Tag: Hype

  • Internet Computer (ICP) crashes to $3.50 as AI hype fades and market pressure mounts

    Internet Computer (ICP) crashes to $3.50 as AI hype fades and market pressure mounts

    An Image Showing ICP Token

    • Internet Computer (ICP) price has dropped 6% in the past 24 hours to under $3.50.
    • Recently, the altcoin pumped from lows of $2.80 to above $9.62.
    • Overall market weakness could see ICP price tank further, although an uptick for Bitcoin will boost altcoins.

    The Internet Computer (ICP) token has endured a sharp downturn in the past month, culminating in a 24-hour dip of over 6% as the price broke below $3.50.

    Losses for Internet Computer come amid a 29% decrease in trading volume, suggesting bulls could benefit from reduced selling pressure.

    However, with ICP briefly rallying on hype around AI integrations like the Caffeine platform, only to reverse course, it may yet allow bears to strengthen the upper hand.

    Internet Computer price slips to $3.50

    The ICP project, launched by the DFINITY Foundation, is one of the top artificial intelligence-related coins.

    DFINITY aims to revolutionize the internet by enabling fully on-chain applications, from decentralized finance to AI-driven services, without reliance on traditional cloud providers.

    In early November, the DFINITY Foundation unveiled an update for its AI platform Caffeine DeAI.

    The news saw the price of ICP surge sharply, with bulls eventually hitting highs of $9.62 on Nov. 8, 2025.

    ICP Price Chart
    Internet Computer price chart by TradingView

    The uptick aligned with market cheer for an update that pushed the narrative of the Internet Computer as a key AI cloud engine.

    As well as allowing users to create and deploy apps easily, Caffeine features an App Market and supports monetization.

    DFINITY said Caffeine will help drive network usage and transition ICP to a deflationary asset, among other features.

    However, the token’s price has tumbled since that November peak and hit $3.50 on December 5, 2025. That’s a 64% dump in the past month and reflects broader market pressure.

    What could catalyze short-term losses for ICP?

    Market analysts have attributed the sell-off pressure across crypto to a confluence of factors.

    As well as macroeconomic headwinds, FUD around Tether and Strategy (MSTR) has dampened risk appetite for Bitcoin (BTC) and the speculative assets across altcoins.

    These same aspects apply to ICP and the dip to $3.50, with intraday revisits of lower levels, strengthening the fragile outlook.

    Adding to this is the overall sentiment around token dumps if BTC price tanks.

    Recently, when Bitcoin dipped to near $80,000, the Internet Computer token plummeted from above $5 to below $4.2.

    Price currently hovers around $3.51 as Bitcoin flirts with support near $90,500. If momentum escapes bulls further, sellers could eye the all-time lows of $1.98 reached in October 2025.

    On the flipside, the altcoin could benefit from network upgrades and adoption trends.

    This, amid a resurgence in AI tokens and tokenized Bitcoin demand, may help buyers. A shift in sentiment as the macro environment improves will be crucial to bulls.

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  • Magic Eden’s ME token soars 35%, reclaims $0.60 amid ‘big week ahead’ hype

    Magic Eden’s ME token soars 35%, reclaims $0.60 amid ‘big week ahead’ hype

    Magic Eden Token

    • Magic Eden price soared more than 35% amid a breakout above the key resistance of $0.50.
    • Trading volume jumped 1,280% to over $129 million to signal buying pressure.
    • “A big week” ahead and other potential catalysts could boost ME bulls.

    Magic Eden’s native token, ME, has experienced a significant price surge in the past 24 hours.

    Prices rose to intraday highs above $0.60 for the first time since the October 11 crash, with bulls’ gains coming amid a retest of a key technical barrier.

    As the altcoins rank among the top gainers in the 500 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, buyers are likely to hold the crucial level and target a new leg up.

    But what could help ME price in the short term?

    Magic Eden among top gainers as price pumps 35%

    Per CoinMarketCap data, Magic Eden’s ME token is one of the standout performers in the cryptocurrency arena today.

    The token’s 35% uptick in the past 24 hours has come amid a robust trading volume of $129 million – the metric is up 1,280% in the past 24 hours.

