Castle of Black Water: The New Game that “Pays to Betray”

Play to Earn (P2E) games have been stealing the NFT show for quite some time now. Among the many blockchain based games that are popping up, Castle of Black Water is a P2E game that truly stands out, as it will the first ever blockchain based P2E social deduction game, aspiring to fix the a vital economic issue of the industry and reinstate ‘funness’ in a P2E game. Let’s have a detailed look at how Castle of Black Water might just transform the P2E upon its launch.


  1. What is a social deduction game?  

A social deduction game is where players are masked and you find out each other’s hidden allegiance. Not knowing if you are dealing with a friend or a foe, you have to be on your toes throughout the game. It is full of thrill, excitement and unpredictability. An appropriate way to think of Castle of Black Water would be to imagine the ‘Town of Salem’ multiplayer game coupled with the adrenaline rush of Hunger Games. The game prepares you for the nasty competitions one might encounter in this world. And you even get paid to act in your own self interest above anyone else’s! Have I caught your interest? Brilliant, read on to find out more. 


Although the game has not launched yet, the team has outlined the specifics of the game. Each character will have a unique identity based on the relevant NFT. Castle of Black Water will consist of 15 anonymous players who will be in the game plan. The players belong to any of the following 3 factions – the forgotten, the protectors, or the satanic. The forgotten faction has their own self centered agenda, and will play with ulterior motives in mind. The protectors complete the tasks and look after each other. The third faction, satans, will pretend to be protectors and will maliciously work to sacrifice the real protectors. 


A player can choose between any of the 3 factions, or choose to specialize in one of them and rise in ranks. Multiple earning avenues are available for a player including, active rewards by playing, passive income from renting NFT characters, royalties by creating NFT designs, and token prizes from community activities. The game uses a percentage payout system to ensure that the treasury does not run out of funds. It creates a self-balancing economy where every player may not always make a profit – but ultimately, the players will benefit the most from the revenue generated from other players in the game. 


Will Castle of Black Water address P2E’s Major Economic Problem?

The Castle of Black Water developers argue that the P2E game plan often encourages players to obsess over getting the biggest returns in the shortest time possible. Players look for games with the highest return on investment and flock towards it. As the players bag massive profits, they have no incentive to invest in the ecosystem, but to cash out their gains. This economic model results in the first batch of players bagging huge profits, and when the number of players don’t increase, the latecomers to the game will get stuck accumulating losses. As a consequence, the value of the currency depreciates with many players trying to sell their NFT. Such an economic model cannot weather the storm, and is not sustainable for the industry. 


P2E, while focusing on making maximum profits, has arguably lost its focus on how important it is for the players to have fun. For instance, some games make it nearly impossible to unlock certain items or levels – purely based on their economic model. Such a trend will make P2E games regular work, not play.  This is why it’s important to pay close attention to Castle of Black Water’s development and launch. Their product might make the industry more sustainable and enjoyable!

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