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Bitcoin is highly addictive. For those who come to know and love the cryptocurrency, sending, receiving, and hodling often isn’t enough. Soon they crave Bitcoin merch, which leads to other Bitcoin-based accessories, from stickers to hardware wallets. The final endgame, for a handful who get hooked on the P2P cryptocurrency, is to invest in a branded Bitcoin board or card game.
Also read: Cryptocoinopoly Is the Game That Lets You Play the Cryptocurrency Markets with Friends
Bitcoin Board Games Are Still in Their Infancy
Just like Bitcoin circa 2011, Bitcoin board games are still a little rough around the edges. That’s to be expected of a niche pursuit based around what is still a niche asset class. It will take another extended bull run and more all-time highs before the in-laws are receptive to playing Bitcoin board games around the dinner table. In the meantime, a number of niche Bitcoin-based games are available for diehards who aren’t prepared to wait until Hasbro brings out its own crypto board game.
Bitcoin Empire
One of the first Bitcoin games to gain much traction, Bitcoin Empire is a fast-paced card game in which players compete to collect the most bitcoins. Character cards are equipped with skills covering law, coding, and marketing, while attack cards are branded as Hack, Lawsuit, or Smear Campaign. The latter, if the game were to be re-released today, would probably be dubbed “FUD”. First profiled by news.Bitcoin.com in early 2017, Bitcoin Empire is scarce these days, though determined sleuths should be able to track down a copy on Ebay. Boardgamegeek.com also has a full profile of “the world’s first Bitcoin card game.”
Bitcoin Empire: To the Moon 2.0
Bitcoin Empire must have struck a chord with some, as creator David Thomas is back with a sequel. Like its predecessor, To The Moon 2.0 has been funded via Kickstarter and is set to ship in February 2018. Described as “a card game about bitcoin and a conspiracy that the moon landings are fake,” the game builds upon the character and skill card-based model of the original, but throws in references to popular culture and news events for added zaniness.
Cryptocurrency: The Board Game
This game raised $15,000 via Kickstarter last year, which is quite impressive for a bear market. With the invocation to “Trick your opponents into buying cryptocurrency scams while you trade, mine and rumormonger to riches,” Cryptocurrency: The Board Game certainly captures the spirit of the scene. The game obliges 2-4 players to take on the role of CEO of a fintech startup looking to trade and mine cryptos. Tasks include hiring experts, dumping shitcoins and solving crypto “mining algorithms.” For some players, the game will provide a pleasing distraction from real-life cryptocurrency trading; for others, a depressing reminder.
Crypto Millionaire
Surely dreamed up at the height of bull market mania, Crypto Millionaire is yet another Kickstarter launch that’s scheduled to start fundraising this month. The game looks rudimentary, even by the humble standards of Bitcoin board games, with the ICO cards likely to prove too much for some bag-holders to stomach.
Crypto
The simply named Crypto is a strategic board game inspired by cryptocurrencies that’s currently raised over $2,000 on Indiegogo. Playing “requires you to know absolutely nothing about cryptocurrencies,” which will be reassuring to the sort of participants who were stockpiling ripple and tron around this time last year. Rumors, Hacks, Sell-offs, and Hard Forks are the names of the game’s four event cards, while a variety of auction methods – Dutch, English, vickrey, and fixed price – will teach players that there’s more than one way to pay over the odds for an asset.
In addition to the games featured above, there’s also the unofficial version of crypto Monopoly, which one redditor mocked up in late 2017. As a glance at the selected playing spaces and their respective positions on the board shows, a lot can happen in the cryptosphere in 12 months. For players unimpressed with the current crop of Bitcoin board games, there is an alternative – create your own and then convince the crypto community to buy in.
Would you play a cryptocurrency board game? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Kickstarter.
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