Banana Game: The Next GameFi Star or a Flash in the Pan?

Recently, a Tap2Earn game called "Banana Game" has sparked widespread attention. This article will delve into the gameplay, success factors, and potential market performance of this game, exploring its innovative points and future development prospects.

This past weekend, if you often browse social media, you may have noticed a game that has been frequently trending - Banana Game. This is a Tap2Earn mini-game based on an instant messaging platform, where the core task for players is to collect and trade bananas daily. The Tap2Earn model, which allows players to earn cryptocurrency or other digital assets through simple clicks or participation in specific tasks, was first introduced by another game earlier this year.

In just 3 days since its launch, the official account of Banana Game has attracted over 100,000 followers on social platforms, and the number of subscribers to the official channel has also exceeded 400,000. According to reports, within 72 hours of its launch, Banana Game's user count surpassed 1 million. Data from statistical platforms indicates that the number of community users on social platforms for other similar games during the same period is far less than that of Banana Game. These figures demonstrate that as a GameFi project, Banana Game's user count and community engagement are outstanding, showcasing the project's tremendous potential.

The astonishing market performance begs the question: Can Banana Game replicate the success of its predecessor, or even surpass it, becoming a new legend in the GameFi field?

Peeling Bananas to Make Big Money

Before we dive into the discussion, let's first understand how Banana Game works.

The core mechanism of Banana Game is to obtain bananas through clicking. Players can randomly harvest one banana each day, and these bananas are divided into three levels based on rarity: Unripe (Common), Fully Ripe (Rare), and Overripe (Super Rare). Each type of banana can generate PEELs, which are the reward tokens in the game. Players can collect these PEELs by clicking on their bananas.

Rarity is crucial in the game. The higher the rarity, the greater the value of the bananas. Players who own high-rarity bananas can not only harvest more PEELs but also sell these bananas at a higher price through the trading system, thus earning extra PEELs or USDT, making every click and harvest full of surprises.

According to the publicly available banana encyclopedia, the most valuable bananas can be worth up to 500 USDT, while bananas of slightly lower quality are also worth a few USDT. These valuable bananas can be sold directly from the backpack, and the earnings can be deposited into the linked wallet by clicking the withdrawal button. Therefore, searching for and collecting unique bananas has become the goal pursued by players.

In addition to collecting and clicking on bananas, players can also earn extra banana rewards by completing various social tasks and participating in missions. These tasks include binding IDs, following and sharing content on social platforms, and more. Inviting friends to join the game also grants additional banana rewards, which not only motivates players to expand their social circles but also gives the game certain SocialFi attributes.

Abundant Returns Beyond Gaming

In addition to in-game rewards, players can also earn extra rewards by completing tasks on a certain platform. This platform is a cross-platform game certification system, which you can simply understand as a certification platform for blockchain game tasks, or a game store in the blockchain.

The tasks on this platform are similar to those within the Banana Game, mainly involving participation in games or sharing game-related information on social media. However, there are significant differences in the rewards. Players have the chance to receive GEM rewards worth up to 1800 USDT (used for redeeming rewards on the platform), or an SBT unique to the account, making the rewards very generous.

According to official data, the platform has provided an enhanced gaming experience for 2.5 million registered players, with daily active users exceeding 500,000, and has supported over 780 Web2 and Web3 games and ecosystems. With the platform's strong integration capabilities, it previously secured $50 million in funding from top funds and ecosystems. Therefore, it is no surprise that Banana Game has been able to generate such a huge impact within just a few days of its launch.

Comparison with Other Games: The Challenges and Opportunities of Banana Game

From the gameplay perspective, the "click-click-click" mechanism of the Banana Game is very similar to that of other similar games. The core gameplay of these games is simple and clear, allowing players to earn in-game coins by continuously tapping the screen while they have stamina. Their success lies in the innovative introduction and promotion of the Tap2Earn concept, while also lowering the entry barrier for players through a large user base and simple operation methods. Features such as teamwork and inviting new users further facilitate the rapid spread of the game and the expansion of its player base.

In terms of tokenomics design, some successful projects have shown great sincerity. For example, some projects only retained 5% of the tokens, while the remaining 78% were airdropped to all game users, with no allocation reserved for venture capital. This generous distribution has won widespread praise from the community, even though there are critical voices labeling it as a Meme. Nevertheless, it successfully conducted an IEO on a trading platform, reaching a peak market value of 3 billion USD.

Although Banana Game has not disclosed its tokenomics design, replicating the success of its predecessors is crucial, and the tokenomics design is essential. However, unlike other games, Banana Game has the support of a platform, so it is necessary to consider how to reasonably allocate a portion of the shares to the platform side after the token goes live. A clear example is another game, Tap2Earn, which became popular on instant messaging platforms, but due to only allocating 35% of the airdrop to users while the team and VC held 28%, it still received considerable criticism even after the airdrop ratio was later increased to 43%.

