Chikn | Avalanche Summit II
A summit to remember
We came, we Bokked, we Coquered.
Bok bok, and thanks for everyone who came, or tuned in, to the 2023 Avalanche Summit. The Chikn community showed up in force this year — thank you all for your insane support, enthusiasm & love!
The entire summit was pumping, thanks in large part to all the Chikn lovers who showed up. We had the biggest presence of any project at the summit by far. It was incredible to meet so many community members in-person and put human faces to your impressive Coqs.
A massive thanks to Avalabs for putting on another amazing summit. The red light shines bright and the future’s looking very promising for the whole chain.
We also want to give a huge shout out to the Madskullz team for co-hosting our afterparty and being fantastic collaborators. The Chikn Fam should be familiar with the awesome stuff Madskullz do, but we’re pleased to report they’re just as mad in-person. More on that later!
Many were waiting for the summit for big announcements about the future of Chikn and we’re excited to say that there’s a lot to unpack on that front. So crack open an Estrella, grab yourself a tortilla or two, and tuck into Chikn at the Avalanche Summit 2.
Chikn @ AVAX
The second Avalanche Summit was even more electric than the first. After over a year between conferences, it was incredible to see some familiar faces and some new ones. We were reaffirmed in our decision to roost on Avalanche and we’re keen to see what the next year holds for the chain.
As the biggest Coqs on the blockchain, Chikn of course had a big presence at the conference.
- We were asked to deliver a keynote address on the Mainnet Stage which, if you haven’t heard anything about it yet, contained a couple of juicy announcements!
- Chief Executive Coq: Cluck Norris, was invited to speak a panel on NFT communities.
- The family farm was drunk away at the illustrious Chikn x Madskullz afterparty.
- Exclusive conference merch from Gravy was in hot demand and entitled owners to an exclusive blueprint!
Rather than chronological, let’s talk summit vibez first, and we’ll get stuck into the keynote and announcements thereafter!
Chikn x Madskullz Party
On night #2 we had a lot to celebrate , you’ll hear why later — and who better to celebrate alongside than one of the best development teams and NFT partner projects on Avalanche: Madskullz.
First and foremost, thank you so much to the team at Madskullz for co-hosting such a cracking event. It was everything we hoped it would be — chill, celebratory, and classically Catalan. We have a lot of love for all the citizens over at Skullz City, but the legends at the helm have a special place in our heart. If you’re ever lucky enough to meet Mad in real life, just give him a cuddle. He’s the biggest, baddest teddy bear you’ll ever meet.
🐓❤️💀
As for the party itself — what happens in Barca stays in Barca, but it was awesome to have the whole crew there to celebrate what had not only been a triumphant Summit, but a triumphant year for the project.
Chikn Drip
We already knew that the Chikn family were a flock of handsome coqs, but this was proven to the world at the summit thanks to some incredible merch from the one and only Gravy.
Both t-shirts and hoodies were selling like hot eggs and could be seen all over Barcelona during the conference. The hoodies in particular flew off the shelves — each came with a limited-edition, summit-themed blueprint that’ll certainly beak the interest of crafters looking to optimize their game. These will be distributed shortly, please bear with us as we sort out all the logistics.
A big thanks to the Chikn merch team and Achievmint for facilitating the drop.
Now, the Keynote:
The Life of a Digital Chikn Farmer
On day #2, May the 4th, the Chikn team took to the mainstage to deliver a keynote presentation on the project. This was our opportunity to have a look back at how far we’ve come, and look forward to what’s in store for the near future.
We were blown away about how passionate the crowd was for Chikn. We managed to draw the biggest crowd at the summit (outside of the talks from Our Lord Emin of course) and the crowd reactions were by far the most enthusiastic at the entire summit.
It was just a year ago that Cluck Norris took to a much smaller, quainter, underground stage in the early days of Chikn, and we’re incredibly grateful that our community has grown even more passionate and engaged since then.
Let’s dive into some of the content:
Highlights
- Year of the Coq: Chikn is the market-leader on Avalanche and a strong contender across the entire NFT space.
