareful while buying cats as the ETH to dollar value is really fluctuating and you can easily rack up hundreds of dollars while buying the Kitties.
