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Mike Stubbs

Mike Stubbs

Mike is a veteran games and esports journalist whose work has appeared across publications such as Forbes, Vice, and the BBC. Disclosure: He holds CHZ and CRO.

Stories by Mike Stubbs

  • Image: Decrypt

    'Trump's Empire' Telegram Game Tips Guide: How to Earn More Crypto in the Airdrop

    Trump’s Empire is a hot new Telegram game that builds on the number-goes-up premise of earlier tap-to-earn games, albeit with an unofficial Donald Trump vibe and a slick interface. And given Trump’s return to the White House and launch of a Solana meme coin, it’s particularly timely right now. We’ve been playing loads of the game ahead of the eventual airdrop, and we’ve discovered a few tips and tricks that can hopefully help you maximize your earnings. Some tips are simply ways to get the most...

  • Image: Decrypt

    What Is 'Trump's Empire'? The Presidential Telegram Crypto Game and Airdrop Details

    Trump’s Empire is yet another Telegram game promising an airdrop for a relatively small time investment while using the name and likeness of a right-wing icon—with no direct involvement from the person himself. Sound familiar? Of course, that sentence could also describe X Empire, the Elon Musk-themed Telegram game that blew up in popularity last year only to disappoint many players with its airdrop. Granted, the X token on The Open Network later surged in value, if only briefly, following Donal...

  • What Is ‘Eve Frontier’? How to Start Playing CCP's Survival Game on Ethereum

    Legendary game developer CCP Games this week lifted the lid on Eve Frontier, a space survival game set in the Eve Online universe that features blockchain integration.  Initially referred to as Project Awakening, Eve Frontier appears to have a lot of similarities to the massive Eve Online game, but with more of a survival focus—and the ability to use crypto tokens and blockchain code to impact and reshape the game in new ways. With such a prestigious development studio behind it, hopes are high...

  • What Is ‘Off the Grid’? The Avalanche Game, GUNZ Network and GUN Token

    Off the Grid is a battle royale game that is picking up serious steam with players. Off the Grid topped the Epic Games Store’s list of the most popular free-to-play games soon after release, plus it commanded huge crowds on Twitch. In short: It’s a hit. And it was GG's 2024 Game of the Year pick. But what you might not know is that Off the Grid is a blockchain game built on Avalanche, with plans for a crypto token and the ability to trade rare items as NFTs. While these features aren’t yet fully...

    ExplainersGaming
    7 min read
    Mike Stubbs, Ryan S. Gladwin
  • Image: Grant Kempster/Decrypt

    'Zoo' Tips Guide: How to Earn the Most Tokens Ahead of the Telegram Game Airdrop

    Zoo is the buzzy new Telegram game that promises players a share of an upcoming airdrop—simply for jumping in a few times a day and building up their own zoo with as many animals as possible. It’s a slightly different concept to the many tap-to-earn games we have seen over the last year, but just like them, it’s all about maximizing your efficiency to get the biggest airdrop allocation possible. When you first open Zoo, you are met with an empty field and are tasked with turning it into a thrivi...

  • Image: Grant Kempster/Decrypt

    What Is ‘Zoo’? The Telegram Crypto Game With an Upcoming Airdrop

    Last year’s wave of Telegram tap-to-earn gaming hype may have died down, but one new title has scrapped the tapping part and is bringing in a ton of users as a result—even if it arguably feels like even less of a game than others. Zoo is the new hit on the messaging platform, bringing a FarmVille-style vibe to the world of Telegram games with a promise of payouts in tokens to players. You build up your zoo, filling it with more and more animals, which all results in earning more in-game currency...

  • Image: Grant Kempster/Decrypt

    What Is 'MemeFi'? The Telegram Tap-to-Earn Game and Sui Airdrop Details

    When it comes to tap-to-earn games on Telegram, finding any kind of originality isn’t easy. But MemeFi actually puts a unique twist on the formula. It is essentially the same at its core as many other Telegram games, in that you tap on the screen to earn virtual currency. However, this time there is more of a point, as every time you tap you take a small amount of health off the meme-inspired boss you have to take down.  There’s the usual suspects you would expect to tap on, with versions of Pep...