- Eggnite launches saw more than 1 million $EGG burned across six Egg races, with tens of thousands of prizes distributed.
- Gravy has completely redesigned the Chikn collection & the Chiknverse, to bring the visual style in-line with our long-term goals.
- The website homepage has been updated to match the new brand direction — it went live during the keynote!
- CoqFight confirmed with closed alpha launching imminently. 👀
- ChiknX: A cross-chain mission to bring Chikn to a wider audience, and a wider audience to Avalanche.
A year ago, Chikn stood at the 2022 Avalanche Summit as mere fledgling. Chikn farmers were already busy laying, and LP farming, but we were only just getting started. Today, Chikn has become the Tamagotchi of Web3 with unique, tradable, upgradable, and productive NFTs forming part of an ever-growing gaming ecosystem.
Recently we’ve seen NFT big shots like Yuga Labs and Moonbirds launching upgradable, dynamic smart contracts to their mix. This is a concept that Chikn pioneered when we released the first 10,000 chooks to the blockchain.
“It’s flattering but unsurprising — for nearly 18 months Chikn has been the clear NFT market leader on Avalanche by way of volume, market cap, and community engagement.”
Some quick stats for the data lovers out there:
- $30million+ in NFT trading volume — the highest on Avalanche C-Chain.
- $10million+ market cap across ecosystem.
- Top-120 NFTs by market volume on OpenSea
- Top-250 dApps of all time on dApp Radar
- $1m+ in token liquidity
- 66% of all $EGG burned — about $8.75 million worth
- 70% of all $FEED burned — worth around $7.5 million
These numbers don’t just put us on top on Avalanche — they make Chikn a leader across the entire NFT market. In the wise words of Sherbok:
“Our game design aligns player incentives with robust tokenomics. Chikn farmers love to burn their tokens. Just ask them.”
Across chikn, Roostr, and FarmLand NFTs, players have made the most of the humble life of a Chikn farmer. Between $EGG, $FEED, $FERT, and $WORM, they’ve earned the rewards they need to grow their agricultural holdings and put food on the proverbial table. And with robust Play-to-Own mechanics and solid off-chain infrastructure, they’ve explored what’s possible at the forefront of Web3.
A Fresh Look
To carry Chikn forward, we need to update the look and feel of our assets. The original art style was a unique photo-realistic collage which gave the collection a unique, whimsical, and charming aesthetic. This art style is iconic and will always be the OG look we all fell in love with.
But there are limitations to this art style that don’t meet the ambitions we have for the brand — particularly when it comes to visualizing the ecosystem’s NFTs within active game settings, but also across brand material and website assets.
To that end, Chikn is getting a facelift. Our Chief jpeg Officer: Gravy “I Do The Pictures” Dreamz, has been working tirelessly to transform the Chikn aesthetic into something that can appeal to a broad market of casual and serious gamers, and NFT collectors alike. The new look is a full redesign and overhaul of the visual style of Chikn that still retains the whimsical, charming, and mimetic appeal of the original collection.
Each trait has been redesigned into a more mature look, while still retaining the key features of each original part. While we’ve only completed work on chikn updates so far, Roostr maxis fear not — Gravy has committed to staying awake until both collections are ready to go. This new style will be rolled out step-by-step to every other component of the ecosystem and will set us up for title releases this year, and beyond.
To match this new aesthetic and appeal to a broader audience, the Chikn website is receiving an overhaul. The new landing page is a taste of things to come while we work to implement the same design features across the entire dApp.
Our new website design is much more fun, engaging, eye-catching and appealing to new users, and serves two purposes: to be more user-friendly in conveying the complexities of NFT gaming to casual players, and to be more commercially appealing — for gamers and investors alike — particularly those making their first foray into Avalanche.
What Else for 2023?
Major Announcements
Enough clucking around — lets get into what you’ve all really been waiting for.
As well as all of the above, we announced two major releases for 2023: CoqFight and ChiknX. These will yet again take Chikn to a new level, attracting new users and transforming the ecosystem into a complete gaming experience, fit for NFT maxis and casual users alike.
