# Tokenomics Rise of the Pixels revolves around a single game currency: the Hive Engine $PXL token. There is no premine or founder’s share. $PXL is a circular economy: tokens that enter sinks return to pools that supply faucets. The total size of the pools depend largely on user actions. **Total minted $PXL is tightly controlled by two levers:** 1. Number of packs purchased by Players 2. Game developers’ discretion ## Lever 1: Packs purchased by Players Every 8-bit pack purchased releases 100 soulbound (cannot be traded) PXL Coins, which must be spent in-game to trigger the minting of $PXL Tokens. The Starter Pack that comes with the Studio Dev License emits about 250 PXL Coins. There are 30,000 total 8-bit packs, which can be any mix of regular or starter pack, but with a strong bias towards regular packs. **Within the 8-bit era, we can safely estimate that the total $PXL mintable by pack purchase will be less than 4,000,000 tokens.** This soft cap could increase upon the issuance of a new pack-set. ## Lever 2: Game developers’ discretion Our goal is to create a fun and rewarding game. To this end, we may inject $PXL tokens into the economy to bolster user activity or enjoyment. For example, if a situation arises where many created games are failing to produce more $PXL than it costs to make them (despite having good ratings), we could inject the [Reward Pools](/economics/game-rewards/reward-pools.md) with extra $PXL to help boost rewards. Special Events or Game Modes may also be introduced that create small PXL Coin or Token faucets. We have no current plans to use a $PXL sale to fund development. If those plans change, there will be a full discussion with the community to weigh concerns and sentiment. ## Current $PXL Faucets Apart from the two levers discussed above, the only other way for a Player to obtain $PXL is to play the main loop of the game. They must create games that generally outperform other games in the in-game market. $PXL rewards will be issued every hour for at least 20 hours after a game is released. The total $PXL earned may or may not cover the costs of game development. Like any business, Players must manage their budgets carefully. We anticipate this tension being a core contributor to regulating sell pressure. ## Current $PXL Sinks Most in-game actions require $PXL. Spent $PXL is not burned: it is returned to several pools (see: [Reward Pools](/economics/game-rewards/reward-pools.md)) that supply the main Faucet. Sinks include: * Creating [Games](/gameplay/games.md) * [Research and Development](/gameplay/research-and-development.md) & Tech Debt Upkeep * [Training](/gameplay/training.md) * Upkeep of [Accessories](/team-and-accessories/accessories.md) * Fees charged by [Recruiters](/gameplay/recruiters.md) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://rulebook.riseofthepixels.com/economics/tokenomics.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.