ECHOES whitepaper
Version 1.0, October 2026. This document will change as the game is built.
Abstract
ECHOES is a survival and evolution game about raising creatures on a world where life is disappearing. Every player starts with a single mysterious egg. The organism inside evolves in its own way, shaped by the player's choices, activity and the people they play with. Players battle other caretakers in the arena, send creatures on expeditions to gather resources and discover mutations in what is left of the living world.
The game runs on Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer 2. Creatures can become collectibles that carry their genome, rarity and history. The $ECHO token connects the community, the game economy and the players who were there first. The game comes first: it has to be worth playing with no rewards at all.
The last living world
Something went wrong slowly. The forests dimmed, the oceans thickened and one by one the species that held the world together stopped answering. The labs that tried to save them were abandoned in a hurry, their incubators left running.
Players arrive as caretakers. They recover eggs from those labs and from the bioluminescent forests that still pulse at night. Nobody knows what is inside them. Some contain species that were lost. Some contain things that never existed before, mutations born from a world under pressure. Every creature that survives is an echo of the life that used to be here.
Gameplay
The egg
Every player receives one egg. It incubates through stages, reacts to what the player does and reveals clues about what it holds. The egg is the player's first creature and the start of their bloodline.
Evolution
Once hatched, a creature evolves continuously. Its appearance, traits and abilities change according to how it is raised: where it explores, what it feeds on, which battles it fights and which other creatures it spends time with. Two players who start with the same species will end up with very different animals.
On top of the egg and evolution, ECHOES stands on two pillars: PvP battles, the main draw, and farming, the production loop that feeds it. The goal is a game of strategy, evolution, competition and steady progression.
Pillar one: the PvP Arena
Strategic battles between creatures. They are decided by preparation and decisions, not reflexes: attributes, abilities, elements, genetic traits, the arena itself and timing.
- Creatures with depth. Every creature has attributes (power, agility, resilience, instability), abilities with an energy cost, an element and genetic traits.
- Elements. Elements have advantages and disadvantages against each other, so team building matters as much as raw strength.
- Arenas. Each arena has its own environment and conditions that favour some creatures and punish others.
- Growth. Creatures evolve and get stronger through play. Losing never destroys a creature.
- Competition. Ranked play is organised in seasons with a competitive ladder, and performance and participation are rewarded.
Pillar two: farming and expeditions
Players send creatures on expeditions into the four regions to gather resources. It is the production side of the game: slower, planned, and the source of what creatures need to evolve.
- Efficiency. Each creature performs differently depending on its species, attributes and stage of evolution, and some regions suit some species.
- Missions. Expeditions have different lengths and difficulty levels, with better yields for harder runs.
- Energy. Creatures spend energy on expeditions and battles and recover it over time. This keeps play paced and the economy balanced.
- Resources. What expeditions bring back is used for evolution, upgrades and other systems.
The world
The map is made of four regions in different states of decay: the Verdant Expanse, the Ashlands, the Drowned Labs and the Abyss. Each offers its own resources and pressures that push evolution in particular directions. Global events change the world for everyone at once.
Economy design
$ECHO can become part of the game economy, but no in-game token rewards will be switched on until emission, spending, limits and long-term sustainability are designed, modelled and published. Until then, battles and expeditions are designed to be worth playing for progression alone.
Genetics and mutation
Each creature carries a genome: a set of genes that control body plan, abilities, temperament and appearance. Genes can be dominant or recessive, and many only express themselves under certain conditions.
- Inheritance. When creatures breed, offspring inherit a mix of both parents' genes.
- Expression. Environment and behaviour decide which genes switch on as a creature grows.
- Mutation. Rare combinations of genes, events and conditions produce mutations. A few of these unlock species that are not in any record.
- Rarity. Rarity comes from how hard a genome is to reproduce, not from a random roll at mint.
The exact mutation recipes are part of the game and will not be published. Players discover them.
Creatures on-chain
A creature can be minted as a collectible on Robinhood Chain. The token records its genome, rarity, lineage and a history of its evolution, so a creature's story travels with it. Collectibles are optional: every part of the game can be played without minting or buying anything.
Later in development, players will be able to trade creatures, items and resources with each other. The game economy is designed around play, not speculation; rewards come from doing things in the world.
Genesis Collection
The first six species recovered from the Genesis incubators. They set the visual and genetic direction for the game. These are concept designs: nothing has been minted, and traits and mutations will change as the genetics system is built.
| Creature | Species | Traits | Possible mutations |
|---|---|---|---|
| NYX, Shadowborn | Spectral feline | Phase step between shadows; Violet night sight; Spectral tail that never stops moving | Eclipsed coat; Twin tails; Hollow eyes |
| VYRA, Bioflare | Bioluminescent reptile | Light-storing scales; Charged dorsal spines; Regrows lost scales | Crystal spines; Blackscale; Solar bloom |
| KORVAX, Ironblood | Armoured quadruped | Organic armour plates; Heat core; Unstoppable charge | Molten core; Twin horns; Rust-veined plates |
| AERIS, Voidwing | Aerial drifter | Translucent star-field wings; Rides high currents for days; Echo sight | Nebula membrane; Four wings; Starless |
| MORPH, The Unknown | Unclassified organism | Shifts its form; Many eyes, none the same; Absorbs traits from others | Not catalogued |
| ECLIPSE, Genesis Anomaly | Unknown | Unknown genome; Living corona; A third eye that never closes | Unknown |
The waitlist
The waitlist is the first playable part of ECHOES. Every wallet that joins receives an egg and starts earning DNA Points. Points move the egg through incubation, unlock genetic clues and decide each player's share of the waitlist airdrop.