CoqFight
That’s right, CoqFight is real and it’s coming very, very soon: the closed alpha commences May 22nd. We’re being careful to thoroughly test every aspect of the game, from art design to mechanics balancing, to ensure that this labor of love takes flight.
We love to coq tease, and we know that your little peckers have been rearing for battle since the day they hatched. So without further coq-a-doodle-do, let’s get into it.
The Battle Plan
CoqFight is the culmination of more than an entire year’s work and the driving purpose behind of all of the time and effort we’ve put into the Play-and-Earn and Play-to-Own structures that Chikn is known for. We’ve seen many failed attempts at Play-to-Earn gaming, and we understand that the bar must be raised.
We’ve identified four key components that a Web3 game must possess to see success, and we’re building CoqFight around them.
- Strategy
- Upgradability
- Ownership
- Playability
Every component of the Chikn ecosystem to-date will coalesce into a completely original game, optimized for both desktop and mobile, built entirely on a custom engine designed for NFT compatibility. It’s one tasty Chikn SOUP.
Gameplay
On the surface, CoqFight is simple: two Chikn farmers enter a duel, pitching their birds against each other in a fight for EggsP (experience points) and notoriety — with each and every win being recorded permanently on-chain.
Dig a little deeper and you discover that each trait corresponds to an individual moveset, meaning your unique chikn or Roostr is an entirely bespoke build that can set you apart. Of course you can also customize your build, firstly by equipping crafted items to blank trait slots and, in time, by upgrading every trait individually to unlock new moves and features.
There are near endless possibilities for the build of your bird, giving players the truest sense of customization and ownership. But this isn’t the only way your bird can be upgraded: each coq has an upgradable set of battle stats, the only limitation on which being the size of your NFT. So, players who have been working hard to beef up their birds will certainly be better ready for battle. 💪
The battle itself plays out in a series of rounds. Players select their bird then begin planning their battle strategy.
As a trainer, you select a sequence of moves for your bird to execute before each round begins.
While it is turn-based, it is not a singular move at a time. This allows for a higher complexity of gameplay, while rooted in a familiar format for even the most casual of gamers.
Each move deals damage to your opponent, but also costs you Attack Points. Run out of AP and your bird becomes Gassed, leaving it vulnerable to greater damage.
Moves don’t just deal damage either: a range of status effects can be cast on your opponent or yourself to impact gameplay.
Your job as trainer is to select the most effective moves in a way that considers your opponent’s build. With every trait publicly visible, seasoned players will be able to better anticipate and cater for their opponent, allowing for the K-level madness we’ve come to know and love at Chikn.
With a clear path for progression and multiple valid play-styles and strategies, we are confident that we are creating a game with serious staying power.
However, staying relevant is as much about life outside of the game, as in the game itself. We’re ensuring that CoqFight is fluidly integrated with socials — replays, highlights and results are all on your bird’s card for one-click sharing.
Place yourself in the thick of the meta. Got beef on Twitter? Settle it with a CoqFight. It’s finally time to see whose Coq is biggr.
Alpha? Alpha.
The closed Alpha will be restricted to a very select group of players as we ensure that every piece of the game is fully tested before we begin rolling it out to the public. These testers will all be under NDAs, so they will be keeping their beaks well and truly shut.
And for this reason — if you uncover an Alpha participant, please don’t pester them for, well, alpha!
The timeline for the full release will become clearer once testing begins, but we aim to continue releasing access to wider audiences over the next two quarters.
ChiknX
Chikn has made it to the place we are today without any major VC funding, shill-boys, or signficant marketing outlay. It’s through the passion of our amazing players that we’ve built and sustained the most active ecosystem on Avalanche. Still, to meet our vision for CoqFight and future ecosystem expansion, we’re acutely aware that we need to ramp up user acquisition.
This presents an interesting hurdle. The current supply of 10,000 chikn and 12,000 Roostr and their holders aren’t sufficient for the massive growth we’re targeting. And while we’ve put a lot of time and resources into the breeding engine, the recent sunsetting of some major P2E games has shown that hero-NFT inflation without the users to absorb the supply can lead to irrepairable issues.
