Lovers of all things cute, crypto and competitive can now race their CryptoKitties on a simple, arcade-style racetrack at Kittyrace.com.
Players and spectators pay a small amount of ether from their Metamask wallets to race cats or watch. Race results are calculated using a combination of a randomly-generated number and the the numerical value of a CryptoKitty’s “genetic cattributes.” Extra points are awarded for being the first or second CryptoKitty enrolled in a race. Maximum points: 19.
Journalist Joon Ian Wong at Quartz has reported that enthusiasts are already breeding their gender morphing cats for better race performance. According to Wong, a user in the CryptoKitty Telegram group is reporting a price bubble on cats with the “wingtip cattribute.”
Because CryptoKitties “reside” on a permissionless network, the KittyRace app was developed independently of the firm that invented them, AxiomZen. KittyRace developers are currently not making money on the game as the bulk of fees collected from players are awarded to the owners of winning cats, with a small amount deducted to pay miners doing settlements on the network. Developers are stating they have deployed the game as “an experiment,” and are waiting to see how a decentralized app with no third party intermediary and a gambling aspect will be treated by regulators.
AxiomZen likely do not mind the development of apps spurring interest in and demand for their digital collector cats built on Ethereum, especially since the hype that saw the very first or “Genesis” CryptoKitty sell for close to $200 000 in December has largely died down since then.
Sadistic collectors who have asked AxiomZen for a CryptoKitties fight app will have to wait for the time being. Stay tuned.