    This performance has not only outpaced the broader market but also dwarfed top performers such as Pi Network, Virtuals Protocol and Zcash.

    ZEC hovered around $270 on October 24, but was near $350 at the time of writing.

    On the technical front, ME broke above the critical hurdle at $0.50, reaching intraday highs of $0.60.

    While the altcoin is well off its all-time peak above $13.24, bulls have bounced off the all-time low of $0.23.

    ME could retest $0.55 or $0.50 before seizing on an uptick across the market to target the psychological $1 mark.

    RSI at 60 suggests bulls have more room to aim for gains.

    Magic Eden price chart by TradingView

    What could help Magic Eden price higher?

    Several factors appear to have converged to ignite this pump.

    Notably, the official Magic Eden X account issued a cryptic yet bullish proclamation early this morning: “Big week ahead.”

    This post, which garnered over 300 likes and widespread speculation within the community, hinted at impending announcements or developments that could further bolster the platform’s growth.

    Such communications from project leads often serve as potent catalysts, drawing in retail traders and amplifying social sentiment.

    ME gains also follow the community cheering of the recent acquisition of Dynamic by Fireblocks, which the platforms announced on October 23.

    As a key user of Dynamic’s developer platform, Magic Eden could benefit significantly from this integration.

    Dynamic powers over 50 million on-chain accounts for industry leaders, including Kraken, Ondo Finance, Magic Eden and zerohash.

    Magic Eden’s seamless user onboarding and embedded wallet functionalities for NFT trading across chains.

    The deal merges Fireblocks’ institutional-grade custody with Dynamic’s agile tools, creating what executives describe as the “first complete custody-to-consumer stack” for on-chain finance.

    Overlaying these platform-specific tailwinds is a broader crypto market rebound.

    While gains in October 2025 remain muted as the macroeconomic environment hit risk-on sentiment, Bitcoin’s climb to $116,000 and Ethereum’s break to $4,200 has bulls excited.

    The big week for crypto includes a potential rally ahead of a Federal Reserve rate cut, the impact of the US-China trade deal and SEC approval for exchange-traded funds.

    The macroeconomic lift could spill over to altcoins like Magic Eden.

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  • Hyperliquid price forecast as HYPE sees pullback after hitting all-time high

    Hyperliquid price forecast as HYPE sees pullback after hitting all-time high

    Hyperliquid Price

    • Hyperliquid price jumped to a new all-time high above $51.
    • The token broke higher as HYPE bulls held above a major ascending trendline.
    • While price is down 4% from the ATH and hovers near 48, analysts predict further gains.

    Hyperliquid (HYPE) stood out among top cryptocurrency performers this week as the native token of the high-performance layer-1 blockchain rose to a new all-time high above $51.

    But can bulls hold prices above a key trendline and enter price discovery?

    Hyperliquid pares gains after bulls reach new ATH

    HYPE has been on a tear, climbing to an all-time high of $51.07 on August 27, 2025, fueled by a slight crypto market bounce that saw Bitcoin flip to above $113k from under $110k.

    The gains came as stocks edged higher ahead of Nvidia earnings, and then futures surged after the AI chip giant posted a revenue beat.

    With weekly gains exceeding 18%, Hyperliquid outpaced many top cryptocurrencies and stormed to its new ATH.

    Having captured the crypto market’s attention with spot volumes hitting daily peaks above $3.5 billion, HYPE token’s price jumped more than 17% in the past week.

    This saw the 16th-ranked altcoin hit highs of $51 across major exchanges.

    CoinGecko data shows the altcoin’s price managed a 1,174% rally from its all-time low of $3.81 reached in November 2024.

    Whales are aggressively buying HYPE.

    On-chain activity, with Hyperliquid’s decentralised exchange recording new highs in daily trading volume and fees, helped bulls.

    Institutional adoption, highlighted by spot exchange-traded fund anticipation and support by BitGo and Anchorage Digital Bank, has been a key catalyst.

    Hyperliquid price forecast: Is $100 next for HYPE?

