There’s so much going on all at once. We have some big things finally starting to come out, like the huge Animal Care update that the team worked on for a long time. We have some other initiatives we’ve been working on like Stacked, a bigger release of Chubkins, and changes in how we handle things like staking and token emissions. The recent article Luke released sets the foundation for future decisions made at Pixels, how Pixels can be the best stewards of the ecosystem moving forward, and how the team can respond to anything thrown at them in the future.

Every time we release a new update, users are always motivated to get rare, high-level things as quickly as possible, but that’s not fun for long-term gameplay. There needs to be a balance. Part of the fun of play-to-earn links puzzle-solving and finding ways to get things before others. For it to be a slightly competitive multiplayer game, it has to be difficult to get some things in the game. It has to be done through planning, strategy, cost, or time. This is the play-to-earn dilemma.

The main goal for Pixels is for the game to have a sustainable business model that can grow. We need to focus on RORS, fostering a semi-competitive environment, etc. When things are easy to get, it’s fun, but it leads to a death spiral. There’s still a lot to figure out on how to make this game feel amazing for every type of user, but it’s good enough to invest in new user acquisition. Core Pixels is the best-performing game in the Pixels ecosystem, and it’s the most positive direction Pixels has been going so far. RORS have been trending around 200% and the game is profitable, which means the game is on track to support itself and grow. Now we want to figure out how to increase the demand for the $PIXEL token by growing userbase.

Alchemic Forge

We’ve had questions about how the new industry works, so here’s a quick rundown!

Where can you craft a Forge?

A Forge is craftable via a metalworking station. Here are the required items for Tier II:

• Sticky Slimewood (18)

• Bronzenite Nail (10)

• Volatile Yolk Compound (3)

• Miniature Milk Barrel Set (2)

• Craftbark Oil (10)

What can you craft at the Alchemic Forge?

• Speed and Yield Boosts which are are time-limited potions that increase productivity for specific industries. Read more about Boosts at the Pixels Post!

• Upgraded Pickaxe: Reduces the timer on Mines by 20%

• Upgraded Axe: Reduced Hits needed on Trees

• Upgraded Shears: Cuts multiple crops at a time

• Upgraded Fishing Rod: 10% chance to double harvest

Questions from the AMA

What do we need to craft a forge?
A forge is craftable via a metalworking station. See required items above.

Any chance to increase DAU
We plan on starting to invest in user acquisition through incentive-driven growth like Stacked.

How do you feel about some games that have given up on Web3 in the last few days? Will $PIXEL have an impact?
For Web3, decentralized social sounds good in theory, but there are issues with making revenue. Staking is lower-risk than investing, but we want to eliminate the single-game risk. Another flaw is when games don’t know how to give out rewards, so this is where Stacked comes in. We’re looking to do blended staking, and Stacked will be available for staking as well. For Forgotten Runiverse, we did one more final distribution as a thank you for staking, so go take a look just in case you still have tokens to claim.

For a new player the game would be hard…its hard getting buoy bucks to get satchel… and crafting, merchant ship and tb needs huge amounts of materials and energy
A lot of this content is for our high-level players who have been around a long time. Onboarding could use a refresher, but there are so many things for new players to do.

Number of bots seems to be increasing, what are you doing to prevent new bots playing and extracting? #justiceforbob
This is the purpose of Stacked for new user acquisition and rewards. If you add rewards too early in the game, bots will take up a lot of the rewards, but rewards for newer players are an amazing feeling. That’s why we’ll be transitioning a lot of the rewards to Stacked, so we can do UA for early players while not messing up the mechanics and economy of the game.

Also I want to ask if there will be any update to increase the Silo Storage space? There are a lot of stuff and it takes up all space, or we could connect the storage to chest?
Land Owners are still at a standstill, so we encourage you guys to talk about it and come to an agreement together.

Is there gonna be a referral program for Stacked and how can it look like?
As a disclaimer, Stacked will not be perfect starting out and we will be experimenting with growth incentives. We’re not planning on a referral program right now but it’s something we may add.

Are you looking to scale to other games or token/rewards for Stacked? How will that work?
Stacked has an SDK where developers can integrate and start to understand their users better, allowing us to help them give out rewards in their game. It’ll be open to any game and the more games using it upon launch, the better, since it gives users more things to do. Any game is welcome and Stacked can give out any token or currency (not just Web3).

Is Taskboard anywhere a permanent VIP benefit?
Yes, it is permanent. In case you missed the recent announcement, you can now access the Taskboard anywhere with the HUD!

Is there any chance to increase Speck size so we got more free space for resources or UGC decoration?
It is almost the size of a small NFT Land and there are already 6 upgrades, so unfortunately, no.

I want more quests for beginners
We do have some beginner-friendly quests that launched recently, along with a list of active quests in our Help Center. Things are looking good lately with RORS, which means we can start to polish the end-user experience and make something that works for more people.

Stacked can solve P2E?
That’s the goal. If Stacked doesn’t solve the play-to-earn formula, then it won’t work.

Is Stacked only mobile-based?
No, there will also be a web app. We want people to use mobile more for push notifications.

Will Stacked give out $vPIXEL and/or USDC?
Beginning stage will partly be $PIXEL, maybe also $vPIXEL, then transition to USDC.

Congratulations on this new update. It got me hooked up all day. It would be a good idea if you make it so when I hover the cursor over the items shows where to be crafted or from which animal to collect it. That would be an immense help since there are so many new items in the game.
This is the best kind of stuff to hear and we really appreciate nice comments like these. This was an intimidating update since there was a lot of new stuff added. The big thing about this update was the team fixing so much broken stuff and making things make more sense. A feature of what you’re asking for could be a good addition to a lot of game extensions.

I’m unironically thinking about just doing a whole UI rewrite for Nerd HUD just to accommodate all the new stuff.
There you go! Get ready for NERD updates.

Hi guys. Do you guys have any plans on doing a Guild Wars event again, but with USDC prizepool? Events like that could really bring life into the game, even if it just breaks even
There is something interesting there, but tournaments and skill-based games appeal to a small niche of users. It wouldn’t be impossible to set up, but we can’t commit or make any promises right now.

Any upcoming Valentine’s or Lunar New Year events?
You never know with us, but the team has been so slammed with other updates so we might not have the capacity to do much else.

Do you accept content creators who will create reels from game and guide new players on Instagram and TikTok?
Absolutely! If you’re interested, please apply to be a part of the Content Creator Program.

Will clipping be rewarded?
Yes, that will end up being one of the rewards in Stacked.