Addicted, a Solana-powered cannabis farming simulator described as “unhinged” by its creators, has attracted the eyes of the crypto gaming community as players boast about dizzying play-to-earn gains via a skyrocketing token. Players are invited to build and grow their own on-chain drug empires in Addicted, after paying 0.5 SOL (approximately $110) to purchase their first digital cannabis plant.
The virtual farms yield WEED tokens for players based on their “grow power,” determined by how many plants a farm has and how rare they are. These tokens can be used to purchase farm upgrades and packs that contain seeds of various rarities. As a result of Addicted’s fiendish launch—boosted by a repost from the official Solana X account—the WEED token soared to a peak market capitalization of $82.48 million. It has since fallen 36% to $52.6 million, according to DEX Screener.
Such massive gains from less than 48 hours’ worth of gaming have led to players referring to Addicted as another “Ponzi game”—a more or less playful term that’s used to describe the sort of crypto game in which players can expect potentially large short-term gains, but very little long-term value. Yes, you do have an advantage if you are earlier, which would resemble that of a Ponzi, but based on their cool-down features and their halving cycle… I think they’re doing what they can to make this fair and sustainable,” Stockfield said.
He explained that players are limited on how many packs they can open via a daily cool-down feature, and that reward size is halved every seven days. This appears to be an attempt to lengthen the game’s lifecycle. According to the game’s documentation, it is also looking to add new game mechanics, including a “War Zone,” which is likely to mix up the dynamics. Addicted developer Pandemic Labs did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment. This isn’t the first crypto title to be branded a “Ponzi game” by players and observers alike.
In April, an Abstract-based crypto mining simulation game called Bigcoin caught the industry’s attention, with its token hitting a massive peak $172 million market cap, per DEX Screener. When Bigcoin was hot, players similarly calculated how much they were potentially earning each day, and boasted about those gains across social media. But when Bigcoin’s token crashed 83% in a single day, those earnings were hardly worth bragging about any longer.
Bigcoin prompted a stream of similar “Ponzi games” to roll out afterwards, with players itching for another chance at gaming fortunes. Stockfield said he’s aware of other “Ponzi-style games” that are preparing to launch, following Addicted’s success, and predicts that many more will try to capture the same kind of hype. And he welcomes it as a new trend—and an alternative to trading meme coins.