    The broader crypto market bounce, with Cronos (CRO) jumping on Trump Media news, also helped HYPE drive higher.

    Analysts now say Hyperliquid price could extend gains in the coming months, with bulls likely to see triple-digit moves as they eye $100 and higher.

    However, HYPE has pulled back slightly, with profit-taking currently seeing the token hover above $48.

    Despite the pullback, market sentiment remains optimistic, supported by Hyperliquid’s dominance in the decentralised perpetuals market.

    HYPE chart by TradingView

    The daily chart above shows the technical outlook for HYPE is largely bullish as the token holds above a key ascending trendline.

    It signals sustained buyer demand, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) above 57 to suggest that momentum favours the bulls.

    The daily MACD also shows a bullish crossover, with the histogram’s green bars strengthening.

    If HYPE regains upside traction, analysts believe it could enter price discovery mode, potentially targeting $100 in the coming months.

    As noted, a broader market downturn could push HYPE toward support levels, with demand reload zones around $42 and then $30.



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  • Hyperliquid price outlook amid Eyenovia’s $50M HYPE treasury strategy

    Hyperliquid price outlook amid Eyenovia’s $50M HYPE treasury strategy

    Eyenovia Plans To Buy HYPE Tokens

    • Hyperliquid (HYPE) price fell below $40 amid profit-taking and crypto sell-off.
    • Despite positive news with Eyenovia announcing plans to add HYPE to treasury strategy, the price dipped 5%.
    • Bears may target deeper price dips if bulls give up territory.

    Hyperliquid (HYPE) dropped more than 5% on June 18, 2025, falling below the $40 mark even as Eyenovia, Inc.—a Nasdaq-listed ophthalmic technology firm—announced a $50 million investment in the token as part of its crypto treasury strategy.

    The move marks a significant milestone for both firms.

    Eyenovia’s announcement aligns with a broader trend of publicly traded companies increasing exposure to digital assets, adding crypto to their balance sheets amid growing institutional interest.

    Despite the bullish headline, HYPE extended losses following a recent all-time high, with the decline largely attributed to profit-taking.

    The price action leaves the Hyperliquid token vulnerable to further downside if selling pressure persists.

    Big news as Eyenovia plans HYPE treasury strategy

    On June 17, 2025, Eyenovia announced its plans for a private placement as it looks to establish a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.

    Specifically, the company wants its balance sheet to include Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE.

    This strategic pivot, which includes rebranding to Hyperion DeFi, aims to position Eyenovia as a leading validator on the Hyperliquid blockchain..

    Notably, Eyenovia’s $50 million investment targets the acquisition of 1 million HYPE tokens.

    Once executed, the company will become one of the top global validators on Hyperliquid’s layer-1 blockchain.

    The $50 million financing, secured through a private placement in public equity (PIPE) with institutional investors, involves issuing convertible preferred stock at $3.25 per share, potentially raising up to $150 million if warrants are fully exercised.

    Eyenovia has appointed Hyunsu Jung as Chief Investment Officer to lead this initiative, with plans to stake HYPE tokens via Anchorage Digital’s platform.

    Eyenovia’s chief executive officer, Michael Rowe, emphasized the strategy’s focus on long-term capital appreciation and shareholder value, citing Hyperliquid’s rapid growth and $8.4 million daily revenue.

    This move aligns with a growing trend among publicly traded companies diversifying into cryptocurrency treasuries.

    Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, is the biggest player with its over $60 billion Bitcoin (BTC) haul.

    Other companies have announced strategies for Ethereum, XRP, and Solana.

    Eyenovia stands out as the first US public company to adopt HYPE, potentially setting a precedent for decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.

    “We are pleased to join the growing number of companies who have adopted similar strategies for the diversification, liquidity and long-term capital appreciation potential that cryptocurrency represents,” stated Michael Rowe, chief executive officer of Eyenovia.

    “Following a thorough review of all available alternatives, the Board and I have concluded that this transaction is in the best interests of our shareholders.”

    What is the outlook for the HYPE price?

    HYPE’s price has struggled to maintain momentum above $40, dropping to $39.89 after failing to sustain a recent peak of $45.50.

