With a solid crop of mobile games on the market, Grapes is building a full vineyard of products in its pursuit of developing the next great consumer entertainment brand. Founded by mobile gaming industry veteran Dan Beasley, digital entertainment brand Grapes has deployed a blend of traditional and blockchain-enabled mobile games that have been well-received by the market.

Through its unique strategy of fast-paced shipping of game concepts and its reliance on a burgeoning community of brand loyalists, Grapes is positioning itself to transcend its NFT-based origins and become a household name for families all over the world.

From playing ‘Snake’ to building blockchain-powered games

Dan Beasley's story begins in an era when mobile phones were closer to bricks than today’s smartphones, when the iPhone was still several years out and the market was ruled by Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

"I was the kid who always had the latest phone," Beasley reminisced in an interview with OpenSea. “‘Snake’ was the pinnacle of mobile entertainment and I would spend hours at a time playing that game,” he added, referring to the classic arcade game that hit the market in 1976.

Soon, Beasley found his start in the mobile industry selling ringtones and developing Java-based games while making his way in London. As smartphones took over the world’s attention and the app economy began exploding, Beasley positioned himself in the middle, building apps for major entertainment brands across Europe and the UK, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Mr. Bean, David Beckham, and the 2012 Olympics in London.

In 2019, Beasley’s team then began to develop its own games and learned the ins and outs of the industry.

“I could never shake the success of Angry Birds,” said Beasley. “Such a simple game that my kids now consume exclusively through Netflix without ever knowing about the original games. That’s been one of my proof points for what we’re doing at Grapes.”

Planting the seeds of Grapes

Beasley started crypto investing in 2017. At the same time, he began watching and learning from the rise of online communities oriented around digital ownership. As he put it, “I realized web3 presented this massive opportunity to do business totally differently. You don’t have shareholders to keep happy, you have a community which has a different perspective and a different incentive structure.”

After seeing the NFT boom of 2021 and the many approaches creators took to their collections and products, Beasley knew he wanted to create a family-friendly brand that appealed across all age groups.

“We designed Grapes to be fun, vibrant, colorful, let people project on them emotionally,” said Beasley. “Gaming is the biggest platform for entertainment, mobile is the biggest platform for gaming that lets you build a player base from the four corners of the globe, and family-friendly brands tend to perform the best. Top to bottom, we’re building Grapes for mass-market reach and appeal.”

According to Beasley, Grapes has racked up millions of views on the GIF aggregation platform GIPHY and is gaining views exponentially on YouTube Shorts thus far.

“Our goal is to integrate Grapes into all parts of life,” said Beasley. 

What’s surprised Beasley so much in the journey of Grapes so far is how powerful and valuable a healthy community can be for building a new brand. According to Beasley, there are always community members willing to help, provide feedback, and make connections to support the overall vision and execution.

“I’ve never done business this way before,” said Beasley. “I’ve run businesses and digital agencies prior to Grapes where we had major brands come in the door, asking how to turn people into superfans, and I spent so much time explaining that it doesn’t work that way. Building Grapes the way we do has built strong emotional attachments and now we have those fans we need.”

Grapes’s two-pronged approach to games

Since the company’s initial NFT launch on OpenSea in May 2023, Grapes has launched nine games, a blend of web2 and web3 titles with seven of them on mobile.

For the web3 titles, Beasley’s team is indexing on familiarity and accessibility, building games on known models like Bingo or Solitaire and introducing the $GRAPE token to the gameplay, easing players into web3 with recognizable experiences.

“By relying on simple game mechanics that players already understand, we can unlock the new blockchain component far more easily,” said Beasley. “We do not want a learning curve working against our player growth. It works well because most of our games have 4.5 stars or better in app store reviews and even hit 70% day-one retention.”

On the web2 side, Grapes focuses on creating lightweight, engaging games that are "seconds to learn, lifetime to master." These games are designed to fill small gaps in players’ day, during commutes, while waiting in line, or whenever they’re just looking for a quick distraction. From puzzle games like Grape Drop to idle tycoon simulations like Juice Tycoon, Grapes's web2 offerings are designed to be accessible and entertaining for players of all ages.

“I’m a firm believer that it’s better to take several bets with a wide audience than double-down on a AAA title that stands a high chance of failing,” said Beasley.

Looking to the future with the GrapesPad

Looking to the future, Grapes has launched its own launchpad in late June. The GrapesPad is a platform that will theoretically allow the Grapes community to support and invest in new projects that complement the ecosystem. It features six tiers of benefits for both Grapes NFT holders and general players, including the rights to larger allocations and purchase limits from the projects that emerge.

“Without your community, you’re nothing,” said Beasley. “With the launch of GrapesPad, we’re giving our community the tools and the autonomy to make Grapes so much more. It’s a triple-win: the community wins, the new founders win, and Grapes as a whole wins.”

Note: Any mention of the $GRAPE token is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice.