For years, traditional sports games have followed the same formula: you pick a team, maybe make-a-player, play matches then grind for in-game rewards. Not bad but could be better.
Organized sports in real life are currently soaking in a new wave of betting apps. And mainstream sports game modes are awash in trading cards and strange tokens that would be crypto if not for the kids. It made me wonder if all that could be just a bit more interesting.
That thought became an interest in sports management; finding hidden gems like 4th & Loud as part of the research. I wanted behind the scenes. Keeping up with the Wrexham experiment and even joined a rec league.
I noticed how much the relationship between fans and their favorite sports vary but usually lean toward mutually beneficial. Then there are the players and their experience does tend to depend on what league their team is in.
For example, the NFL caters much more to its teams than its fans but overall people see the institution as a net positive. As long as the teams do their part in the community. Like “trickle down” economics. This is true for other sports too. So the expectation to generally do better is there IRL.
But sports games are hard to do well and tend to exploit the player base as much as possible. Worse, there’s the familiarity trap common with popular sports like American football. Where new football games are alienated by licensing. Making it tricky to attract interest from would-be fans.
I started designing a project around those thoughts while trying to explore new sports and then I found one.
TOPL TECH
The decision to make a “blockchain” game never really happened. Instead it was being intimately familiar with blockchain game engines and already having my own. So it’s what I used to start building. Plus I had assets from a side project that had been slowly accumulating notes.
Properly inspired, I set out to create a persistent, fast-paced and competitive digital sports league. Owned by its players. Where every match and decision shapes the future of the game.
For its token I chose the name TOPL for a couple reasons. The first being that the project is based on the Japanese sport Bo-Taoshi 棒倒し. Which means, “pole toppling”. But also after a function in code which tokenizes players. Officially though, TOPL is the Pole Toppling League token.
You can tell the logo was made by a programmer. But really I wanted to keep it simple because who knows how the match engine and graphics component will evolve over time (it’s changed multiple times).
Since last Summer I changed the working title of the 2D match engine to Stickdown! which stuck and is now the name of the entire front-end.
The most user facing component of a few layers of technology including:
- Solana (SOL) where the TOPL token exists.
- Middleware ensuring Discord, web(3), desktop and mobile cross-compatibility where some game mechanics also operate.
- A fully rendered 2D visualization of the core match engine set to release on PC and Linux.
With middleware in particular doing a lot of heavy lifting. Some I’d like to alleviate with smart contracts in the future. But what it allows is flexibility and scalability for players to:
✅ Participate in a dynamic economy where your attention, skill and savvy determine how much you earn. TOPL isn’t artificially pumped. It simply grows as the league grows, keeping the economy balanced and sustainable.
✅ Manage your career as a player, signing contracts and earning rewards.
✅ Own and operate a team by staking TOPL, the in-game token that fuels the economy.
✅ Run your own league with the open-source tools in development, giving you more control in the long term.
At this time there are no plans to explore the use of NFTs.
Stickdown!
Stickdown is the desktop client and first official front-end for TOPL. When offline it runs on the same match engine as those used in simulating matches online. It is a localized take on Bo-Taoshi, a game of strategy, teamwork, and pure physical chaos. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s cool!
Web3 Optional
First, It’s a Game — Stickdown is a fast, skill-based action sports game that you can just boot up and play on PC or Linux. No Web3 wallets or accounts required to start. Fully capable of being played offline.
However, creating an account does allow passive play and access to a vibrant digital economy in which players can take advantage of:
🏆 A Career That Grows While You’re Away — You’re not locked to your screen to progress. Whether you’re playing, training, or negotiating contracts, your digital athlete keeps developing over time, even when you’re offline.
🔗 A Decentralized, Persistent League — Players don’t just disappear after a match. They age, retire, and leave behind a legacy — creating a real sense of history. Every win matters. Every contract decision has weight. Every team’s success is built on strategy and long-term planning.
💰 The TOPL Economy — Sustainability is a priority, since TOPL is designed for real in-game utility. It fuels player contracts, team ownership, and staking mechanisms, encouraging a dynamic and competitive economy instead of a short-lived gold rush.
How to Get TOPL
The good news is we just launched! I could go on further about why we chose to deploy on pump.fun. But it comes down to this ultimately being a game and I think they know what fun is.
Right now new player registrations for season 1 are taking place on our Discord channel. Just follow the prompts to be granted free agency. Which makes you eligible to earn TOPL passively by playing in conference games.
🚀Find out more — topltoken.com
📢 Join the conversation on Discord — https://discord.gg/xJSyZ53dVQ
🎮 For the latest in-game updates see— stickdown.com
