NFT startup Pooky has announced the general launch of a unique play-and-earn prediction game that’s designed to give football fans a safer and more exciting alternative to gambling. Pooky is a gamified sports prediction app that anyone can play, with those who purchase an NFT Pookyball getting access to its play-and-earn capabilities and the rights to try and climb to the top of its leaderboard.
As the company says in its press release announcing the launch, Pooky aims to strike the right balance between rewarding players and a robust, in-game economy. Players will only receive rewards when they correctly guess the outcome of a match, the correct score, or the correct number of goals, ensuring that its in-game currency POK does not suffer from the runaway inflation that plagues so many “play-to-earn” crypto games.
Pooky’s game is based on immersive gaming mechanics designed by Alfred Vesligaj of Splinterlands fame, while its lead product designer Damian helped build The SandBox metaverse. Players earn rewards based on their rank and the skill level of their NFT, gaining experience points that enable them to climb the leaderboard and aim for a top 50 position.
It’s like gambling in that players can earn rewards, yet also unlike gambling because there’s no risk of losing any money. The only cost is the price of the NFT required to play the game, but even that can be seen as an investment – the Pookyball NFTs can be sold on the open market at any time, so if someone gets bored with the game, they can always recoup their investment. Moreover, if they manage to power up their NFT first, they may well fetch a higher price for it than what they originally paid, Pooky said.
The official launch of the game follows a successful four-month beta that saw more than 700,000 predictions made by over 7,000 early users. Interest in Pooky was accelerated by influencers, including Fiago, RazzHD and Sims2, who created and shared content with their followers.
Such was the excitement that the first batch of 1,000 Pookyball NFTs were sold out ahead of the launch. Now, to celebrate, Pooky is announcing an additional mint of 100 new NFTs for players that would like to join in the fun. Of course, there’s nothing to prevent existing NFT holders from buying a second token to optimize their prediction strategy.
The Pooky game kicks off on March 22 with a busy week ahead ensuring that there will be six matchdays, during which NFT owners can predict the scores of games in the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and the vital Euro qualifiers coming up in midweek. Pooky said that the minimum reward for successful predictions will more than double, rising from 200 MATIC to 500 MATIC during this period. Players can also win POK rewards and exclusive NFTs aside from their regular MATIC earnings.
If you’re interested in a fun football prediction game that pays to be accurate, check out Pooky now. Fans of other sports, including basketball and tennis, should pay attention too, for Pooky has plans to expand in the near future.