As I noted in a post on X not long ago, I went to see a man about a horse… and I bought it. Well, I lied.
I actually bought 10 horses over 10 days. Probably, overkill. Or an addictive personality.
But I defend myself by asserting that Photo Finish Live is the single-most engaging game I’ve played. And
that fact that in my first 12 days playing the game I won more than $1,000, well that’s a helluva reason to
keep me managing my stable of ponies.
And frankly, now is the time to learn about the game.
For the next six-ish months, every race not only dispenses winnings to the horses that reach the podium, it dispenses $CROWN, the game’s in-house utility token that’s primarily used for staking. This, however,
is no run-of-the-mill staking. You stake to own portions of the race tracks that populate the game, and
then share in the fees they earn for hosting the races.
But let me back up…
If you’re not familiar with Photo Finish Live, it’s a crypto-based horse-racing game on the Solana
blockchain that sprang from a popular Web2 game of the same name.
The premise is this: You own a stable, in which you buy, sell, race, and breed horses. You’re spending real
money to buy the horses as digital assets, each of which has its own internal characteristics that
determine the animal’s on-track performance—factors like stamina, speed, heart, etc. Because of the
breeding aspect built into the game, the combination of traits is practically infinite.
Races start every few minutes and are “live,” as though you’re watching a race on TV. They span a broad
range of race types to fit the different grades of horses in the game, so even lower-grade horses can be
competitive and earn an income. Each horse can race basically one per day.
And because each horse falls into a certain grade, and has certain preferences, you must navigate a
sizable list of potential races to pick one you think will best showcase your horse’s ability.
Win, and you share the purse with the other horses on the podium.
Lose… well, it’s back to the drawing board to figure out a better type of race for your horse.
In essence, this is a deeply strategic game, lightyears beyond typical Web3 games.
Which helps explain why players have spent more than $3.3 million buying horses, more than $3 million
in race-entry fees, and why 9 out of 10 players who start the game are still playing two months later.
The Photo Finish Live team has designed a game to mimic as closely as possible what real-world horse
racing looks like. That means racing and breeding horses, participating in track ownership… and even the
death of horses.
Yes, these digital horses are not infinite assets. They live for between 20 and 25 years and then die. In
the game’s ecosystem, a year equals four weeks, meaning, at most, you’ll own your horse for about two
years. Devs built death into the game to not only reflect the realities of owning a racehorse, but to
ensure a continual turnover of horses over time, leading to continual demand for the two in-house
currencies, $DERBY (used for entry fees and to pay winnings) and $CROWN (the staking/utility token).
In some races, the $CROWN earned for entering a race exceeds the cost of entry, meaning no matter
how your horse finishes, you’re in the black financially. The team will distribute $CROWN with every race
through Season 13. Season 8 launched on Oct. 23, so slightly less than six seasons remain for collecting
$CROWN.
Aside from $CROWN, income opportunities arise from: winning races; selling horses for more than your
purchase prices; earning a stud fee for breeding a male; selling the foals from breeding females; and
earning income from entry fees the tracks collect (assuming you stake your $CROWN). There are stable
owners with scores of horses that are earning tens of thousands of dollars per month, net of fees. (One
stable owner has earned nearly $150,000 in a few months just breeding horses.)
Even Churchill Downs, home of the real-life Kentucky Derby, has partnered with Photo Finish Live. It
owns a track—called Churchill Downs—and sponsors qualifying races that lead up to a digital Kentucky
Derby.
The best way to get started: Buy a horse!
If you want to start racing and earning $CROWN immediately, you’ll want a 2- to 4-year-old horse. In the
A grades, those fetch about 20,000 to 25,000 $DERBY, or $250 at the low end. ($DERBY always coverts at
80 to $1 USD). If you don’t mind waiting for one or two seasons, a non-racing, B grade foal will cost
about 8,000 $DERBY ($100), or for 25,000 $DERBY ($312.50) you can buy an S-minus foal. (S grades are
top-end).
After that, it’s just a matter of figuring out what race is best for your horse.
For me, Photo Finish Live has developed a truly engaging crypto-based game. And the income is real. I
call it digital cocaine, because the high is so addicting.
If you want to see a man about a horse, too, head over to Photofinish.live… and begin your addiction.