    On the daily chart, technical indicators paint a bearish picture, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sitting at 45.6, indicating neutral momentum with a slight bearish tilt, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) shows weakening bullish momentum.

    HYPE price chart by TradingView

    Open Interest (OI) on Hyperliquid futures has also declined, signaling reduced trader confidence, according to Coinglass data.

    Despite the current price dip, analysts forecast that such institutional endorsements could drive HYPE’s value higher.

    Moreover, Hyperliquid remains a strong project with massive perpetuals volume and revenue.

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  • Bitcoin Pepe nears $8.2M on Solana hype

    Bitcoin Pepe nears $8.2M on Solana hype





    Bitcoin Pepe nears $8.2M on Solana hype
















    Bitcoin Pepe

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  • Shiba Eternity Review: Does Shiba Inu’s Card Game Live Up to the Hype?

    Shiba Eternity Review: Does Shiba Inu’s Card Game Live Up to the Hype?

    Key Takeaways

    • Shiba Eternity is a Shiba Inu-themed collectible card game for Android and iOS.
    • The game is developed by Playside Studios and pays homage to the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency.
    • Shiba Eternity is part of a wider Shiba Inu crypto ecosystem currently under development.

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    Shiba Eternity lets players build custom decks from over 500 unique cards and collect 10,000 different Shiboshi heroes. 

    What Is Shiba Eternity?

    Shiba Eternity is a new Shiba Inu-themed collectible card game from Playside Studios. The game sets players against each other in a classic one-vs.-one card game duel, with the first to reduce their opponent’s life points to zero declared the winner. Players use one of 10,000 Shiboshi heroes to call the shots, and use spells, items, and various fighters to battle on their behalf. 

    The game was first announced at the height of Shiba Inu mania in November 2021, as the SHIB cryptocurrency soared in value and reached an all-time high market capitalization of over $40 billion. After almost a year of development, the game’s full release went live on October 6. 

    Shiba Eternity’s development is led by William Volk, a gaming industry veteran with over 25 years of experience at top-tier companies like Activision and ROKiT Games. With such an esteemed figure putting his name behind the Shiba Inu brand, expectations for the game among Shiba Inu fans were high. 

    Crypto Briefing took Shiba Eternity for a spin to see if the game lives up to the hype. We’ve judged it in five key areas: accessibility, graphics and art, gameplay, story and lore, and any crypto elements present. Here’s what we thought. 

    Accessibility: 4 out of 5

    Shiba Eternity is very easy to get started with. The game runs on smartphones and tablets, so just head over to the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS) and follow the instructions to download it. And at 417 MB in size, the game isn’t going to take up much space on your device, either. 

    However, as with many mobile games, how easy Shiba Eternity is to play will vary depending on the size of your phone screen and fingers. The game needs a fair bit of dexterity to click cards, and it can become a little fiddly on smaller screens. Using a tablet is recommended for the best experience. 

    Although the game is free, Shiba Eternity monetizes itself through in-app purchases. Players can earn cards and characters by playing or alternatively buy them at the game’s store. In addition to buying unlocks, players can also pay for cosmetic enhancements, such as custom card backs, and experience boosts to level up faster. The prices for these boons fall broadly in line with other free-to-play games and are unnecessary if you’re willing to put some time and effort into unlocking the cards yourself. 

    Graphics and Art: 4 out of 5

    Shiba Eternity’s graphics are arguably the best part of the game. Most of the in-game assets look polished and professional, and the background images also do a great job of setting the scene and providing depth. The 3D renderings and custom animations for the Shiboshis heroes bring the cute canines to life and break up the gameplay. 

    Shiba Eternity menu screen.

    While the overall quality is high, there is still room for improvement. The card graphics focus heavily on Shiba Inu characters and become repetitive the more you play. Since there is little variation between cards, it can become difficult to tell which ones you have on the field or in your hand at a glance just by looking at the art.  

    However, the tutorial character Ryoshi (named after the pseudonymous Shiba Inu founder), who guides new players through the tutorial, doesn’t give off a great first impression. Despite sporting a refined and erudite voice worthy of any dojo master, the character’s sprite doesn’t match his appearance or the game’s overall aesthetic at all. 

