The complicated yet simple game mechanics of Hashkings
Background
The journey of Hashkings began towards the beginning of 2019 on the Steem Blockchain with the help of @disregardfiat coding the backend and @qwoyn, our founder, coding the frontend. It was meant to be an educational experience that would teach all of the dynamics of growing cannabis, a process which typically took 16 weeks from seed to finish. We started out very basic with users having the ability to purchase a seed, lease a plot of land through delegation, plant that seed and water every day. We were creating posts each day and upvoting those with the delegated SP and distributing the rewards as benefactor rewards to our users, a dynamic which we have now discontinued and replaced with the curation trail.
Upwards and Onwards
After the great fork and the craziest wildfire storm the blockchain has ever witnessed, @qwoyn decided to take a break and consequently shut the game down. The intent was to let the dust settle and fires put out then relaunch the game.
We now find ourselves in the present with the game relaunched with many updates and different avenues of gameplay. This post will attempt to break down all of these different avenues and explain the possible scenarios and assets in detail.
The simulator is maturing
Plot Leasing
We saw the virtual land sales craze starting with Decentraland and felt this would be perfect for Hashkings because obviously you cannot grow cannabis without a place to do so. However, we wanted our method to differ a bit by adding leases which I will explain now.
Instead of purchasing plots in Hashkings you lease them by delegating Hive Power. Each plot requires a 20 HP delegation and a small 0.5 HIVE leasing fee.
When users delegate HP they are instantly put in our curation trail, receive plot credits and are presented with the option of leasing a plot in the region of their choosing. We decided on the 6 regions on earth which are the original locations of landraces, strains which grow naturally in that region and were used to derive much of the cannabis we know today.
Hashkings Regions:
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Asia
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- South America
Each of these regions is better suited for specific strains with some having a better environment for indica strains and some a better environment for sativa strains.
Once the user has a plot credit and has chosen their desired region they simply pay the leasing fee to activate the lease. Leases are active until the user decides to remove their delegation.
Example
Qwoyn wants to lease a plot in Afghanistan, this user goes to the plot leasing tab in the market place and delegates 20 HP. They then receive a plot credit. Qwoyn then visits the Afghanistan section and pays the 0.5 HIVE leasing fee which activates that lease. To check and see if their lease is active, Qwoyn visits his farm and sees in the inventory that they now have one Plot in Afghanistan.
Curation Trail (added bonus)
In addition to receiving plot credits when delegating, users are also added to our curation trail. Upvotes are determined by the amount delegated as shown in the chart below.
| No. of Plots | Delegation | Upvote Weight | Frequency (Per Day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 - 7 | 20 - 140 SP | 15 - 20% | 1 |
| 8 - 18 | 160 - 360 SP | 30 - 35% | 1 |
| 19 - 28 | 380 - 560 SP | 40 - 45% | 1 |
| 29 - 60 | 580 - 1200 SP | 50 - 55% | 2 |
| 61 - 300 | 1220 - 6000 SP | 60 - 70% | 2 |
| 301 - 500 | 6020 - 10000 SP | 70 - 80% | 2 |
Seeds
Now that our example user has a plot of land leased and ready to go they will need to acquire a seed to begin the farming process but how do the seeds work, what exactly do they do?
Seeds come in the two varieties mentioned earlier, Indica and Sativa. Seeds also have the chance of becoming either male or female plants. Male plants always produce pollen (more on this in the next section) and female plants will either produce more seeds or produce buds (explained below).
Stages of Growth
During the growth process which currently takes about 3 to 4 weeks to complete, your plants will go through different phases. Each phase is meant to simulate the actual growth phases and have different characteristics.
*Phase 1 - Seedling This is the phase immediately following germination of your seed when you plant it. These little two bladed plants look just like ordinary sprouts and don't have a visible sex associated with them.
*Phase 2 - Vegetative This is the next phase in our plants life and is when sex is determined. During this time you will know whether you will need to purchase some pollen or more seeds and try again.
We determine the sex by using the random number generator in javascript and performing a small calculation on the outcome. Check out the code snippet and try it for yourself, the outcome should always be 50/50 with a slight advantage to females.
function sexing() {
var sexAtBirth = 'Not Sexed';
sex = Math.floor(Math.random() * 10) % 1.90;
if (sex > 1) {
sexAtBirth = "male";
} else {
sexAtBirth = "female";
}
return sexAtBirth
}
Phase 3 - Flowering Here is when the magic starts happening, if you have a female then buds will begin to form and your plants will begin to start showing more maturity and produce thc and terpines.
