Trading card games (TCG) are one of the most popular genres of physical and digital games. This is especially true during the pandemic, when many of us know how to spend time at home. According to the eBay State of Trading Cards 2021 report, the number of trading cards on e-commerce sites in 2020 increased by 142% compared to 2019 (4 million cards).
I don’t know about you, but I grew up surrounded by anime and streaming. I have spent countless hours with Yukio Twin Links and Hearthstone. When I got into crypto and blockchain gaming, one of the first games I discovered was Splinterlands and Gods Unchained. Since blockchain games are getting more and more consideration every day, I decided that now is the best time to write an article about Splinterlands, one of the most popular DCGs that has been successfully living in the crypto space for more than four years. Whether the sports industry is a bear market or a bull market, the game will survive
What is Splinterlands?
Splinterlands is a multiplayer digital trading card game on the Hive blockchain. The game is a strategic auto-battle where players must deploy the most optimal deck of 7 cards against their opponents in each round, Each round begins with its own rules, according to which the player must build his deck.
This game is reminiscent of games like Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra, Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering Arena. Cards in Splinterlands are non-tradable tokens that belong to the player. Players can compete for their NFTs for prizes, collect them as collectibles, trade them on the peer-to-peer market, combine them to level up, or burn them for Dark Energy Crystals, the official in-game cryptocurrency.
Splinterlands follows a game model where players compete against each other in a league-based system and earn rewards in “ranked mode”. To advance in the league, players must score and earn ranking points.
Is Splinterlands free to play?
Splinterlands is free, but without purchasing the Summoner’s Spellbook, players cannot earn rewards or purchase competitive card packs. But it allows players to play some games and try them for free before deciding to invest in the game.
Team behind Splinterlands
Created by Dr. Jesse “Aggroed” Reich and Matthew “Yabapmatt” Rosen, inspired by popular card games like Magic The Gathering and Hearthstone.
Splinterlands Founders
The two met in 2018 and teamed up to create a marketing platform, realizing they shared an interest in gaming. When Matthew suggested we start a trading card game, Dr. Reich said he was close to finishing one.. This was the beginning of what is now known as Splinterland.
How Splinterlands cards work
After successful registration, the game will give you a basic set of non-NFT access cards. You can use this set to learn more about the tutorial and play some practice games to learn different game mechanics.
Game sections
Splinterlands Cards
Cards are the most important part of the game. You can get them by buying booster packs or getting chest rewards at the end of the season. They are also actively traded on the Splinterland market and secondary markets such as peakmonsters.com (Hive network) and AtomicHub (Wax blockchain).
Card types
Cards can be divided in three types: Summon, Monster, Item, and Spell cards. At the moment, summoners and monsters are the main cards used to play the game.
Each summoner and monster corresponds to one of the seven Splinters. Splinters are like elemental groups that each card belongs to. The Splinters that currently exist are fire, water, earth, life, death, dragon, and neutral Splinters.
During the game, when a “Summoner” is selected, the player can only create a Deck with monsters belonging to the same Splinters as the Summoner.
The only exceptions to this rule are monsters belonging to the neutral Splinters and summoners belonging to the dragon Splinters.
Neutral monsters can be included in any splinter deck. Dragon summoners allow you to use both dragon monsters and monsters from another Splinter. It can be dragon + fire, dragon + water, or dragon + any other available.
Coming soon features
Item cards and spells are an upcoming feature that will be released with Splinterlands lands.
These cards are not sold in the Splinterlands, but are instead mined from plots of land and sold on secondary markets. Item and spell cards allow the player to actively influence the outcome of the game by allowing the player to use the card during the game. This breaks the current Splinterlands auto combat design.
Guilds
Splinterlands also has a guild system where players can join together and use their resources to gain extra value, including DEC rewards and discounts on various Splinterlands purchases.
Guilds are very useful to increase the rewards earned in the game. Community members can manage the DEC and grow the community to unlock various member benefits. Expect “battles” between guilds in future updates. Brawls is a guild versus guild battle format where members of two different guilds compete for merit and crowns that can be used to upgrade buildings and buy gladiator packs.
Splinterlands Marketplace
The main reward in Splinterlands collected in our Splinterlands review in Dark Energy Crystals (DEC).
This digital currency has a monetary value that can be bought and sold in US dollars (USD). Although its value is very low, it is incredible that you can earn this coin by playing the game.
The rate at which you gain DEC is relatively slow at first and depends on your class. The higher your rank, the more money you will earn to win, this creates an exciting competitive dynamic where every match counts. This increases the value of the best cards because it affects your winnings. This is where the market comes in.
Buying / selling / bidding in Splinterlands
Players can buy, sell and bid on the built-in marketplace. The marketplace offers simple filtering options for players to sort and find the cards that best suit their needs. Each card in the market has further information, such as how many cards are in circulation and the lowest price for that card in the marketplace.
Renting in Splinterlands marketplace
Players can borrow cards instead of buying them through the built-in marketplace. This is possible thanks to the delegation aspect of the Hive blockchain, which allows you to send assets to different accounts on the blockchain. However, rental cards have restrictions. For example, it cannot be merged, sold, or transferred, but it can be used by in-game tenants and contribute to the player’s total CP.
Land in Splinterlands
Splinterlands offers land owners the ability to store exclusive items and spell cards. As mentioned earlier, these items and spell cards are not marketed by the team, but are produced and sold entirely between players.
The sale of the land was scheduled in 2020 and 2021 and has been fully sold. Shortly after its initial sale, the game earned over $700,000 in sales on the second-hand market.
The land is currently available for purchase on the secondary market, with the cheapest selling for around $250 on AtomicHub on the Wax blockchain.
Conclusion
Overall, Splinterlands is an outstanding NFT game to discover. It is one of the oldest games of its kind that offers a huge advantage. The developers have years of experience improving features and mechanics.
Earning money takes time, investment and strategy, but the winning game mechanics provide a highly competitive environment to complement Splinterlands’ addictive strategy gameplay. If you like digital card games, splinterlands game for you.
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