    Ryoshi from the Shiba Eternity tutorial. (Source: @william_volk)

    Gameplay: 2 out of 5

    Games start with the players selecting their four starting cards and tossing a coin to decide who will go first. On a player’s turn, they can summon fighter cards to the field (but must wait a turn before attacking with them), play spell cards, attach equip cards to their Shiboshi, and attack their opponent. Only weak cards with one or two “bark power” can be played at the beginning of the game. However, players’ bark power increases after every turn, letting them use more powerful cards as the game progresses. 

    Each fighter card has an attack and armor rating. When a card attacks, its attack power is subtracted from the defending card’s armor. If the attacking card’s attack value exceeds the defending card’s armor, the latter is defeated and leaves the field. When no active character cards are on the field, players can attack their opponent’s Shiboshi directly. Players win the game if they reduce the opposing Shiboshi’s health from 30 to zero.  

    If you’ve played collectible card games like Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, you’ll likely recognize several gameplay mechanics that Shiba Eternity has borrowed. However, while some of these mechanics have become a universal standard and make Shiba Eternity more fast-paced and intuitive, others look cut and pasted from more successful games.

    Instead of creating a unique game that stands out from the abundance of collectible card games on the market, Shiba Eternity copied much of what made other games successful and only added a Shiba Inu-themed facade to try and camouflage that fact. If you’re a hardcore gamer looking for a new card game to dig your teeth into, Shiba Eternity will probably leave you disappointed. However, the game could find a better fit with a more casual audience. The gameplay is quick and fairly intuitive while still leaving room for some strategic decision-making.

    Regardless of the kind of gamer Shiba Eternity appeals to, there are some negative aspects of its gameplay that cannot be overlooked. Players already seem tired of “overpowered” decks controlling the meta. Soon after its release, posts on the game’s official subreddit started reporting that the Frostfire Blast deck, as it’s commonly referred to, has become increasingly popular among high-level players due to how strong it is. The imbalance has elicited such a reaction from the Shiba Eternity player base that the discussion of Frostfire Blast makes up most of its subreddit’s posts. 

    Elsewhere, the game’s quest system, designed to give players a constant sense of achievement as they play, is also proving detrimental to the gameplay. The quest system assigns players in-game tasks like using an “epic” rarity card ten times, rewarding them with experience and the kibble tokens needed to unlock new Shiboshis. However, as some players have noted, to fulfill these requirements, there is an incentive to hold opponents hostage in games, leaving them on a single point of life and continuing to play cards to meet the requirements for various quests. This incentive structure leads to a bad gaming experience for many players.

    While developers may fix these issues with time, the longer they persist, the less likely it is that players will stick around. Overall, the Shiba Eternity gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.

    Story and Lore: 1 out of 5

    Although the predominant theme in Shiba Eternity is martial arts, its backstory is a cataclysmic sci-fi romp dealing with an array of themes from battles with alien “Greys” to Shiba Inu-inhabited planets caught in a supernova event. 

    The basic gist is that following the 1951 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, humanity discovered technology from the “Shib Universe,” along with capturing a “Grey” alien who shared this information with the governments of the world. After reverse engineering the technology, humanity “harnessed the power of the Shibarium” and launched a spaceship called the SS Virgil to travel to one of ten inhabited Shiba galaxy planets.

    Upon arriving in the Shiba galaxy, war breaks out between the alien Greys (now called “shadowcats” for some reason) and the native Shiba Inu. After two wars, it’s revealed that when the SS Virgil traveled to the Shiba galaxy, it caused a dimensional tear that put two local stars on a collision course with each other. Now, the human crew of the SS Virgil, along with all Shiba-kind and a new character called “Queen Andromeda” (because why not), must team up to stop this extinction-level event from happening. 

    It’s not exactly clear how this lore intersects with the game. The central conceit seems to be that the Shiba Inus are sufficiently proficient in martial arts to combat the shadowcats in the war.

