'Eat Other Snakes, Steal Their Money': Solana Slither.io Clone Noodle.gg Goes Viral
In this crypto-driven Noodle.gg game, players either eat others or get eaten - earning Solana tokens in the process, with its associated meme coin price soaring.
Noodle.gg is a crypto version of the popular browser game Slither.io.
Players need to pay Solana as an entry fee, and if you eat other players' snakes, you can steal their SOL.
As the game goes viral, the associated Solana meme coin NOODLE has skyrocketed in value.
Crypto speculators have found a new gambling game, driving the Solana meme coin's market cap to nearly $20 million.
Crypto Variant of Snake Game
Noodle.gg mimics the gameplay of the free browser game Slither.io: players control cartoon snakes, growing longer with each enemy snake eaten. Its blockchain feature is that players pay an entry fee in Solana, and can steal funds by eating other snakes. If they die, they lose all assets.
"This should be fun. Eating other snakes = stealing their money," game creator Alex Leiman wrote on X platform, attaching the Solana contract address. The tweet quickly went viral, reaching over a million views in less than a day.
Meme Coin Surges Without Substantial Function
The NOODLE token currently has no actual use, essentially just a meme coin. But even so (or perhaps because of this), as the game went viral, NOODLE's market cap peaked at $19.43 million within 14 hours of launch. According to DEX Screener, it has since fallen to $14.4 million.
Leiman hints that NOODLE might replace SOL as game chips in the future.
Popularity Under Regulatory Constraints
Leiman says the game attracted 1,000 active accounts within two hours of launch, despite being open in only 75% of US states due to "regulatory reasons". The official X account states that crypto fund flow exceeded $75,000 on the first day.
Mixed Public Opinion
Some players enjoy the possibility of playing a nostalgic childhood game while making money, but critics accuse Leiman of merely copying Slither.io rather than creating something original. "So-called 'innovative Web3 product' is just a lazy Web2 imitation with a crypto label," anonymous user Cremedupepe commented, "No originality, just copy-paste and buzzwords. Also, how do you even cash out?"
Withdrawal Mechanism and Risks
Players need to press and hold the enter key for three seconds (without dying) to enter the settlement interface and view earnings, seemingly able to cash out by submitting a Solana address and withdrawal amount. However, note that the user agreement stipulates the platform can restrict withdrawals, including time limits, minimum game duration requirements, or temporary freezes. If cheating is detected, all balances will be confiscated.
Not the First "Money-Making Game"
Last month, the Arbitrum-based crypto mining simulation game Bigcoin attracted speculators. Players bought miners to obtain BIG tokens (simulating Bitcoin mining mechanism), used to upgrade equipment and earn more BIG. According to DEX Screener, its token market cap surged to $66 million in three days before crashing 83%, dubbed a "Ponzi scheme" by industry observers. However, some speculators continue to seek the next gambling target.
Telegram click-to-earn games were also popular last year, with hundreds of millions of users frantically clicking screens hoping for airdrops. But in most cases, users complained about low airdrop values, and the craze subsided after months.
