Glossary

Birthing Fee - Every action on the Ethereum network costs a gas fee to be processed. This includes birthing new kittens, so we charge users a birthing fee to cover this cost.

Blockchain - A digital ledger in which transactions are recorded chronologically, permanently, and publicly. CryptoKitties runs on the Ethereum blockchain network.

Breeding - Users can breed two of their CryptoKitties together or breed with another player’s cats to create a new CryptoKitty that may reveal new traits.

Catalogue - The Catalogue collects the latest Purrstige traits, Fancy Cats, Special Edition Kitties, and Exclusive Cats all in one place. It's the best way to quickly browse valuable Kitties across every category.

Cattributes - Genetic traits that determine the appearance of a CryptoKitty. *Note that in certain patterns, not all colours may be visually expressed, but because the colour Cattribute still appears on the Kitty’s profile, the Kitty is still said to have that Cattribute.

Cooldown Speed - After a CryptoKitty breeds it needs to rest. You’ll see a “Resting” or “Bun in the Oven” tag on cats that have just finished breeding. A cat’s starting rest period length, its “Cooldown Period,” is determined by its generation and increases the more the Kitty breeds.

Cryptocollectibles – Tokens that represent non-fungible digital assets, like art or digital Kitties. They are not classified as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether.

Dame - Mommy Kitty. You do the math.

Ether - Ether is the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network and in CryptoKitties.

Ethereum - CryptoKitties runs on the Ethereum blockchain network. The Ethereum network runs programs called Smart Contracts. In CryptoKitties, smart contracts allow players to breed, buy, and sell Kitties. Smart contracts run free of human intervention, making them safe, efficient, and trustworthy.

Exclusive Cat - An Exclusive Cat is similar to a Fancy Cat in that it features special artwork, but instead of being bred these cats are created by the CryptoKitties developers. Exclusive Cats are often created to commemorate major events or partnerships –– like our one millionth cat or special Lil BUB Kitty –– and are the rarest cats in the game.

Fancy Cat - Fancy Cats are CryptoKitties that feature special artwork and are often limited edition or time limited. They’re created when Kitties are born with a particular combination of traits.

Gas - Gas represents the computational power used to process and add a transaction to the Ethereum blockchain. For a transaction to be approved a user must pay a transaction fee to the computers that confirm transactions. You can set the gas price for your transaction, which will affect the speed that it’s processed. A higher gas price means faster processing, a lower gas price slower. A transaction will use as much gas as is required, up to the user-defined limit. If the gas limit is reached, the transaction will fail (and no gas cost will be refunded).

Generation Number - Every Kitty has a Generation number. A Kitty's generation is the higher generation number of its two parents plus one. The generation determines the initial breeding cooldown of your cat, which grows longer the more the cat breeds.

Gift Kitty - If users are feeling particularly generous, they’re able to give cats to another user.

Gwei - Gas prices on the Ethereum blockchain are set in Gwei. One Gwei is 1/1,000,000,000 of an ether.

KittyVerse - The Kittyverse is the wider collection of games, apps, and experiences built by third-party community developers that work on top of CryptoKitties and enhance the game experience. Some of these are tools to help players breed such as Kitty Calc and Kitty Box. Others, like KittyRaces and KittyHats, are games users can play with their Kitties.

Marketplace - On the CryptoKitties web app, this is where Kitties up for sale or siring can be found.

MetaMask - MetaMask is a cryptowallet, an app that allows users to buy, store, and transfer ether on the Ethereum network. Read more about MetaMask here.​

Offer - Offers are another way to buy cats. Using the game's Offers system, players can make a bid in ETH for any Kitty in the game, even if they're not currently up for sale. Once an offer is made, the owner can choose to accept or decline it. Offers expire after three days.

Preggers - This indicates when a CryptoKitty is pregnant.

Sire - If we had to throw labels around, this would be the daddy Kitty. This Kitty will not become pregnant, but will need to rest before it can breed again.

Siring Auction - Players can allow others to breed with one of their Kitties for a price through a Siring Auction. The owner of the siring Kitty sets the price to breed with their cat.

Special Edition Cat - Special Edition Kitties are cats with special artwork that are released for sale for in a limited quantity. They're similar to Exclusive Cats in that they have unique art, but where only a handful of each Exclusive Cat gets created, Special Edition Kitties are released in larger numbers. While Special Edition Kitties have genetic traits and can be used to breed new regular cats, another version of the Special Edition Kitty itself cannot be bred, only bought.

Traits - Traits are the genes that determine a Kitty’s visual appearance (except when the Kitty is a fancy or exclusive). Every CryptoKitty has the same visible trait categories: pattern, highlight colour, eye colour, eye shape, base colour, accent colour, mouth, and fur. There are two additional traits that only some Kitties possess: a potential wild element like elk horns or daemonwings or an environmental one like salty. Purrstige traits are a third category of trait. Purrstige traits are special time-limited cattributes that can be bred based on a recipe of genes. There is still one unexpressed trait category that players have yet to discover (so far it’s a secret what it does, but it's there ;)).