    To be frank, the Shiba Eternity lore is chaotic at best. The blog post outlining the story is a convoluted, poorly-written narrative that does little core worldbuilding. While there is, admittedly, a subjective element to the story surrounding the Shiba Inu ecosystem that might be lost on some people (such as myself), numerous points still fall flat. 

    Like the card game, the story behind it is littered with dog-themed puns and Shiba Inu references. Everything important in the lore starts with the prefix “Shiba,” making it needlessly difficult to follow what’s going on and revealing the writer’s marked lack of imagination. While the story is certainly ambitious, it fails to add context and color to the game and will likely leave the reader more confused than when they started. 

    Crypto Element: 1 out of 5

    There’s not much to say about the crypto element in Shiba Eternity, as it’s non-existent in the current version of the game. However, according to the game’s developers, there are plans for a blockchain version of the Shiba Eternity that will allow players to use NFTs from the 10,000 Shiboshis collection in the game to earn token rewards (It’s also worth noting that the Shiboshis that players can “create” in the free version of the game are all copies of Shiboshis from the NFT collection). Various blog posts outlining the Shiba Inu ecosystem have referenced a reward token called TREAT, which will likely play a role in Shiba Eternity in the future.

    The lack of a blockchain element has been a disappointment for many onlookers and Shiba Inu fans alike. Many had assumed that players would be able to use SHIB for in-game transactions, a relatively simple feature that remains absent for the time being. While there are hints that the future version of the game will help tie together disparate parts of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, such as the planned Shibarium Layer 2 chain, Shiba Inu Metaverse project, and Shiba Inu-backed stablecoin, there is no concrete roadmap detailing if, and when this might happen. 

    Final Thoughts

    Despite its faults, Shiba Eternity’s release is a landmark moment for both the SHIB cryptocurrency and the broader Shiba Inu ecosystem. What started as a meme coin, launched to capitalize on the Dogecoin hype preceding it, has transformed into a fully-fledged brand with the power to attract leading game developers. Although this first attempt is lacking in certain areas, the fact that it happened at all should cause even the most vocal Shiba skeptics to think twice before writing it off as a joke project.

    However, if Shiba Eternity and the Shiba Inu brand want to go further, they must tighten up their operations. Clear, professional communication and brand strategy are a must going forward, as is consolidating the various projects created under the Shiba Inu banner. At its heart, Shiba Inu is a crypto project, and anything that uses its intellectual property should follow this example.

    Disclosure: At the time of writing this review, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies. 

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  • Shiba Eternity Review: Does Shiba Inu’s Card Game Live Up to the Hype?

    Shiba Eternity Review: Does Shiba Inu’s Card Game Live Up to the Hype?

    Key Takeaways

    • Shiba Eternity is a Shiba Inu-themed collectible card game for Android and iOS.
    • The game is developed by Playside Studios and pays homage to the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency.
    • Shiba Eternity is part of a wider Shiba Inu crypto ecosystem currently under development.

    Share this article

    Shiba Eternity lets players build custom decks from over 500 unique cards and collect 10,000 different Shiboshi heroes. 

    What Is Shiba Eternity?

    Shiba Eternity is a new Shiba Inu-themed collectible card game from Playside Studios. The game sets players against each other in a classic one-vs.-one card game duel, with the first to reduce their opponent’s life points to zero declared the winner. Players use one of 10,000 Shiboshi heroes to call the shots, and use spells, items, and various fighters to battle on their behalf. 

    The game was first announced at the height of Shiba Inu mania in November 2021, as the SHIB cryptocurrency soared in value and reached an all-time high market capitalization of over $40 billion. After almost a year of development, the game’s full release went live on October 6. 

    Shiba Eternity’s development is led by William Volk, a gaming industry veteran with over 25 years of experience at top-tier companies like Activision and ROKiT Games. With such an esteemed figure putting his name behind the Shiba Inu brand, expectations for the game among Shiba Inu fans were high. 

    Crypto Briefing took Shiba Eternity for a spin to see if the game lives up to the hype. We’ve judged it in five key areas: accessibility, graphics and art, gameplay, story and lore, and any crypto elements present. Here’s what we thought. 

