Gameplay
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ARCOIN Tiles game mechanics are intentionally minimalistic, targeting the audience of casual and hypercasual players. The success of hypercasual Tap2Earn Telegram Mini Apps in 2024 showed that the most successful projects are the most simple, clear and accessible (see Binance Square: All about the crypto trend “Tap to earn”).
However, simple game mechanics do not prevent us from creating deep gameplay that keeps the game interesting even after the airdrop.
In the first version of the game, we're emphasizing Tap2Own mechanics, giving players an open, real world — where they can do what humans have been doing since before Homo Sapiens and still do today — capture territory and get resources. Fast and easy.
Our brain's dopaminergic system has evolved over millions of years to shape the reward and pleasure reactions associated with gaining resources and territory.
Due to the nature of gameplay and AR itself, we need access to the camera, GPS, and (on the iPhone) device motion and orientation sensors. We do not record or store camera or motion sensor data from players.
As of January 2025 — gameplay consists of two main elements: Conquering Tiles and Farming ARGEM.
Laying the groundwork for the deepest possible integration with the real world, and appealing to the massive success of Pokémon Go at the subconscious association level of players, we built the gameplay around AR mini-games.
AR mini-games are tied to specific geographical coordinates. The player can select a highlighted Tile on a map [1] or walk around without turning off the phone's camera, guided by radar [2] and AR targets [3], thereby navigating the Augmented World.
The whole Earth is covered with a “grid” of mini-games, located 50 meters from each other. A mini-game starts when you put the cursor (crosshair) on a mark when the distance to it is less than 20 meters. When you conquer Tiles from the map, the mini-game starts immediately.
Tiles become highlighted (available for conquering) in two cases:
The player is physically in their location and has given access to the geoposition on the map — 19 nearby Tiles are highlighted.
A Tile is adjacent to Tiles previously conquered by the player — all adjacent Tiles are highlighted.
In this way, we give the player a choice between active outdoor play and passive, familiar play, for people without access to mobile internet and/or the desire to physically move around.
Playing with physical movement will be rewarded with additional bonuses later in the game.
There are several possible outcomes of the mini-game:
Tile is free (not conquered by anybody)
The player 100% gets the Tile and earns ARGEM
Tile is conquered by another player
The player needs to score more points in the mini-game than the previous owner to “conquer” the Tile, making it his own. The player earns an ARGEM either way.
Tile is owned by a player
The player does not capture a new Tile, but gets more ARGEM and can set a new top score in the mini-game (lower the probability of it being conquered by other players).
Conquered Tiles bring the player 10 ARGEM per hour for 8 hours. In order for a Tile to continue farming, the player needs to claim ARGEM.
In addition to the basic game mechanics, players can:
Refer friends: Players receive 8% of their referral rewards and 2% of second level referral rewards.
Complete tasks and quests: Players receive ARGEM for completing tasks such as “conquer 100 Tiles” or “subscribe to a YouTube channel”.
Version 1.X.X will introduce important new gameplay elements:
Expanded AR mini-game mechanics — lootboxes can become “bad”, changing appearance and taking points off players when clicked, rendering auto-clickers ineffective.
In-game progression — a quest system that constantly gives the player a purpose for being in the game and exclusive rewards for the most active.
Defense and Yield Improvements — players can improve yield and defense of Tiles, lowering the likelihood of their conquering and increasing ARGEM farming profitability.
First version of Clans — players can join clans and gain bonuses from playing together.
Variety of Lootboxes — players get Lootboxes of varying rarity, with corresponding rewards.
In version 2.0.0, we are emphasizing CCG (Collectible Card Game) mechanics. CCG adds a layer of strategic planning for interested players, but does not force new mechanics or complicate the original gameplay of versions 1.X.X for hypercasual players.
The CCG games market shows a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6%, is gaining momentum in 2024 (see Mobile Game Market Trends: Card Games Win Big in 2024) and has been popular since before the PC gaming era (Magic: The Gathering - 1993).
CCG mechanics fit seamlessly into any type of game, from casual mobile games (Clash Royale) to AAA projects (Gwent in The Witcher 3).
We are building on the success of the cards in Hamster Kombat and using those mechanics to add gameplay modifiers.
Common
AR mini-games bring 2% more points
Rare
Each press has a 10% chance to bring 10x points
Legendary
When capturing a Tile, there is a 10% chance to capture an adjacent Tile (two Tiles in one mini-game)
Version 2.X.X will have two major innovations:
New mini-games — AR has new AR mini-games in addition to chest tap. For example: throwing mechanics, similar to Poké Ball in Pokémon Go.
Partner Projects — Players receive partner project coins for playing AR mini-games (see Monetization - Partner Projects).
Later versions emphasize full MMO functionality, interaction with other players on the map and multiplayer AR mini-games.
In addition, in later versions, Tiles have unique parameters like NFT attributes.
Tiles attributes are reflected in both Tile defense and Tile mining, as well as other game modifiers, similar to Tiles in the Civilization series (see Civilization Wiki).
The attributes of Tiles depend on their physical location and the attractiveness/potential of their location, allowing players to anticipate the most promising Tiles at the earliest stages of the game.
In addition to the attributes of Tiles, future development of Tiles is planned, both at the map level and in AR.
In addition to conceptual changes, in future versions it is planned to work deeply on the technological base of ARTAR, and, as a consequence, provide even deeper AR experience — 6DoF tracking, support for Apple and Meta glasses and much more.
