Can games be the answer to decentralize blockchains?

Since the last 51% attack on the verge blockchain it became a big topic of discussion how much are really blockchains decentralized and what are the best methods to achieve true decentralization, here you can see how much it would cost to 51% attack different blockchains that their marketcap is in the $100s of millions, staggering how cheap it is.

One thing that everyone seems to agree on is the importance of getting as many unique validators/miners to help securing the blockchain, the more the better.

I think one of the ways to solve this issue in scale is by having useful apps to let you earn money and validate blocks (with your consent) while you are interacting with them.

This is a Nimi

Nimipet and the experiment

NimiPet is a tamagotchi like game based on a simple principle: you mine with your CPU, every 15 minutes of mining you earn a burger to feed your Nimi (the pet) + points to try and be at the top of the public leader board and beat other players, if a Nimi doesn’t eat for 24 hours, it dies.

A simpler explanation: feed and grow cattle to generate side income, on the blockchain 😂.

Unlike most blockchain games that launched in the past year, NimiPet is not based on gambling and is completely free, the main premise is that you are helping with the validation of blocks on the Nimiq Network (first JavaScript based blockchain), the players have fun competing and growing their pets but also earn money while doing so.

Results so far

The game was launched 15 days ago and it has already 100s of daily active users, although its in small scale, the results are staggering: people are mining from different computers and cellphones to try and get to the top of the leaderboard and the hashrate that Nimi Pets contributes to the Nimiq Network is growing really fast.

in the future I imagine more apps and companies that are pro blockchain adopting this technique, think if (a not evil) Facebook or Google like company provides their million of users with to help with validation of blocks of specific blockchains while using their apps, this could be huge for blockchain mass adoption and help with true decentralization, also internet users could generate side income by browsing the apps they already love.

Test NimiPet and help decentralize a blockchain while feeding your digital pet

Thanks to the javascript based Nimiq blockchain and its ease of use, you can start playing and mining for free on NimiPet.com, no need for any installation, you can even earn a bit of money since the Nimiqs mined while playing the game belong to you.