    Accessibility: 4 out of 5

    Shiba Eternity is very easy to get started with. The game runs on smartphones and tablets, so just head over to the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS) and follow the instructions to download it. And at 417 MB in size, the game isn’t going to take up much space on your device, either. 

    However, as with many mobile games, how easy Shiba Eternity is to play will vary depending on the size of your phone screen and fingers. The game needs a fair bit of dexterity to click cards, and it can become a little fiddly on smaller screens. Using a tablet is recommended for the best experience. 

    Although the game is free, Shiba Eternity monetizes itself through in-app purchases. Players can earn cards and characters by playing or alternatively buy them at the game’s store. In addition to buying unlocks, players can also pay for cosmetic enhancements, such as custom card backs, and experience boosts to level up faster. The prices for these boons fall broadly in line with other free-to-play games and are unnecessary if you’re willing to put some time and effort into unlocking the cards yourself. 

    Graphics and Art: 4 out of 5

    Shiba Eternity’s graphics are arguably the best part of the game. Most of the in-game assets look polished and professional, and the background images also do a great job of setting the scene and providing depth. The 3D renderings and custom animations for the Shiboshis heroes bring the cute canines to life and break up the gameplay. 

    Shiba Eternity menu screen.

    While the overall quality is high, there is still room for improvement. The card graphics focus heavily on Shiba Inu characters and become repetitive the more you play. Since there is little variation between cards, it can become difficult to tell which ones you have on the field or in your hand at a glance just by looking at the art.  

    However, the tutorial character Ryoshi (named after the pseudonymous Shiba Inu founder), who guides new players through the tutorial, doesn’t give off a great first impression. Despite sporting a refined and erudite voice worthy of any dojo master, the character’s sprite doesn’t match his appearance or the game’s overall aesthetic at all. 

    Ryoshi from the Shiba Eternity tutorial. (Source: @william_volk)

    Gameplay: 2 out of 5

    Games start with the players selecting their four starting cards and tossing a coin to decide who will go first. On a player’s turn, they can summon fighter cards to the field (but must wait a turn before attacking with them), play spell cards, attach equip cards to their Shiboshi, and attack their opponent. Only weak cards with one or two “bark power” can be played at the beginning of the game. However, players’ bark power increases after every turn, letting them use more powerful cards as the game progresses. 

    Each fighter card has an attack and armor rating. When a card attacks, its attack power is subtracted from the defending card’s armor. If the attacking card’s attack value exceeds the defending card’s armor, the latter is defeated and leaves the field. When no active character cards are on the field, players can attack their opponent’s Shiboshi directly. Players win the game if they reduce the opposing Shiboshi’s health from 30 to zero.  

    If you’ve played collectible card games like Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, you’ll likely recognize several gameplay mechanics that Shiba Eternity has borrowed. However, while some of these mechanics have become a universal standard and make Shiba Eternity more fast-paced and intuitive, others look cut and pasted from more successful games.

    Instead of creating a unique game that stands out from the abundance of collectible card games on the market, Shiba Eternity copied much of what made other games successful and only added a Shiba Inu-themed facade to try and camouflage that fact. If you’re a hardcore gamer looking for a new card game to dig your teeth into, Shiba Eternity will probably leave you disappointed. However, the game could find a better fit with a more casual audience. The gameplay is quick and fairly intuitive while still leaving room for some strategic decision-making.

    Regardless of the kind of gamer Shiba Eternity appeals to, there are some negative aspects of its gameplay that cannot be overlooked. Players already seem tired of “overpowered” decks controlling the meta. Soon after its release, posts on the game’s official subreddit started reporting that the Frostfire Blast deck, as it’s commonly referred to, has become increasingly popular among high-level players due to how strong it is. The imbalance has elicited such a reaction from the Shiba Eternity player base that the discussion of Frostfire Blast makes up most of its subreddit’s posts. 

