CryptoKitties is, at its core, about the cats. It’s about the fun of creating these unique digital creatures, breeding two together and never knowing exactly how it’s going to turn out. It’s about chasing specific traits and Fancy Cats and being delighted by the happy accidents that might just create the dream Kitty you never knew you wanted.

There’s a lot to do in CryptoKitties, and we know that at first breeding adorable cats can seem a little daunting. We want to give new players a leg (or paw) up, so we compiled some tips, tricks, and advice from some of our most experience Kitty collectors here to give you a head start.

Don’t spend too much on gas fees

When you sign up for Metamask it will automatically set a default “gas limit” and “gas price” for you. You can adjust that default gas price to your liking, either raising it to ensure shorter wait times on transactions, or lowering it to save some money in fees. Do not touch the gas limit, though! This can cause your transaction to fail and result in unnecessary costs. For a more in-depth explainer on gas, visit our post here.

To get a sense of what’s a reasonable gas price, visit ethgasstation.info and enter the “Gas Price Std (Gwei)” value in the “Gas Price” field in your MetaMask transaction window. The gas price can fluctuate greatly, so we advise that you check this website before you send every transaction. Be careful not to set your gas price too low or the network may not process your transaction until the standard gas price drops to your set level. This could take hours, or sometimes days.

Understanding generations

As a general rule, lower generation Kitties are more valuable than higher generation ones. Kitties of lower generations have faster cooldown speeds, which means they can breed more often. To learn more about cooldown speed, check out this section.​

The costs

Every time you breed a Kitty you must pay a set fee of 0.008 ether. In fact, every transaction on the Ethereum blockchain requires a fee, which will vary based on the network’s current traffic (higher traffic means a higher fee). If traffic is unusually high, your transaction may be added to a queue and be sent through at a quieter time when fees are lower. Try to avoid unnecessary transactions so you don’t pay more fees than necessary. ​(For a full list of costs and fees, see our post here.)

Understanding rarity

Some traits will start off rare but become more common very quickly through breeding. Other traits may retain their rarity for longer. Make sure you understand a little bit about trait rarity before you spend a lot of ETH on a Kitty with new traits. See How to Choose a Rare and Valuable Kitty or visit our Discord community for some advice on traits.

Have realistic expectations

First and foremost, this is a game centered around collecting digital cats, not an investment portfolio or a get-rich-quick opportunity. If you're collecting CryptoKitties with the intention of making a quick buck, you're going to miss all the magic and fun (and, let’s be honest, probably the quick buck, too). This is primarily a collector’s game. You might make some money, but don't be annoyed if you don't. Just love your cats.