Earning DNA Points
| Task | DNA | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Connect your wallet | +100 | Yes |
| Complete the Combat Trial | +200 | Yes |
| Follow ECHOES on X | None | No |
| Invite a survivor who completes the Combat Trial | +200 | No |
| Share of your invited players' points | 10% | No |
Incubation stages
| Stage | From | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Dormant | Join | The shell is cold. Something inside is listening. |
| Stirring | 300 DNA | A faint pulse. It turns toward light. |
| Veined | 800 DNA | Veins surface under the shell. Its blood runs cyan. |
| Cracking | 1,600 DNA | Hairline fractures. It has started to push back. |
| Awakening | 3,200 DNA | An eye opens behind the shell. It recognises you. |
| Echo-born | 6,000 DNA | Unknown mutation. This lineage is not in any record. |
The stage an egg reaches on the waitlist carries into the game. Higher stages hatch with cosmetic marks that later players cannot get, and every egg keeps the clues it unlocked.
Invites
Each player has a personal invite link. An invite counts once the new player has connected a wallet and finished the Combat Trial on the server. The inviter then receives 200 DNA and 10% of every point that player earns while the list is open. Inviting yourself is not possible, and if an invited player is flagged, every point they generated for the inviter is voided.
What is verified
Points are only given for actions the server can prove. The wallet is proven with a signature. The Combat Trial is played on the server: the browser only chooses actions, while damage, the opponent and the result are computed and recorded by the server. Follows cannot be proven without paid X access, so following is recommended but gives no points. Every change to a balance is recorded in a points ledger that can be audited.
The $ECHO token
| Name | ECHOES |
| Ticker | $ECHO |
| Network | Robinhood Chain (chain ID 4663), an Ethereum layer 2. Gas is paid in ETH. |
| Standard | ERC-20 |
| Total supply | 1,000,000,000, fixed. No minting after launch. |
| Launch | October 31, 2026 |
Distribution
| Allocation | Share | Tokens | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public launch and liquidity | 70% | 700,000,000 | Released at launch. Liquidity is paired on a Robinhood Chain DEX. |
| Waitlist airdrop | 5% | 50,000,000 | Split by DNA Points among eligible waitlist wallets. |
| Player rewards and ecosystem | 12% | 120,000,000 | Emitted through gameplay, events and seasons over several years. |
| Team | 8% | 80,000,000 | 3-month cliff, then 12 months of linear vesting. |
| Marketing and partnerships | 5% | 50,000,000 | Campaigns, creator programs and integrations. |
Planned utility
These are design directions, not live features. Each one ships only after the economy design above is published.
- Evolution and upgrades. Catalysts that speed evolution or upgrade creatures, partly burned when used.
- Arena seasons. Seasonal competitions and their prize pools, paid from the player rewards allocation.
- Expeditions. Optional boosts and equipment for harder expeditions, with strict limits so farming cannot inflate supply.
- Governance. Holders vote on world events and which regions open next.
Waitlist airdrop rules
- 5% of supply, 50,000,000 $ECHO, is reserved for the waitlist.
- To be eligible a wallet must complete every core mission (connect the wallet and finish the Combat Trial), with one wallet per player.
- The waitlist closes when $ECHO launches. Points earned after that do not count toward the pool.
- Entries that use multiple wallets, run bots or game the invite system are flagged and excluded, and the points they generated for others are voided.
- Allocations are sent to the connected wallet on Robinhood Chain after the final snapshot. We never ask for a seed phrase, a private key or a payment to claim.
The allocation shown on each dashboard is an estimate that updates as players join. It becomes final when the allocation snapshot is taken at the close of the waitlist.
Roadmap
| Phase | When | What ships |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis waitlist | Now | Eggs, DNA Points, invites, leaderboard and the live allocation. |
| Token launch | October 31, 2026 | $ECHO goes live on Robinhood Chain. The waitlist closes and the final allocation snapshot is taken. |
| Airdrop | After the check | Waitlist allocations are sent to eligible wallets. |
| Hatching | Q1 2027 | Eggs hatch. Each player meets their first creature, its starting genome and attributes. |
| Expeditions alpha | Q2 2027 | Farming: send creatures into the four regions, energy and recovery, first resources and evolution. |
| PvP Arena | Q3 2027 | Strategic battles, elements, arena conditions and the first ranked season. |
| Seasons and economy | Q4 2027 | Seasonal ladders, creature collectibles and the published token economy. |
Dates after launch are targets and may move as the game is tested.
Design principles
- Fun without rewards. If a feature is only worth doing for the token, it is redesigned.
- No two creatures alike. Evolution is driven by play, so a creature reflects the player who raised it.
- Discovery over disclosure. Mutation recipes, hidden species and world secrets are found, not published.
- Collectibles extend the game. Owning a creature on-chain adds to the experience and is never required to play.
- Earned, not bought. The strongest advantages come from time, strategy and cooperation.
Risks and disclaimer
ECHOES is in development. Features, timelines and token utility described here may change or not be delivered. $ECHO is a community and in-game token. It is not an investment, a share or a claim on any company or revenue, and carries no promise of profit or future value. Digital assets are volatile and can lose all of their value. Smart contracts and blockchains can fail. Only take part with what you can afford to lose, and check that holding digital assets is legal where you live. Nothing in this document is financial, legal or investment advice.