If you do in fact have a female plant and want to grow more seeds then this is your last chance to acquire pollen and actually pollinate your plants. If you do not pollinate your plants then you will receive buds and if you want to continue growing then you will need to purchase seeds again.
If you are lucky and your plant is a male then you do not have to worry about anything because your plant will produce pollen which will be useful in your next harvest if you get a female that next time.
*Phase 4 - Harvest This is when all your hard work finally pays off. There are different outcomes depending on what you did during the previous phases however the possible assets that you can receive are either seeds, pollen or buds.
Seed Strains
Each region has one or more different strains categorized by indica or sativa which gives the user many choices when picking their seeds. In the future, we will have bottom to top shelf seeds at varying price but for now we only have, what we refer to as, genesis seeds available. Each genesis seed, no matter the strain, costs roughly 3 dollars or, at the time of writing, 24 HIVE.
Check out the images below for all of the strains we have available to our farmers.
Pollen
Pollen is what makes it possible to continue playing the game without having to purchase more seeds. It is produced by male cannabis plants and when used on a flowering female will form a new type of seed with genetics from both parents. This is how we are able to make different strains along with playing for absolutely free
Gameplay examples and possible outcomes
Now that you know how to lease a plot, purchase seeds/pollen and pollinate your plants I want to give you some possible outcomes.
In my opinion the ideal grow is as follows.
User Qwoyn leases two plots using 40 HP and 1 Hive then purchases 2 seeds of varying strain type and one pollen which will cost about $10. After purchase Qwoyn plants 1 seed on one plot and the other seed on their second plot then saves their pollen for later.
At sexing Qwoyn finds that they have one male plant and one female plant and already off to a good start. They continue to water their plants everyday and once at flowering they pollinate their female plant. Qwoyn then checks their inventory and notices that they now have 2 active plots in flowering with a male on one plot, a pollinated female on the other and no more pollen.
When the Harvest phase happens Qwoyn harvests the male and pollinated female and waits 24 hours. The next day Qwoyn goes to their inventory and sees that they now have two seeds and two pollen and can continue their next cycle for free.
During this grow they follow the same procedure and see that they have 2 females. During flowering they pollinate the two females using the two pollens and Harvest both of the pollinated females at harvest time. The next day they see in their inventory that they now have 4 seeds and 0 pollen. ...
I think you can see what happens next..
A not so ideal grow is a combination of either female or male plants
User Qwoyn decides to get one plot and one seed to begin growing their garden which costs them 20 HP and about 3 dollars. They water their plant everyday and notice they have a female. Lucky? No quite...! Qwoyn doesn't purchase any pollen and grows their female plants to maturity and harvests. The next day they check their inventory and notice they now have buds. Buds?? What can Qwoyn do with buds?
Buds, Blunts and XP
This is where things start to become interesting. In our not so ideal grow Qwoyn found themselves with harvesting buds and not being able to grow for free but not all is lost!
In real life buds are actually what are sought after by the average cannabis user because they are resinous and packed with terpines. They make an excellent smoke and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. In this, Hashkings is no exception and in fact buds allow you to start crafting to earn more XP.
What is XP?
XP is what is generated when users plant their seeds but at a very small rate. XP is earned mostly by crafting different consumables such as kief, blunts and joints!
Why should you care about XP? XP translates directly in to our in-game currency which in future updates will be used to purchase seeds, pollen and other in-game assets. Is everything lost? If you were able to follow along then you will see that by burning your consumables you generate a currency which is used to buy assets. So instead of perpetually growing seeds and pollen to continue to grow for free you have essentially made it possible to continue playing for free regardless of the ideal grow scenario. Different consumables produce different amounts of XP with rolling and burning dipped joints being the highest earner.
As you can tell the game is actually quite complex even though it seems simple on the surface. There are many more scenarios which can play out and many different assets which I will leave for my next post. I really hope you enjoyed reading and were able to gain some insight in to Hashkings.
Official links
Hashkings WebApp Discord Twitter
Previous Posts
Hashkings is Live on Hive Hashkings Seeks Funding Seeds and Pollen and Buds, oh my! How to get started with Hashkings Hashkings Update - Steem OG strain and pollen Sexing and User Requests Rare Plots and Subdivisions A Quick look at Hashkings NFTs (Seeds) Use STEEM Keychain and get plots Upgrade and Transition Period NFT Update Coming Join the Hashkings Team Hashkings Overview and Update 1-29-2020 Hashkings Market Update Hashkings Economic Growth Mobile Update and Hashkings Christmas Gifts Hashkings Upgrade A Hashkings Overview Introducing Hashkings Curation Trail
