As with all books, movies, or your favourite TV show, there is always a closing chapter that we must acknowledge. Whether happy or sad, the journey to the end will always be remembered fondly. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Today, we’re closing out a chapter with an extraordinary project that has been here since the early days, and we’re talking about 2018. They were one of the first blockchain games to have been here in this space, enabling players to enjoy a fun, interactive game while also supporting indie game developers thrive: Bitcoin Hodler.
After many successful years, Bitcoin Hodler will retreat its game and project(s) and focus head-on into the future. We couldn't sit back and not bid farewell to one of our dearest projects with the Enjin community since the beginning.
If you’re unfamiliar with Bitcoin Hodler, it’s time to delve into the history of this project and learn a little bit more about them. Bitcoin Hodler has been around since 2018, founded by Michel and Sebastian, and from there, went through waves of updates and building out their fun and interactive game app.
Bitcoin Hodler was a blockchain-based 2D mobile game app for the crypto community, taking players on an exciting journey through the gamified crypto world.
You might remember an old mobile game titled “Flappy Bird”, where you would play as a bird, go through obstacles, and win items. The more you went on, the faster and more complex the obstacles became. Bitcoin Hodler was very similar, and all in the theme of the crypto and blockchain industry.
Bitcoin Hodler powered an endless runner game directly on your mobile phone (android and iOS). So wherever you were, waiting in line, on the bus, or even at home, you could play right from your fingertips, running and collecting items.
Bitcoin Hodler enabled you to select your character, jump along, and try to fly up to the moon as long as possible. Each character also had unique abilities and different skills, and each character's skill set was equal in giving the player a fair chance. You could even upgrade your characters with various items (collected in-game).
What always fascinated me about Bitcoin Hodler was that ability to keep wanting me to return to the game. I used to play it when it first came out as one of Enjin's first games, and I loved the crypto-theme surrounding it. It was fun and visually pleasing, and it took you through this gamified multiverse, going through the highs and lows of the crypto markets. It truly was a unique experience for a player.
Yet, what was really cool, was that every blockchain asset you gained in the game, was sent straight to your Enjin Wallet. Each blockchain asset was an ERC-1155 digital asset (NFTs).
And most importantly… how long could you have hodled for?
In addition to having excellent game mechanics, a well-thought-out game design, and a fun and engaging game, Bitcoin Hodler also had very humorous digital collectibles (early NFTs) that you could accumulate in-game and keep in your own Enjin Wallet.
Some of these NFTs you can see here:
My personal favourite NFT to collect was the Hide the Pain Harold. A mighty, rare NFT.
Each digital collectable had different rarities: some being common, uncommon, rare, legendary, and more.
Bitcoin Hodler’s community reached 800+ community members and 3k+ Twitter followers. Building a community was challenging (especially for blockchain-based games), but Bitcoin Hodler did a smashing job maintaining and building a community/fan base for their game.
In March 2019, San Francisco was the first ever GDC Enjin attended - and it was a blast! We were honoured to have Bitcoin Hodler by our side, meeting people who were excited to try out their game and learn more about the possibilities that blockchain gaming has to offer.
While the concept of blockchain gaming with NFTs was still new at the time, we felt we’d made people realise that blockchain gaming is here to stay, and we’re proud to have been among the first companies to demonstrate the endless possibilities.
We appreciate all the projects that participated at the time, but especially Bitcoin Hodler for being rockstars and attending GDC with us.
As we head out into 2023, we'd like to thank Bitcoin Hodler (Sebastian and Michel) for creating an original and unique game with a crypto theme and twist. We've loved having you along the way, supporting Enjin since early 2018.
Building a game from the ground up is always challenging, especially for indie developers. Our goal is to support all game developers and projects that utilize blockchain technology in their work, and to enable web3 for everyone.
At Enjin, we’re building various products and services that will help anyone get started and integrate blockchain into their project. We are eager to see what the future holds and what lies ahead in the upcoming year.
To that end, it's been a ride, and we appreciate your support throughout all these years. We look forward to seeing what you guys do in the future.
From our community and team to yours. Thank you ❤️
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