🎙️ Fun with Taco Clicker and Tacos

The Spaces features Marco (creator of Mescal and Taco Clicker) in conversation with host Jay and co-host Barbara about building on the Alkans/Arkins ecosystem. Marco explains Mescal as a UTXO-based, Runes-inspired protocol that lets creators launch tokens and charge BTC natively, with programmability planned later. He focuses now on Taco Clicker: upgrades generate Tortilla, emissions halve every ~2,500 blocks, and a daily Salsa Block lottery pays 35% of global Tortilla production to one winner. Recent participation dipped due to halving, Diesel-related drama, and indexer instability during a Diesel upgrade; he has migrated to Flex’s main endpoints to stabilize. Marco details a Merkle airdrop (mint-on-claim, ~5 days of production, 50% allocated to prior Mescal Taco holders), game strategies (bet 1.01x and claim right before Salsa Block), current LPs (Tortilla-BUSD, Tortilla-14, Tortilla-Love Bomb), and plans to add Diesel minting on bets to counter bot dominance. He previews a new “liquidity funnel” platform that sources external liquidity (initially BUSD) into Alkans LPs, using its revenues to buy back Tortilla for sustainable value. The group also discusses Oil AMM’s flat front-end fee, industry events (Hong Kong, Istanbul), and the need for more casual community Spaces.

Taco Clicker on Alkans: Deep-Dive with Creator Marco (plus Mescal, liquidity, Diesel, and growth)

Participants and roles

• Marco (guest, creator of Mescal and Taco Clicker): principal builder, runs infra, designs token/game economics, and is leading a new liquidity funnel product.
• Host (name not clearly captured; possibly Jay): moderates, frames the discussion, raises ecosystem topics (Diesel, fees, events), and relays community questions.
• Barbara (co-host/participant): asks clarifying questions (airdrop/unclaimed tokens, pools), provides user-perspective feedback, and comments on events/community.
• Community and builders mentioned: Flex (Alkans core infra), Titanium (builder; associated with a large “Forti/14” pool), Methane (token/pool), BitcoinMaxi Billian (user asking about crashes), Refer Madness (active player), Kobe and Airhead (shared fee-related info), plus broader Asia-based player base (WeChat groups).

Quick context: Mescal, Alkans, and Taco Clicker

• Mescal: a UTXO-based protocol inspired by Runes. Marco built a Runes-compatible indexer from scratch and extended/changed aspects to form Mescal.
  • No programmability yet (planned later), but includes native features like monetized token launches where creators can charge BTC in a decentralized way.
  • Mescal’s token is “taco.”
• Alkans (ecosystem): a Bitcoin-adjacent UTXO environment with AMMs, indexers, on-chain games, and the Diesel token (minted via on-chain activity). Tooling and indexers are still maturing.
• Taco Clicker: a clicker/idle game deployed on Alkans where players buy in-game upgrades that generate “tortilla,” an Alkans asset. It integrates a game-within-game called the Salsa Block (a probabilistic block event) to win a share of global emissions.

Taco Clicker: game mechanics and economics

• Core loop:
  • Players purchase upgrades; upgrades generate tortilla continuously.
  • Unclaimed tortilla accumulates off-chain within the game state until the user “claims,” at which point tortilla is minted to their wallet.
• Global issuance and halving:
  • Tortilla emissions are distributed globally across all players and undergo periodic halvings (every ~2,500 blocks; roughly biweekly cadence per Marco’s description).
  • Early epochs had higher daily issuance; participation and incentives naturally compress after halving.
• Salsa Block (the “game inside the game”):
  • Every 144 blocks, players can “bet” using their unclaimed tortilla on a multiplier derived from the block hash.
  • Multipliers range from ~1.01x up to 10,000x, with probabilities diminishing exponentially as the multiplier increases (e.g., ~50% for 2x, ~25% for 4x, ~12.5% for 8x, etc.).
  • One player per day wins 35% of all tortilla generated globally that day. In the first epoch, this could be ~540,000 tortilla on ~2 million/day issuance.
  • Practical strategy (Marco’s tips): most players minimize risk by (1) claiming right before Salsa Block to reduce bet exposure and (2) selecting a very low multiplier like 1.01x (≈99% win probability). You bet your “unclaimed” tortilla, not what’s already minted in your wallet.
• Airdrop and supply impact:
  • Pre-launch, a Merkle airdrop targeted ~1.08–1.8 million addresses, allocating 50% of the tortilla airdrop to existing Mescal taco holders to give them utility.
  • Airdrop mechanics: tortilla is only minted upon claim. Unclaimed allocations were never minted; thus, no lasting inflation from unclaimed amounts.
  • Marco calibrated the airdrop to be roughly equivalent to five days of tortilla production, minimizing supply shock.

