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One of the oldest NFT projects, dating back to 2014. Photo Credits: Sarutobi
A mobile game from 2014 is making a return—and its comeback tells a bigger story about crypto, NFTs, and how far digital ownership has come. Sarutobi, the once-suspended Bitcoin-based game, is back on the Apple App Store. And this time, it brings with it nearly a decade of blockchain history.
Good to know
Sarutobi is not just any mobile game. It was one of the first games to reward users with Bitcoin and experimented with blockchain assets well before NFTs became a trend. Created by Christian Moss of MandelDuck, the game lets users swing a pixelated monkey through the air while collecting coins. Back in 2014, those coins included actual Bitcoin payouts via early faucet systems. In early 2015 the game was launched in the Apple Store.
Later in 2015, Apple removed Sarutobi from the App Store, claiming users could confuse in-game Bitcoin with real currency. Some had reportedly mistaken their in-game balances as spendable Bitcoin, leading to complaints. Apple’s decision to delist the app at the time reflected a broader discomfort with cryptocurrency in mainstream platforms.
Now, 10 years after its original release, Apple has brought Sarutobi back—a move that suggests attitudes toward blockchain gaming may finally be shifting.
Sarutobi was ahead of its time. It was among the first games to integrate Counterparty tokens, which were digital assets built on the Bitcoin blockchain. While they were not called NFTs at the time, these in-game tokens functioned much like modern collectibles.
The game allowed players to interact with early blockchain-based items like Rarepepe cards and Spells of Genesis collectibles, making Sarutobi a major part of NFT history. Unlike the Ethereum-based NFTs that gained traction in 2017, these Counterparty assets were issued years earlier—placing Sarutobi alongside Curio Cards and other early experiments in digital ownership.
This meant that cards like SatoshiCard, SarutobiCard, and CNPCard—issued in the Spells of Genesis ecosystem—could be recognized in Sarutobi and unlock features in the game.
This marked the first time NFTs became interoperable between two separate games. Players who owned those tokens in one game could now use them in another, simply by linking their wallet.
That was not all. Sarutobi also became the first game to include:
It showed how digital ownership could stretch beyond the boundaries of a single app or platform. When those three cards became usable in Sarutobi, the concept of breaking the “walled gardens” of gaming took its first real step. In hindsight, that moment helped push the early vision of a metaverse forward—one built on open access and interoperability.
The below video created by @nishseq explains the significance of Sarutobi for crypto and NFTs in particular:
Apple’s decision to allow Sarutobi back into its App Store may signal a softening stance on crypto games. The updated version of Sarutobi allows in-app purchases, making it easier for users to buy items and features. While the game is still lighthearted in style, the underlying mechanics reflect a serious shift in how gaming and crypto are converging.
Some industry voices see this as a broader move toward crypto adoption in mobile gaming. Fans and developers have expressed enthusiasm online, pointing to the return of Sarutobi as an example of how crypto use cases are becoming more accepted—even by companies as cautious as Apple.
Whether other games will follow is unclear, but Sarutobi’s return feels like a full-circle moment—especially for those who have watched Bitcoin and NFTs grow from experiments into global trends.