Notcoin NOT +5.79% has launched a new story-driven Telegram game in collaboration with TON social projects team Lost Dogs Co and NFT trading platform Getgems.

Notcoin rose to prominence, becoming the first Telegram game to pioneer the clicker tap-to-earn model, capturing the attention of a claimed 35 million players. All users had to do was press a button and earn in-game currency, which later became a $1 billion NOT token airdrop on TON blockchain. The NOT token currently has a market cap of $1.3 billion, according to The Block’s Notcoin price page.

Other clicker-style Telegram games like Hamster Kombat, Yescoin and Catizen followed. However, Notcoin also became the first to pivot away from the tap-to-earn model, with the project’s founder Sasha Plotvinov not expecting it to be sustainable, deciding to end the mining phase at its peak on April 1.

Plotvinov previously told The Block that the plan for the next four years is for the project to become independent of the team by building sustainable and efficient subsystems. 

The new free-to-play game, launched within the Notcoin ecosystem but named “Lost Dogs,” takes on a different style of play where players embark on a dog-themed quest, joining communities or “squads,” inviting new players and voting on their dogs’ actions to find a new home. “Each decision is pivotal, with ethical implications that shape the narrative and impact the dogs' journey,” the team said in a statement shared with The Block.

The game’s characters are represented by Lost Dogs NFTs — originally launched in March 2023 on TON blockchain's largest NFT trading platform Getgems — and evolve with the story, the team added, “gaining special powers” and “becoming celebrities” within the game.

"Our goal is to demonstrate how NFTs can build and communicate narratives, driving mass adoption through innovative storytelling and gameplay," Getgems founder Vanya said. "This is just the first of many games to be promoted by Notcoin, setting the stage for a new era of interactive blockchain experiences."

Players earn Notcoins and new in-game currency WOOF

“Lost Dogs” players can earn Notcoins and a new in-game currency called WOOF by participating in the game. Each day, players make choices that influence their dogs’ story, the team explained to The Block. The winning choice is the most popular, least popular or median decision among all players, depending on the parameters set at the beginning of the day.

If a player wins, they receive a share of NOT tokens from a general pool. Players can also “mine” WOOF for winning rounds, as well as for taking various actions within the game. WOOF is initially a purely in-game currency, similar to a points system. However, it may also convert to a TON blockchain-based token in the future like NOT did.

Unlike “endless” mining games, “Lost Dogs” will only run for a fixed period of six weeks, the team told The Block, though more such collaborations are expected in the future.

"Lost Dogs is not an ordinary game, better to call it a gamified experience — every day, you will be asked to make a decision that will shape the story that is happening in this magical dogs world," Plotvinov said on Thursday. “The more good decisions you make, the better for your pack (and your drop).”

Web3 venture capital firm The Open Platform (TOP) is a co-founder of Notcoin and Getgems and a supporter of the “Lost Dogs” game. Last month, TOP also announced investments in Akedo Games and PLUTO Studio, the publishing platform of Catizen.AI, to develop other Telegram games in TON’s blockchain ecosystem.

"We're just stray dogs who come up with many ideas during our walks. What are ideas without implementation? Empty barking. We went to the people at the TOP, and they gave us everything we needed — all that was left was to take brushes and pens in our paws and write the most jaw-dropping story," Mad Tail, Lost Dogs Co CBO (Chief Barking Officer) said. "We want to unveil to you a world full of discoveries, joy, suffering, cliffhangers and mysteries. And, of course, we want to make sure everyone can play with their Notcoins and distribute WOOF.”