ZED Picks: VHS’s New Prediction Game Based on Virtual Horse Racing

You don’t have to own a stable of NFT horses to follow the racing anymore. With ZED Picks, Virtually Human Studio is offering a way for spectators to engage with its racing universe by predicting race outcomes. It’s part of a growing trend where Web3 games build side-experiences so casual fans can play without diving fully into owning assets.

It’s also interesting because VHS is trying to balance skill, strategy, and accessibility in a genre that often leans purely on speculation. ZED Picks sits at the intersection of prediction games, digital sports, and virtual asset-driven ecosystems.

What ZED Picks Is

ZED Picks is a mobile-focused prediction game based on VHS’s virtual horse racing platform. Races happen automatically around the clock, every 80 seconds. Users pick one to four horses out of a race, and if all those horses finish among the top four positions, the ticket wins.

The horses aren’t generic placeholders. Each has stats and traits — performance history, win streaks, bloodline, etc. So predictions are meant to reward people who study the data, not just pick random favorites.

How Currency & Rewards Work

There are two in-game currencies involved:

• ZCoin is used for free daily picks, coming from login bonuses, referrals, promos.
  
• ZCash is for verified competition that makes players eligible for redeemable rewards.
  

So casual participation is possible without committing money, but there’s a separate tier for those who want to chase more significant rewards.

Platforms, Regions & Access

ZED Picks is available now on iOS and Android in most U.S. states. A few states are excluded due to local regulatory restrictions. The app is meant to be lightweight, aimed at quick sessions rather than long time investments.

One notable part: you don’t need a crypto wallet just to make predictions or engage in many parts of the game. That helps lower the entry barrier for people who aren’t already into Web3.

How It Fits Into the VHS Web3 Ecosystem

ZED Picks isn’t standalone. It complements ZED Champions, VHS’s main digital horse racing universe where players own, breed, and race NFT horses. While ZED Champions is more asset and strategy heavy, ZED Picks gives a spectating / predicting angle, which broadens appeal.

Because the underlying races in Picks are drawn from Champions’s data and assets, there’s continuity. If you follow Champions, you’ll recognize many of the same traits, performance logs, etc. That tends to make Picks more meaningful for those already invested in Champions. But the design also opens doors for people who want a lighter touch.

What’s Notable & Potential Pitfalls

What stands out is how VHS is trying to thread a needle: skill‐based prediction, rewards, data transparency, shorter sessions. Many Web3 games struggle with balancing speculation (buying assets for profit) vs. gameplay worth engaging with on merits other than financial upside. ZED Picks leans into the latter.

On the flip side, any prediction game with rewards runs into regulatory risk, especially in the U.S. Different states have different laws around sweepstakes, contests, prize-based games. Also, while the “no wallet needed” access is smart for onboarding, the separation of casual vs prize-eligible features may lead to confusion or a two-tiered experience that some players dislike.

How This Compares To Similar Titles

There are other digital horse racing / virtual sports platforms out there. Zed Run was one of the more established ones, combining NFT ownership, breeding, and racing. ZED Champions is VHS’s successor to that model, with adjustments. ZED Picks differs by focusing on prediction rather than ownership or breeding. In some ways, it plays a role similar to fantasy/sweepstakes prediction games or “pick ’em” sports apps, but with virtual horse racing as the core spectacle.

For people who like strategy but don’t want to manage breeding, NFTs, or large investments, Picks might hit a sweet spot. For purists who enjoy collecting and breeding digital horses, the depth is still in Champions.