If you’re looking for a new free-to-play Web3 game — with an emphasis on “game” — you’re in luck. After a short delay, Pulsar is launching its public testnet.

It might feel as if the crypto winter has turned nuclear — and in many ways it has — but there are positives. For one, the number of playable Web3 games is increasing by the day. 18 months ago this may have been true too, but they weren’t games to many people, however important they might have been in forging the foundations for more traditional games to build upon.

Well, RTS fans have something to look forward to at the end of November, but what is Pulsar?

What Is Pulsar?

Pulsar is a free-to-play MMO RTS on the Avalanche blockchain, built by the studio Twelve Random Words. The team behind the project has worked on some incredible titles, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Escape From Tarkov, Cyberpunk, Rainbox Six: Siege, and many more.

Pulsar is a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game where players across the world mine, build, and fight to become the ruler of Pulsar. Build your army and expand your base so you can explore the dungeons deep below the planet’s surface and battle other players to become the most powerful empire in the Pulsar Universe.

— Pulsar

The most obvious parallel to draw is between Pulsar and StarCraft II; both are Sci-Fi RTS, just that Pulsar is made for Web3. That is, using Avalanche, it has NFTs and the $PLSR token. Despite being free-to-play, Pulsar has earning capabilities through three primary paths: mining, building, or battling. The game has a complex land system that facilitates a lot of the earning and plays into the MMO elements of the game, including mechanics like taxation, lending, and management delegation.

Pulsar is an interesting mix of PvP and PvE, with a level of depth outside of the core gameplay that I cannot recall seeing in an RTS game before. Furthermore, the developers have harnessed the best of blockchain technology for Puslar’s Web3 dimension, as opposed to leaning on tired cash-grabs and cosmetics.

To play the public beta on the 30th of November 2022, simply join their Discord by clicking here and following the instructions.