Parallel Colony and The Intersection of Gaming and AI

Colony, as the first major implementation of AI agents in gaming in crypto, is extremely interesting. The prospect of players harnessing AI agents to build an onchain colony as early as late 2024 – and use them to transact onchain – is a pivotal advancement in the realm of onchain gaming.

Given that crypto games have been dominated by farming simulators (similar to Stardew Valley), and Pokemon derivatives, the importance of Colony cannot be understated. In addition, the incorporation of AI into Colony seems to be relatively unforced. Similarly to how the team incorporated NFTs into Parallel TCG, which worked very well in the context of a collectible card game, using AI agents to build colonies works conceptually.

The competitive landscape remains sparse. Currently, there are a small number of AI agent protocols/platforms, with the major player being Autonolas. Although Wayfinder is likely not set to launch until later this year, it does introduce both a new protocol and new token for AI agents, from a reputable and well-known team, as well as a new native token (PROMPT) that has the ability to be farmed by PRIME stakers.

The PROMPT token is set to be the native token associated with Wayfinder. As of writing, the Wayfinder team has proposed that 45% of Wayfinder’s native token, PROMPT, should be distributed to Echelon Prime ecosystem tokens. As outlined in the whitepaper, PRIME holders would stake their tokens within Wayfinder to receive PROMPT emissions across three years. PROMPT would potentially be used to acquire AI agents through Wayfinder, access Wayfinder and participate in governance. 

Parallel’s tokenomics are already more robust and sustainable compared to other gaming projects. This is due to the presence of multiple token sinks, mainly in the form of cosmetics, cards and avatars, which can increase earnings and allow players to scale. One potential issue is if the cost of in-game purchases and participation in both Parallel TCG and Parallel Colony becomes too high, which could lead to the player base diminishing as players are priced out. The team has suggested some preemptive fixes, specifically regarding avatar pricing. In Parallel Colony, players will need a Parallel Avatar NFT to play, however there are only 11001 Avatars in circulation currently. To ensure that the player base can expand beyond 11K, there may be additional Avatars launched on Solana, as well as a breeding program, similar to Axie Infinity.

Despite its novel gameplay and upcoming token utility, for all its promise, there are a few conceptual issues with the game to be aware of. Firstly, it is difficult to decide if a collaboration dynamic between AI agents and players is sustainable. Players generally want to play in a specific way, with specific strategies. AI agents can be taught these strategies, but they may also disagree, reject and offer alternatives. This could pose a problem, especially if a player may not want to perform certain tasks in the most efficient way. For example, some players enjoy roleplaying. An AI agent may view this as unnecessary and inefficient, and act in the player’s “best interest” (i.e. in the most efficient way).

Additionally, AI agents can be extremely difficult to work with, and lead to frustration. For example, users of ChatGPT may have noticed that it has had periods where it becomes increasingly “lazy” and difficult to work with. This could potentially pose an issue for the game, if players become frustrated and stop playing.