Growth, user acquisition, and community profile

• Early traction:
  • ~700 total sign-ups, with an exponential surge in the first 3–5 days.
  • Momentum broke after two necessary contract migrations (to fix early issues and change Alcane types), which interrupted the positive feedback loop.
• Participation dynamics:
  • Engagement is sensitive to price and emissions (classic positive/negative feedback loop from a yield-based game):
    • When price rises and emissions are high, participation and volume accelerate.
    • Halvings reduce rewards; drama (Diesel upgrade/FUD), infra issues (indexer instability), and migrations compounded drop-off.
• Community composition:
  • Strong Asia presence (especially China); WeChat groups coordinate play. Some users run many concurrent browser instances/accounts for Salsa Block.
  • Despite dips, a loyal core continues to play daily; expectation of recovery as infra stabilizes and new features arrive.

Technical operations and reliability

• Indexer challenges:
  • Marco initially ran his own Alkans indexer (on version 9.0.2 rather than 8.4). After the Diesel upgrade, repeated corruption forced ~3 full reindexes.
  • Under Salsa Block concurrency (>20 simultaneous calls), Marco’s indexer instance often overloaded and crashed the app.
  • Resolution: switched Taco Clicker to use Flex’s main Alkans endpoints (more robust, load-tested). Slight latency trade-off, but far fewer outages.
• Impact to users:
  • Outages coincided with Salsa Block peaks and post-upgrade volatility, depressing daily participation temporarily. With the switch to main endpoints, reliability should materially improve.

Liquidity, pools, and AMM activity

• Tortilla liquidity initiatives:
  • Marco funded BUSD side “out of pocket,” while 5–6 large tortilla holders contributed ~1.1 million tortilla to form a BUSD–tortilla LP.
  • At peak, the tortilla–BUSD pool was the # 2 BUSD AMM on Alkans (behind Methane) until Diesel-driven liquidity surges reshuffled rankings.
• Other tortilla pairs:
  • “Forti/14”–tortilla pool (with help from Titanium), Love Bomb–tortilla, plus tortilla–BUSD.
• Observed swap sizes:
  • Typical user swaps in the $100–$200 range, making flat fees (see below) proportionally heavy for small trades.

Diesel minting and the bot problem

• Pre-upgrade: Diesel was minted by the first transaction in a block; a bot captured most emissions, allegedly profiting >$100k by always outbidding others.
• Post-upgrade: Diesel mint is distributed across callers in the block.
• Remaining risk: a “bully-bidding” tactic (spam hundreds of transactions to dominate share even at a loss) could still skew distribution.
• Marco’s countermeasure:
  • Add “optional Diesel mint” hooks into Taco Clicker actions (e.g., betting) so organic activity contributes to Diesel calls, making it harder for a bot to dominate economically. He encourages other builders to do the same.

Upcoming: a liquidity “funnel” product and sustainable value for tortilla

• Problem statement: Liquidity on Alkans is a classic chicken-and-egg; thin LPs deter larger market makers and users.
• Marco’s solution (high-level; 5–6 weeks ETA):
  • A “funnel” platform that channels liquidity from an external, highly liquid venue into Alkans (initially as BUSD) to seed and thicken LPs.
  • The platform is revenue-generating; profits will be used to buy back tortilla on the market.
  • Holding tortilla thus becomes a claim on system value indirectly via buybacks (rather than one-off airdrops or transient feature hype).
  • Preference is to eventually support frBTC/Subfrost rails when available; initial focus on BUSD pools.
• Rationale vs “more game features”:
  • Game feature releases generate short-lived attention/volume spikes (seen elsewhere); they’re not a reliable source of durable value.
  • A recurring-revenue engine that reinvests into tortilla is designed for sustained community benefit.

