> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://degen-games-2.gitbook.io/degen-games-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://degen-games-2.gitbook.io/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/lifecycle.md).

# The Lifecycle

Insert coin, climb the curve, graduate to the DEX. The same four stages for every coin.

Every coin plays the same game, in the same order. No creator can change the rules halfway through.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### 01 · Insert Coin

The creator picks a name, ticker and image, and deploys in one transaction. All **1,000,000,000** tokens are minted straight to the coin's bonding curve. No presale, no team bags, no tokens held back for anyone.

[Launch a coin →](/degen-games-docs/player-1-press-start/insert-coin.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### 02 · Climb the Curve

Anyone can buy from the curve and sell back to it. Every buy pushes the price up and every sell brings it down. Early players get the best entries, and every trade happens on-chain. For the first 3 seconds a snipe tax keeps bots off the curve.

[How the curve works →](/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/bonding-curve.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### 03 · Graduate

When the curve raises its target (4.2 ETH for an ETH coin), it closes. Everything it raised, plus the tokens it held back for this moment, seeds a Uniswap v4 pool at the curve's final price. This happens automatically, inside the buy that fills the curve.

[How graduation works →](/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/graduation.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### 04 · Game Complete

The LP position is **burned**, along with about **8% of supply**, and the coin trades on Uniswap like any other token. It keeps paying the same 1% trading fee, split the same way. The coin's name goes up in the **Trophy Room**.

[Why burned beats locked →](/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/burned-liquidity.md)
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## Phases on-chain

Each coin's phase is stored on-chain in the launch factory, so any app or bot can check where a coin is.

| Phase             | Meaning                                                                         | Where it trades                                                                       |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `0` Not graduated | Live on the bonding curve                                                       | The curve                                                                             |
| `1` Swept         | Curve closed and emptied, pool not created yet. Normally lasts only an instant. | Nowhere, for a moment                                                                 |
| `2` Pool created  | Graduated                                                                       | Uniswap v4                                                                            |
| `3` Rescued       | A stuck graduation was unwound through the safety path                          | See [Graduation](/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/graduation.md#the-safety-valve) |

## What never changes

Once a coin is live, these are locked in for good:

* Total supply: **1,000,000,000**, with no mint function
* The owner: **`0x…dEaD`**, burned at deployment
* The curve's pricing and graduation target
* The raise asset
* The creator tax (it can never be raised)
* The trading fee and how it's split
* The snipe-tax window it launched with

See [Creator Controls](/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/creator-controls.md) for the two things a creator *can* still change.


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