RATPOOL

Blog

Notes from building RatPool: the game, the arena and the rats in it.

  1. Paid for showing up, crossed out in red; paid for getting good, in gold, over RatPool art of rats flying on jetpacks

    · 6 min read

    Play-to-Earn Paid People for Showing Up. The Next Wave Pays Them for Getting Good.

    Play-to-earn paid players for their time, in a token that collapsed. Skill-to-earn pays the best players from stakes already in the pot. What that changes for the people playing.

  2. When you get paid, whose money is it? A full RatPool room's ledger, 40 USDC staked and 40 USDC paid out, beside RatPool art of a rat sniper and a stack of USDC coins

    · 14 min read

    Where Does the Money in Play-to-Earn Actually Come From?

    Every game that pays players draws on one of three sources. Follow a dollar through play-to-earn, then through a skill-to-earn pool, with the maths of a live example.

  3. Six lessons from the play-to-earn crash, with the falls of Axie Infinity, STEPN and Thetan Arena over RatPool's arena art

    · 16 min read

    What Axie Infinity and STEPN Taught Us About Play-to-Earn, and What Skill-to-Earn Does Differently

    Axie Infinity, STEPN and Thetan Arena rose fast and fell fast for the same reason. Six lessons from their collapse, and how skill-to-earn answers each one.

  4. Play-to-earn versus skill-to-earn, with a crashing red chart on one side and a gold top-three podium on the other

    · 18 min read

    Play-to-Earn vs Skill-to-Earn: Which Is Better?

    Axie Infinity and STEPN paid players in tokens they minted, and both collapsed. Follow the money to see why skill-to-earn doesn't need hype to keep paying.