For many in the WAX blockchain world, Train of the Century has been a long-standing stalwart. The play-to-earn game was able to not only able to succeed with a very cynical crowd, it grew in popularity and developed a strong following of consistent play. Stations were picked up, growth helped with achieving better and better assets, and more of the game economy grew with regular interaction. 

However, and despite surviving the crypto winter, by the beginning 2023 the game was stagnating. Hopes that it was going to create another layer of additional time zones, opening up the game market for more players and for asset building, vanished. There were some weak attempt to create add-ons and changes, but for the most part, Century of Trains was going nowhere. That said, the existing platform was stable. It was enough so that the PixelJourney Project sank a good amount of support in Tocium (TOC), the game token, to prop it up with PXJ (PixelJourney's token via liquidity pools) and give players even more WAX incentives to come back. And months went by waiting.

Yet, as noted by the remaining game owner communicating with the game's Discord channel, the developers were gone, and he was left just keeping the lights on until he could figure out something better. At the same time, family commitment were pulling him away, and the game remained on a lifeline. 

A Dog Meme Token Triggers the Worst

When the WUFFI project came online, WAX project partners were integrated into the launch of the new WAX token with significant allocations to each participating partner project. Train of the Century applied for and was approved of a similar allocation. However, instead of using these new assets for promoting and bring people back into the game with token incentives, it seems that the whole allocation was siphoned off and swapped out of the WAX system for individual gain.

Here's the WUFFI partner allocation coming in and being split out:

And then the siphoning activity:

In short, the game looks like it is being bled dry of its last major comeback resource. Though not specifically a rug pull by definition, the access to the WUFFI allocation was only available to the game project owners unless hacked, and the lack of communication on what happened only looks worse and worse for players who have stayed on board waiting for a renewal.

Now What?

Most of the diehard veteran players in Train of the Century are shaking their heads, and the secondary market is already reflecting a movement to exit as previously expensive assets are going lower and lower for liquidation. 

I am one of those players with a good amount of assets in it, but I did already sell my one station once I heard the news this morning. I'll stay in the game to continue earning Tocium until it completely shuts down. I don't really lose much of anything continuing, but I also won't be shocked if the game stops operating by the end of summer. 

Full disclosure: I am a regular player of Train of the Century as well as a moderator in the PixelJourney Project. All images in this article are from WAX blockchain records accessible by the public or copyright-free from Pikwizard.