    Elsewhere, the game’s quest system, designed to give players a constant sense of achievement as they play, is also proving detrimental to the gameplay. The quest system assigns players in-game tasks like using an “epic” rarity card ten times, rewarding them with experience and the kibble tokens needed to unlock new Shiboshis. However, as some players have noted, to fulfill these requirements, there is an incentive to hold opponents hostage in games, leaving them on a single point of life and continuing to play cards to meet the requirements for various quests. This incentive structure leads to a bad gaming experience for many players.

    While developers may fix these issues with time, the longer they persist, the less likely it is that players will stick around. Overall, the Shiba Eternity gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.

    Story and Lore: 1 out of 5

    Although the predominant theme in Shiba Eternity is martial arts, its backstory is a cataclysmic sci-fi romp dealing with an array of themes from battles with alien “Greys” to Shiba Inu-inhabited planets caught in a supernova event. 

    The basic gist is that following the 1951 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, humanity discovered technology from the “Shib Universe,” along with capturing a “Grey” alien who shared this information with the governments of the world. After reverse engineering the technology, humanity “harnessed the power of the Shibarium” and launched a spaceship called the SS Virgil to travel to one of ten inhabited Shiba galaxy planets.

    Upon arriving in the Shiba galaxy, war breaks out between the alien Greys (now called “shadowcats” for some reason) and the native Shiba Inu. After two wars, it’s revealed that when the SS Virgil traveled to the Shiba galaxy, it caused a dimensional tear that put two local stars on a collision course with each other. Now, the human crew of the SS Virgil, along with all Shiba-kind and a new character called “Queen Andromeda” (because why not), must team up to stop this extinction-level event from happening. 

    It’s not exactly clear how this lore intersects with the game. The central conceit seems to be that the Shiba Inus are sufficiently proficient in martial arts to combat the shadowcats in the war.

    To be frank, the Shiba Eternity lore is chaotic at best. The blog post outlining the story is a convoluted, poorly-written narrative that does little core worldbuilding. While there is, admittedly, a subjective element to the story surrounding the Shiba Inu ecosystem that might be lost on some people (such as myself), numerous points still fall flat. 

    Like the card game, the story behind it is littered with dog-themed puns and Shiba Inu references. Everything important in the lore starts with the prefix “Shiba,” making it needlessly difficult to follow what’s going on and revealing the writer’s marked lack of imagination. While the story is certainly ambitious, it fails to add context and color to the game and will likely leave the reader more confused than when they started. 

    Crypto Element: 1 out of 5

    There’s not much to say about the crypto element in Shiba Eternity, as it’s non-existent in the current version of the game. However, according to the game’s developers, there are plans for a blockchain version of the Shiba Eternity that will allow players to use NFTs from the 10,000 Shiboshis collection in the game to earn token rewards (It’s also worth noting that the Shiboshis that players can “create” in the free version of the game are all copies of Shiboshis from the NFT collection). Various blog posts outlining the Shiba Inu ecosystem have referenced a reward token called TREAT, which will likely play a role in Shiba Eternity in the future.

    The lack of a blockchain element has been a disappointment for many onlookers and Shiba Inu fans alike. Many had assumed that players would be able to use SHIB for in-game transactions, a relatively simple feature that remains absent for the time being. While there are hints that the future version of the game will help tie together disparate parts of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, such as the planned Shibarium Layer 2 chain, Shiba Inu Metaverse project, and Shiba Inu-backed stablecoin, there is no concrete roadmap detailing if, and when this might happen. 

    Final Thoughts

    Despite its faults, Shiba Eternity’s release is a landmark moment for both the SHIB cryptocurrency and the broader Shiba Inu ecosystem. What started as a meme coin, launched to capitalize on the Dogecoin hype preceding it, has transformed into a fully-fledged brand with the power to attract leading game developers. Although this first attempt is lacking in certain areas, the fact that it happened at all should cause even the most vocal Shiba skeptics to think twice before writing it off as a joke project.

    However, if Shiba Eternity and the Shiba Inu brand want to go further, they must tighten up their operations. Clear, professional communication and brand strategy are a must going forward, as is consolidating the various projects created under the Shiba Inu banner. At its heart, Shiba Inu is a crypto project, and anything that uses its intellectual property should follow this example.

    Disclosure: At the time of writing this review, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies. 

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