Clarifications and Q&A highlights

• Unclaimed tortilla post-airdrop: Not minted; the contract mints upon claim. Any unclaimed portion simply never enters circulation.
• What do players bet in Salsa Block? The unclaimed tortilla balance (displayed next to the Claim button above the central taco). Claimed tortilla in the wallet is not at risk unless explicitly bet prior to claiming.
• Winning probability and strategy: Lower multipliers reduce risk; common practice is to use 1.01x and claim right before Salsa Block.
• Current Salsa Block reward: Even after halvings, daily Salsa wins can still net “a few hundred dollars” at current liquidity/price, with ~$1 in fees to participate.

Ecosystem commentary: fees, UIs, and marketplaces

• Flat front-end fee concern:
  • A noted policy by “Oil AMA” to charge a flat fee ($2–$3 equivalent per swap) drew criticism from Marco and hosts, as it penalizes small trades ($10–$200 typical sizes) disproportionately.
  • Marco’s stance: Fees should be percentage-based and ideally stay at the UI layer. Embedding a flat fee at the contract level is risky—competitors could fork a no-fee version and capture flow.
• PSBT marketplace and UI diversity: Concerns that heavy, flat fees could suppress usage and push users back to alternative UIs/marketplaces.

Community/events and outreach

• Asia momentum: Strong alignment with Asian markets where users love trading and on-chain games; many Taco Clicker users are in China.
• Events mentioned:
  • Hong Kong (major meta-protocol/Bitcoin DeFi presence; hackathon; Lightning-related initiatives; rumors of a significant Ordinals figure attending). Travel cost is a constraint for Marco.
  • Istanbul/Turkey event (Marco is considering attending to see Flex’s talk; comparatively cheaper to travel).
• Spaces cadence: Interest in more casual Alkans builder/player spaces (English-language gap noted). Taco Clicker may host regular community spaces to strengthen ties and share updates.

Pain points, risks, and mitigations

• Infra fragility: Indexer versioning and upgrades can cause corruption/outages. Mitigation: rely on battle-tested shared endpoints (Flex) until self-hosting is robust and horizontally scalable.
• Halving-driven attrition: Emission cuts reduce immediate incentives; counter with reliable operations, community engagement, and new value pathways (liquidity funnel + buybacks).
• Migration fatigue: Early contract fixes (two migrations) hurt momentum. Current contracts have been stable ~3 weeks; aim to minimize further changes.
• Bot risks (Diesel): Encourage ecosystem-wide integration of Diesel-mint hooks into normal UX to dilute bot advantages.

Actionable takeaways for players and community

• Reliability improved: Taco Clicker now uses main Alkans endpoints; Salsa Block crashes should be largely resolved.
• Salsa Block tactics:
  • Claim right before the block to minimize unclaimed exposure.
  • Favor low multipliers like 1.01x for very high win probability; scale risk only if you understand probabilities.
• Liquidity participation: Consider contributing to tortilla pools (BUSD–tortilla, Forti/14–tortilla, Love Bomb–tortilla) if you’re seeking LP yield and willing to accept impermanent loss.
• Watch for new product: Marco’s liquidity funnel (ETA ~5–6 weeks) aims to create durable buy-side support for tortilla and improve Alkans-wide liquidity.
• Diesel mint integration: Expect Taco Clicker to add Diesel-mint participation on bets; other apps are encouraged to do the same to strengthen fair distribution.

Notable quotes and positions

• Marco on sustainability: New game features alone don’t create sustainable value; a revenue engine that buys back tortilla does.
• On fees: Flat, contract-level fees are detrimental in a retail-sized ecosystem; keep fees at UI level and proportional.
• On infra: Early adopters may end up “guinea-pigging” new indexer versions; favor stable, shared infra for production workloads.

What’s next

• Short term (weeks):
  • Stabilize game ops with main endpoints; re-energize Salsa Block participation.
  • Ship Diesel-mint integration for Taco Clicker bets.
• Medium term (≈5–6 weeks):
  • Launch the liquidity funnel to bring external liquidity into Alkans (initially BUSD), with profits used for tortilla buybacks.
  • Explore broader LP support and, when available, BTC-based rails (frBTC/Subfrost).
• Community:
  • More casual spaces to share alpha, mechanics, and ecosystem updates.
  • Potential event presence (Istanbul more likely than Hong Kong due to travel costs).