Getting started with CryptoKitties Part One: MetaMask!

If you’ve already been to our FAQ page, you know by now that to play CryptoKitties, you need a desktop or laptop computer, some ether (Ethereum cryptocurrency), and a Metamask account. Hopefully, you didn’t have too much trouble buying ether, and we recommend using Coinbase as the easiest cryptocurrency wallet (for US players). Metamask, however, needs some further instruction, and the CryptoKitties team wants to help you get started, because we know you’re dying to collect and breed your own adorable litter of Kitties!

Installing MetaMask

Go to https://www.cryptokitties.co/sign-in and click on “Install MetaMask”. MetaMask is a digital wallet, and you need it to play CryptoKitties. A digital wallet acts like a bank account — treat it with care and respect, and make sure you don’t forget your password or lose your seed words — we can’t stress this enough. Without your seed words, there is no way of getting access back to your wallet.

Once you’ve installed MetaMask, go back to our website and click on “I have installed MetaMask”.

Click on the MetaMask extension button in your browser (usually located in your toolbar at the top) and “Agree” to the conditions. After accepting the conditions, a window will pop up and prompt you to create a new wallet.

Choose a password and click on “Create”. As easy as that, you’ve created your vault. Congrats! But you’re not done yet.

Make a backup of the seed words. If you don’t have a backup of your seed words, no one can get you back in if anything goes wrong. Once you’ve made a backup (or multiples, why not!), click on “I’ve copied them somewhere safe”. You can now fill in your email address and username on the website to sign up. After clicking on “Save account info” and accepting the conditions, MetaMask will prompt you with a message to sign. Simply hit “Sign” and you’re set.

If you already have a MetaMask wallet and you want to use that instead of making a new one, you can click on “Import existing DEN” and bring it over using your twelve seed words. Whenever you import your wallet, you can choose to use a new password or use the same one as before. After setting your password for your pre-existing wallet, you need to fill in your email and username on the website again.

Getting ether

Now that you’ve successfully installed MetaMask and created your wallet, you’ll need some ether to make transactions and buy your first CryptoKitty.

For U.S. citizens only: you can buy ether (ETH) directly in MetaMask. ETH is the digital currency that our game uses. You need ETH to buy, sell, and breed Kitties.

For everyone else: you will need to purchase ETH from an exchange, and then transfer the ETH from your exchange wallet to your MetaMask wallet. Unfortunately, you can’t play CryptoKitties with only an exchange account.

Currently, you can’t use USD/CAD to directly buy a CryptoKitty — currencies need to be converted into ETH first.

How to send ETH to MetaMask

For U.S. citizens only: purchase ETH directly from the MetaMask wallet using the Coinbase widget. It’s super convenient, and means you don’t have to create two accounts.

For everyone else: you need to buy ETH from an exchange using normal “fiat” currency. Copy your MetaMask address by clicking on the large “…” next to your account, then select “Copy Address to clipboard”. Go to your exchange, click “Accounts”, and select your ETH Wallet and click “send”. Paste the MetaMask address in the box with the amount you’d like to transfer.

You’re all set!

Now that you have Metamask and ETH, you can begin buying Kitties. Head over to the marketplace to get started, and come back next week for a second blog about how to buy and breed CryptoKitties.