Pokey

Core Mechanics and Storyline: POKE is clearly inspired by classic idle games and Pokémon-like projects. The player starts with a character named Poke – an anthropomorphic turtle (a reference to the internet meme Pepe the Frog in the form of a Pokémon). The story builds around this hero: you hire companions, launch new businesses, and increase wealth – all in a humorous parody of entrepreneurship. Gameplay boils down to simple actions: tap the screen to earn game points (points). Each tap yields a certain number of points, and the goal is to collect as many as possible. Points are the key resource in POKE. The game follows a campaign with a points system, where the amount of points earned determines your progress. However, simply accumulating them is not the only goal. POKE incorporates RPG and collection elements: you have a team of several characters that can be upgraded. What can you spend earned points on? First, on upgrading your Poke characters. Each upgrade (training) increases efficiency — an improved hero brings more points per second or per tap. This creates a progression loop: you spend points now to earn even more points in the future. Secondly, points are used for obtaining new characters. The game implements a Gacha system (random drop): you can spend a certain number of points on a spin of the wheel of fortune to win a new unique Poke creature. The hero collection directly affects income – the more characters you have (especially rare and upgraded ones), the faster the point farming. Thirdly, points affect player competition: POKE will have leaderboards (rankings) comparing accumulated points. The best players over a period will receive special prizes and titles. Thus, the game encourages strategic point investment (into development), accumulation, and community activity.

Play-to-Earn Model: Although POKE is currently in beta testing, it has already been announced exactly how players will earn cryptocurrency. Points you farm by tapping can be converted into $POKE tokens. In other words, at the end of a certain cycle (campaign) or when the token launches, the game will credit you crypto coins based on earned points. So far, the conversion rate (how many points equal one token) has not been announced and will likely be determined closer to the economy launch. However, the general principles of POKE’s economy are already known. First, the developers allocated a significant portion of the emission for player rewards. 30% of the total $POKE token supply is reserved for airdrops to players – this means nearly a third of all coins will be distributed for free to the community for game activity. Second, reward distribution will not be limited to a single giveaway. According to documentation, after the initial airdrop, tokens will be continuously issued to players as they progress. That is, POKE implements a “sustainable earn” model: as long as you play and participate in the project, you will receive small amounts of tokens for achievements, missions, event victories, etc. For example, it is expected that weekly or seasonal competitions (by point count, collection rarity, etc.) will regularly reward winners with $POKE. This model encourages long-term interest: even if you missed the very first airdrop, you can still earn tokens by playing actively later. Another idea is the introduction of NFTs. The POKE team announced that in the future all Poke characters will become NFT assets. Each such NFT will have a rarity level (common, rare, epic, legendary, mythic) and unique characteristics. This will add additional earning opportunities: trading characters on the marketplace. A player could, for example, put a particularly valuable Poke on the marketplace and sell it for TON or $POKE to another collector. NFTs will also guarantee true ownership of game heroes and possibly allow their use outside the Telegram bot (in other games or in the metaverse, if such integrations appear).

Participation and Community: POKE bets on easy entry and communication through Telegram. The game starts with the /start command in the bot (for example, via @POKE_Portal), requires no app installation, and is available on the go – important for attracting a wide audience. There is already an official community @POKE_Community on Telegram, where users discuss tactics and share successes. Because the game runs right inside the messenger, social features are simplified to the max: a player can at any time send a friend an invite link, copy their referral code, or show off a rare character in chat. Developers plan to add online casino modes inside POKE – for example, luck mini-games, PvP competitions, or bets where players can risk earned points or tokens for bigger wins. These elements will bring competitiveness and interaction between players. Moreover, humor and memes are part of POKE’s theme, usually sparking social media activity: users share fan art, jokes about “turtle businessmen,” etc. Thus, a fun community forms around POKE, interested not only in earning but also in the game process itself.

Blockchain and Token: According to the project, POKE runs on the TON blockchain – the very one integrated with Telegram. The token contract is planned to be deployed on the TON network, ensuring fast transactions and convenient reward issuance directly to users’ Telegram wallets. The choice of TON is also due to the fact that many other Telegram games (Hamster Kombat, YesCoin, etc.) are built on this ecosystem, and the audience is already accustomed to TON assets. The $POKE token has a total supply of 15.1 billion coins. Distribution is as follows: 30% (≈4.53 billion) – for presale (primary sale to investors and players), 30% (another ~4.53 billion) – for free distribution to players (rewards, airdrops), 20% – for marketing and community development, 10% – to liquidity pools for exchanges (to ensure trading), 10% – for operational expenses and the team. Such tokenomics shows that in total up to 4.53 billion $POKE can be distributed among users for game activity, which is extremely generous. The token presale took place from November 17 to December 30, 2024, on the project website. The presale price was about $0.006 per 1 POKE, and 30% of tokens were sold, corresponding to a raise of about $27.5 million (according to the stated goal). After the presale ended, the team focused on conducting the airdrop and launching the game for the general public. By the end of 2024, POKE was at the stage of closed beta testing – access to the game was granted to Telegram Premium users and some invited participants. This time was used to debug mechanics and balance the economy. The token listing on exchanges is expected after the airdrop and testing, approximately in early 2025 (exact date not yet announced). Once $POKE appears on exchanges or DEX, players will be able to exchange their earned coins for other currencies. However, the team is clearly interested in ensuring that players do not just immediately sell tokens but continue participating in the ecosystem – likely through introducing new gameplay features, token staking, or holding bonuses. For example, it is possible that $POKE holders will receive privileges in the game (early access to new features or increased income). It is already known that 30% of emission is reserved for the airdrop – these ~4.53 billion coins will be distributed among players gradually, as they reach certain milestones. This means that successful players will be able to earn tokens even after listing, until this reward pool is depleted. Ultimately, Pokey/POKE represents a promising tap-to-earn game: it combines simple addictive gameplay with a well-thought-out economy on TON, generously rewards early participants, and promises to convert earned points into real money. For fans of crypto games on Telegram, POKE is interesting because it reflects the “play and earn” trend directly in the messenger – without complex wallets and entry barriers, but with real profit potential due to the growth of its own token and NFT assets.