TL;DR
- Pixels launches Stacked, a mobile app for earning in-game rewards.
- Pixel Dungeons was the first game to integrate the rewards system.
- The app’s strategy simplifies blockchain complexity to boost user adoption.
Pixels founder Luke Barwikowski published screenshots of the Stacked app. The images show a clean user interface with the slogan “Play games. Earn rewards.” The preview includes a landing page with buttons to start earning or view details. A mobile mockup shows the tracking of balances, points, and loot drops.
Pixel Dungeons became in December the first title to integrate the STACKED offer system for rewards in PIXEL. Barwikowski described Stacked as “the Appsflyer of play-to-earn.” The mobile app seeks to power the play-to-earn model without aggressive crypto promotion.
A Centralized Platform for Rewards and Missions
The platform functions as a rewards hub separate from other Pixels projects, like Chubkins. Missions are linked to ecosystem games for targeted engagement. Barwikowski outlined this approach at the YGG Play Summit in November 2025, emphasizing Web2 user acquisition to grow beyond the crypto audience.
The full launch is scheduled for January. It will coincide with updates to the PIXEL token approved by the community, positioning the ecosystem for long-term gains. Barwikowski noted yesterday that early users who download the app will receive additional rewards, signaling a push for rapid adoption.
Strategy, experiments and early rollout
Barwikowski has articulated a strategic pivot away from building primarily for crypto-native users. In a December 2025 interview with BlockchainGamer.biz he said, “The only way to save crypto gaming is to not build for crypto gamers,” and stressed that mainstream players should be able to earn and spend without daily interaction with blockchain plumbing.
Pixels has been testing this approach with paid Web2-style user acquisition and a mobile-native pets title called Chubkins. Pixel Dungeons integrated the STACKED offer system in December 2025 as an early test, and Barwikowski posted the first Stacked mockups on X on 20 January 2026, showing balances, points and loot tracking.
The public launch is slated for January 2026, with early download incentives promised to accelerate adoption, according to W3Gamer and Ainvest reporting on 20 January 2026.
Stacked prioritizes measurable engagement and low user-acquisition costs by marketing the potential to earn rather than the underlying cryptocurrency. That trade-off — simplifying on-chain complexity while maintaining tokenized economics via the $PIXEL system — will be the practical test of whether mainstream users can be onboarded at scale without regulatory or UX friction undermining retention.