    ExplainersGaming
    4 min read
    Mike Stubbs, Andrew Hayward
  • Image: Yuga Labs

    Should You Play 'Dookey Dash: Unclogged'? The Bored Ape Endless Runner With Big Prizes

    Endless runner games are kind of hard to mess up at this point. Providing that your character is easy to control and the obstacles in their way never end, then they can offer up hours of entertainment—as exemplified by genre classics like Canabalt, Subway Surfers, and Jetpack Joyride. But with the formula essentially being perfected by many games over the years (including those above and others), standing out in a crowded market isn’t easy—and apart from some Bored Apes you might recognize, that...

    ReviewsGames
    5 min read
    Mike Stubbs
  • Artwork from Off the Grid. Image: Gunzilla Games

    5 Big Upgrades That 'Off the Grid' Needs Before Leaving Early Access

    Off the Grid has had an impressive launch thus far, topping the charts and racking up a massive player count. As far as crypto games go, it’s easily the biggest launch to date and has cracked the world of mainstream gaming fans, many of whom don’t even realize there’s blockchain involved. (To be fair, the crypto stuff isn't fully integrated yet.) But the initial hype of the launch is starting to cool off, leaving Gunzilla Games with its next big challenge: improving and evolving the game so that...

    NewsGaming
    5 min read
    Mike Stubbs

  • 'Dookey Dash: Unclogged' Tips Guide: How to Dominate the Bored Ape Game

    Dookey Dash is back, with the Bored Ape Yacht Club-themed endless runner from Yuga Labs getting a free-to-play rendition on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac with Dookey Dash: Unclogged. It still features some well-known Apes, of course, and is also offering over $1 million in prizes for top-scoring players in the season-ending tournament. As an Ape riding some kind of submarine through sewers, avoiding all kinds of debris, there isn’t all that much strategy to the game; a lot of it comes down to your r...

  • 'Off the Grid' Hex Guide: How to Extract the Most Hexes in the Battle Royale Shooter

    With Off the Grid suddenly becoming one of the biggest games in the space right now, attention is starting to turn to the game’s promised earning potential, which looks to be tied to the hex system of loot boxes and the items they contain. Once all of the Avalanche-based crypto and NFT tech is fully implemented, we suspect that you may be able to make some cash from buying and selling both hexes and the items they contain on the in-game marketplace, and then cash out your earnings on exchanges w...

  • ‘Off the Grid’ Beginners Guide: 5 Tips to Get Your First Win

    Off the Grid has quickly become one of the biggest battle royale shooters in the world, with millions of players jumping in to experience the first blockchain game that has really broken into the mainstream consciousness. But with so many players in the mix—most of whom seem to be experts already—it’s not easy to make it into the final stages of a match, let alone win. It took me six games before my team made it into the top five, and I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to get a win. Howe...

  • Image: Rod Martinez/Decrypt

    What Is ‘Captain Tsubasa: Rivals’? The Telegram Anime Soccer Game and Airdrop

    It’s hard to make a Telegram tap-to-earn game stand out these days, with countless Hamster Kombat clones vying for your attention. But using the license from a beloved Japanese anime and manga series—about soccer, no less—is one interesting way to shift the vibe for a Telegram tapper. That is exactly what Captain Tsubasa: Rivals has done, with the tap-to-earn game racking up millions of players since its recent launch, likely thanks to the fact that a lot of people will be familiar with the bran...

  • Image: Rod Martinez/Decrypt

    ‘Captain Tsubasa: Rivals’ Telegram Tips Guide : How to Earn the Most Balls Ahead of the Airdrop

    Captain Tsubasa: Rivals is a hot new tap-to-earn game on Telegram, and with the license of a major soccer-themed anime brand behind it, a ton of players have signed up to play already. With some kind of TON-based airdrop coming in the future, the race is once again on to collect as much in-game currency as you can to boost any potential future payouts.  Of course, you can tap to earn balls (aka coins or points in other tap games), but like most of these games, the real way to increase your ball...

  • Screenshot from NFL Rivals. Image: Decrypt

    'NFL Rivals' Delivers Fun Mobile Football With Just the Right Level of NFT Integration

    Condensing the football experience down to a mobile-friendly game is not easy. With so many things going on during each play—all of which you’d want to have control over—the somewhat limited controls of a touchscreen have typically held mobile football games back. NFL Rivals doesn’t have the perfect answer to this problem, but this NFTs-optional free-to-play game certainly makes a solid attempt across iOS and Android. On the field, NFL Rivals dumbs down football to its simplest form. There’s no...

    ReviewsGames
    4 min read
    Mike Stubbs

  • ‘NFL Rivals’ Tips Guide: How to Dominate in the Mobile NFT Game

    The new in-game season of NFL Rivals is here alongside the NFL kickoff, and with it has come a wave of new and returning players hoping to play some mobile gridiron—and maybe earn a few valuable NFTs in the process. As a mobile game, NFL Rivals delivers bursts of arcade-style fun on iOS and Android. It’s a good way to keep yourself entertained during the TV timeouts on Sundays, assuming you aren’t looking for a full Madden-like simulation. But as with any game, especially those where there’s the...

  • Image: Grant Kempster/Decrypt

    ‘X Empire’ Tips Guide: How to Earn the Most Coins in the Elon Musk-Themed Telegram Game

    If you haven’t heard of X Empire (originally Musk Empire), then all you really need to know is that it’s a Hamster Kombat clone built around Elon Musk. That sentence alone will likely be enough for you to decide if you want to give it a try or avoid it like the plague.  But if you are one of the tens of millions of players who have tried out X Empire in the hopes of scoring tokens in the upcoming airdrop, there are a few secrets you will probably want to know before starting—as unlike in other t...

    ExplainersGaming
    5 min read
    Mike Stubbs, Andrew Hayward

  • What Is ‘NFL Rivals’? The iOS and Android Football Game With NFTs on Polkadot

    When it comes to American football games, the Madden franchise has long been the cream of the crop. But now it has some competition—not just from EA Sports’ own College Football game, but also in the form of mobile game NFL Rivals, which incorporates NFTs.  While NFL Rivals isn't trying to top Madden when it comes to presenting a lifelike simulation on your game console, it’s a free-to-play, arcade-style mobile football game that has the same official licenses from the league and players, offeri...

  • What Is 'Catizen'? The Telegram Crypto Game, CATI Token, and Airdrop Details

    In a world full of tap-to-earn games such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, hearing that a Telegram game has a slightly different mechanic—no matter how simple—is kind of refreshing. Instead of making you tap endlessly on the screen, Catizen has you swipe to combine cats together to increase their level and value—which, while effectively as simple as tapping, does require a bit more of your attention.  Claiming over 34 million users, Catizen has found a major audience thanks to its cutesy vibe, sli...

  • Image: Grant Kempster/Decrypt

    What Is ‘X Empire’? The Telegram Tap-to-Earn Elon Musk Game and Airdrop Details

    Millions of players have tapped on Elon Musk’s face over the past few weeks, thanks to the new hit Telegram game, X Empire—or Musk Empire, as it was originally called. Looking for a way to differentiate X Empire from the mountain of tap-to-earn games on Telegram such as Hamster Kombat and Catizen, the development team swapped out cute pet visuals for a cartoon image of Elon Musk that you need to tap to rack up piles of in-game cash. The number of players suggests that this approach is working, w...

    ExplainersGaming
    7 min read
    Mike Stubbs, Andrew Hayward
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