At the same time, nothing promotes an NFT project better than a mint. It’s the easiest and most frictionless way to acquire new users and to bring your name before new audiences.
That’s why we’re excited to announce our multi-chain eggspansion with ChiknX — an ambitious project that will take Chikn to the masses, and new users back to our ecosystem on Avalanche.
The new NFTs will leverage our new art direction and play a role in Chikn’s token architecture but will never lay $EGG or squirt $FERT. Instead, they’ll play a different kind of role in the gaming ecosystem that makes it easier for new players to get involved while maintaining the competitive advantage that Chikn OGs currently enjoy. The experience will be seamless, with players able to change their network in a simple click through the dApp.
After many months of BD and outreach, we’re excited to announce that the first confirmed destination for ChiknX will be Polygon. We’ve been talking with Polygon Labs for some time, and we’re incredibly keen to see where this collaboration takes us.
While Polygon is the first destination to be announced, it won’t be the last. Every major blockchain is in our sights as we leave no stone unturned, and no user un-acquired.
To reiterate, that this isn’t a migration away from Avalanche — ChiknX is designed for cross-pollination. Avalanche is our home and we believe that the entire blockchain will benefit from this effort.
To wrap up the Keynote —
To any new friends: we can’t wait to welcome you to the farm.
To our existing Chikn fam: get ready for battle.
LFB,
Bok Bok.
NFT Community Panel
On the final day of the summit, all that was left to do was celebrate our amazing community. Cluck took to the stage again, alongside the only biggr man in the universe: Mad from Madskullz, and chatted all things community building with newcomer Brando from Dokyo and serial founder Sibel.
Dom, Avalanche’s head of NFTs, posed some insightful guidelines in moderating the discussion — but perhaps the most profound statement was not spoken, but seen. In Clucks own words:
“We’re on stage talking about creating a project for a community — and other than some punters, all I can see in the audience are Chikn OG’s. I could’ve handed the mic to any one of them for this panel — and they’d have told us a million ways they’re engaged in building this community with us. No other communities packed out the theater — just Chikn, and that was the most powerful statement of all.”
“Community is everything. Without them, nothing is possible. With them, all things are possible.”
Birds of a feather flock together.
Finally, with what was probably the most commonly uttered phrase of the conference, even we were surprised by just how close the bonds of Chikn tie us all. To us, the “Chikn Fam” at this year’s conference felt like exactly that: a family. Brothers and sisters, reunited at last — all of us cut from the same cloth. It sounds a bit on-the-nose, but truly — there was a remarkable kinship between all of us there — which we know extends across our entire community.
Sometimes in life you just find your way to where you’re meant to be. There’s an inexplicable, inexorable link between all of us in Chikn — it’s damn near spiritual — and as is so often the case, hearing Clint say those words in person summed up everyone’s feelings perfectly. Birds of a feather, do indeed flock together.
Other Exciting News
With the length of this article, you’d be forgiven for thinking the summit was the only thing that has happened recently. Well, our feathered friends, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
- The first season of Blueprint and Foraging content has come to a wrap. We’re working hard on Season 2 with more craftables, content, and rewards.
- The WormFarm multiplier dropped at the end of Season 1, giving players an extra boost for consistent $WORM deployments to their farms. If you’re not taking advantage of this yet, better get a wriggle-on!
- Eggnite partners are joining the Foraging fun, bringing unique rewards and prizes from across the metaverse. This will even include projects from other chains, leveraging the power of ChiknX.
We’ll cover all of this and more in detail, in a future Medium article.
Final Boks
Thanks again to everyone who made this year’s Avalanche Summit a year to remember — AvaLabs and the Avalanche community, MadSkullz, everyone who attended the conference and, of course, our amazing, henthusiastic community.
Whether you attended or not, we love you, we value you, and we are continuing to work our hardest for you.
Keep an eye out for more updates on CoqFight and ChiknX as we roll out these eggciting expansions to the world of Chikn.
In the meantime, better get some Coq Inu.
#NFA