For banana games, if the platform and project parties hold too high a proportion of tokens, players may worry about the risk of a price crash, causing dissatisfaction; conversely, if the token holding is too low, it may not meet the expectations of investors. Therefore, designing a token distribution plan that satisfies both parties will become the key challenge for the next step.

Banana Game: Capturing the Market with Simple Gameplay

In addition to token design, gameplay also plays a crucial role in game promotion. In March this year, another Tap2Earn game attracted a lot of attention, and by the end of July, the game had over 300 million users. Compared to the simple gameplay of other games, this game has a more complex background setting and gameplay, with richer content. Players manage an exchange in the game, obtaining points by consuming energy to click on the screen, and using these points to upgrade the exchange, enhancing its functions and influence, among other things.

According to the data, the game's performance is quite successful: the official announcement in June showed that there are already 47.6 million active users. It was recently announced that the "largest airdrop in cryptocurrency history" will take place, of which 60% of the tokens will be specifically allocated to players, while the remaining portion will be used to provide market liquidity, ecosystem partnerships, and grants, reward teams, and other projects.

However, why has this game failed to gain widespread attention like other games? Aside from being a copycat project and lacking innovative storytelling, the main reason lies in its overly complex gameplay. For example, as a nurturing game, players need to log in frequently to click the screen to earn coins; clicking once earns one coin, and with 1000 energy, you need to click 1000 times; although there is passive income from idling, it is only effective within three hours after exiting the game, after which you have to re-enter the game. Despite the carefully designed game background and gameplay, this also means that players need to invest more effort. Therefore, although the game's design and user base are strong, its complex gameplay limits broader user participation.

In Web2 games, players primarily come for the enjoyment of the game; even if the operations are complex, as long as there are attractive points, players are willing to invest time to study. For example, games like "World of Warcraft" can attract a large number of players to invest time and energy even with complex operations. However, in Web3 games, most GameFi projects attract users through massive airdrops and point rewards, with players' initial intention being more about "making money." In this case, overly complex gameplay can be a burden for "zero-cost" players. In the current volatile cryptocurrency market, players are more focused on the input-output ratio, and projects with low costs and clear airdrops are more attractive. Therefore, while in Web2, complex games can attract a certain number of players with their interesting designs and gameplay, in the Web3 market, such complex gameplay becomes a burden, making it difficult to surpass simple click games.

Similar situations have occurred multiple times in the Web3 field. Around this time last year, a social finance project surged in popularity, attracting a lot of attention and leading many to believe that SocialFi was about to support another round of a bull market. But what is the reality? Even a year later, on this very day, despite the obvious airdrop, the project remains lukewarm. The reasons for this are similarly complex gameplay and high thresholds limiting widespread user participation. In contrast, another project launched last September gained a lot of attention due to its simple gameplay. Users only needed to bind their social accounts and interact with relevant topics daily to earn points, making it easy to get started and quickly gaining popularity. The project team launched three rounds of airdrop activities within a month. Although later participants saw reduced earnings as the number of participants increased, many still made a small profit, and the project team received positive reviews.

It must be acknowledged that complex games can be well-designed projects, but in the current cryptocurrency market, "low cost" may be more important to most players. With market fluctuations, many people just hope to make a small profit and recoup their losses. Banana Game has recognized this and clearly informs players of the value of each banana, allowing players to earn rewards simply by clicking every few hours, making it more competitive.

In conclusion

Summarize a few key points that may lead to the success of Banana Game:

1. Retained the core narrative of Tap2Earn, rewards are public and transparent: The game continues the core of the Tap2Earn model, allowing players to earn rewards through simple clicks, and the rewards are transparent and public, enhancing players' sense of trust and participation.

2. Gain platform support, ensuring visibility and influence: Thanks to the support of the platform, Banana Game has a strong backing in terms of promotion and dissemination, which guarantees its exposure and influence in the community.

3. Simple gameplay, extremely low entry barrier, relatively high input-output: The game is designed to be simple and easy to get started, players only need to spend a small amount of time to participate, and there is a chance to obtain high-value rewards. This low-cost, high-return characteristic attracts a large number of players.

4. Token economics are likely to favor players: Although the specific token economic design has not been announced, if it leans towards players like other successful Tap2Earn projects, and distributes tokens fairly, it will further enhance players' engagement and loyalty.

5. Community Interaction and Social Attributes: Banana Game encourages players to engage through social media interactions and by inviting new users, which not only increases user stickiness.