The Game

The mechanics should be familiar to anyone who has played other games in this genre. Players take it in turns laying down cards with offensive or defensive abilities, the primary aim is to reduce the opponents health to zero. Players assume the role of 1 of 5 gods, each with unique “Basic Powers” that can be chosen at the start of a match:

• Thaeriel – God of Light
• Auros – God of War
• Aeona – Goddess of Nature
• Elyrian – God of Magic
• Malissus – Goddess of Death

In addition to choosing a god, players can customise their card deck any way they see fit. Cards can be purchased and stored within an Ethereum wallet right now by buying card packs, this also guarantees a beta invite. Upon opening a pack, players receive a selection of cards from a range of rarities (cosmetic only); plain, shadow, gold, and diamond. Decks are built from a season stack of 380 cards. There’s also an option to combine duplicates, allowing you to increase rarity.

PvP occurs in a variety of forms; ranked, unranked, tournament, and because it’s 2018 there’s even a Battle Royale mode — thanks Fortnite! It’s clear that esports are the primary focus here, mechanics such as a “balancing beta” ensure a level playing field by restricting new cards from being traded or used in tournaments.

Deck Builder

Due to a handy API (Application Programming Interface), third-party websites can access pre-launch game data. Cardsofgods have created a detailed deck builder, allowing you to view cards, theorize decks and plan your strategies prior to launch. This site is certainly worth checking out if you’re considering buying into Gods Unchained.

The Card Game Scene

Gods Unchained is entering into a well established area of the industry and will be competing against some of the biggest names gaming has to offer. Hearthstone with its 70 million players is the obvious top dog but games such as Magic Duels and Gwent are thriving. Gods Unchained is setting itself apart from the rest of the competitive card gaming scene by touting the primary blockchain gaming benefits of ERC-721; true decentralized card ownership, unhindered trading, and verifiable rarity. They have marketed these features extremely well, presale card packs have been whipped up in their thousands, with the rarest of 2 “Mythic Titan” cards yet to be found.

Fuel Games are keeping their cards close to their chest; gameplay footage appears illusive which is unusual, and disappointing, especially for a project entering beta next year. I am most interested to see if the blockchain related mechanics are enough of a differentiator here, but only time will tell.

I will be keeping a close eye on developments, and dutifully reporting them to you here on Token Gamer.

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Blockchain technology is making it possible for games to allow true item ownership with the use of ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155 token standards. No longer will buying, selling and trading game items put you at risk of fraud and loss – instead, automatically executing smart contracts ensure secure and transparent trading, as well as the ability to freely exchange game item tokens for cryptocurrency with real value. This technology allows for new ways for gamers and developers alike to monetise their games, as well as some interesting game mechanics. It’s an exciting time for the gaming industry!

Now, there are plenty of games and studios out there venturing into blockchain solutions for their titles, but this one in particular caught my eye – Hash Rush!

Hash Rush is one of the most promising upcoming blockchain games, created by Latvian studio VZ Games – a newly formed studio combining the talents of several gaming and crypto community veterans such as founders Nathan Ziedonis and Kris Vaivods, lead game designer Rob Nicholls, and narrative designer Rick Gush.

It is a real-time strategy game where players must control a faction called the Ernacks in order to build a civilisation (other factions are planned but not yet available to play). Collect resources, explore the map, and defeat the mutated beasts that hang around the coveted Crypto Crystals!

Blockchain-Based Rewards

Players of Hash Rush will be rewarded in cryptocurrency such as Ether or Hash Rush’s proprietary currency Rushcoin. In addition, in-game items in Hash Rush are ERC-721 tokens in the form of cards that allow players to buy, trade, and sell their items, as well as store them in their crypto wallets, independent of game servers.

Unlike many other smaller blockchain game projects, Hash Rush looks well on its way to a polished release – they currently have a playable alpha version available for download (register on the Hash Rush website and the download link will be available in your profile).

Having played it for a while, I think it’s looking pretty good! The graphics are unique and eye-catching, and the controls are intuitive and will be easy to pick up on for anyone used to the RTS genre. The game is still lacking features such as a peer-to-peer marketplace or fully functioning quests, but it is still fun and pretty as heck! More in-depth functions will be introduced for the closed beta release.

Closed Beta and Rushcoin ICO

The Hash Rush team has set the beta release date for December this year. The closed beta will take a maximum of 10,000 players and will introduce non-fungible ERC-721 tokens and leaderboard challenges, allowing players to reap real rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies Ether and RushCoin. Sign up for the beta here!

The RushCoin ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is also active, allowing players and investors to purchase RushCoin and support the development of Hash Rush. The ICO finishes on December 1st.

Token Gamer will be keeping up with Hash Rush as it goes into beta and beyond. Stay tuned for more updates as they come!

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More Game Than Blockchain

It’s a game that features and introduces the benefits of blockchain to gamers (more on that in a bit) whilst actually being, you know, a game. That means gameplay, active graphics, strategy, decision-making, a storyline, hundreds of characters with specific skillsets and evolutions. In other words, a game that gamers will want to play.

Up until now, the concept of blockchain games has veered very heavily towards the “blockchain” side of the equation, with minimal considerations to gameplay. The entire “game” has been either the creation of a non-fungible token (think CryptoKitties), or trying to get in early enough on a pyramid scheme mechanic to get out with profit. Speculation has been the primary motivation to “play”, rather than a game actually being in any way enjoyable.

Does It Look Fun?

WOC on the other hand certainly looks like it will be enjoyable from what we’ve seen thus far. The team behind it (Lucille Games) has some pedigree, having built the Pokéfind Minecraft mod with nearly 1.5m players. There’s some influence of Pokémon apparent in WoC as well — it’s a PvP game where you set up Battle Squads of 5 different heroes to fight against other teams. Each hero character has their own specific strengths and weaknesses (nature type heroes would for instance be weak against attacks from fire types, etc). Fights gain you XP and Crypto Dust, which can allow you to evolve your heroes to higher forms.

There’s a fair deal of variance between the individual heroes too, so that no two Battle Squads should ever be completely alike even if they feature the same 5 characters. Whilst each character starts off with the same base stats, they also have IV stats and personalities that differentiate them from their brethren. Even if you have, for example, multiple copies of the water-type hero Equus, their different personalities and stats could lead to different outcomes when battling the same opponents. So, what separates this from all of the other PvP squad battling games out there?

Enjin Coin Providing Real Value

Given the theme of this site, it’s probably not hard to guess that blockchain technology plays a role. In traditional games, you never truly own your characters, items, or digital assets, you just access them. If a server shuts down, you get banned, or your game file corrupts, you can lose your character and progress completely. You wave bye-bye to all the hours and investment you put into a game.

With blockchain however, you control and hold them yourself. Digital assets are tokenized (minted with some cryptocurrency like Enjin Coin) to secure them onto the blockchain, which is constantly updated by a massive decentralised network of computers. This prevents single point of failures, like server shutdowns that games are currently vulnerable to. As long as you control the private key to your crypto wallet (and please don’t ever fall for anyone phishing you for it!), you have true ownership over all the game assets stored inside of it.

Even in the worst case scenario of a game or studio shutting down and going dark (MMOs have dropped like flies this year, Telltale Games is shutting down, and Wildstar developer Carbine are pulling the plug, after the game was live for over 4 years), you can go into your wallet and “melt” down the game asset that was “minted” with ENJ, thereby destroying it but recovering (at least 50% of) the ENJ that was used to put the item on the blockchain. So even if WOC is DOA, you’re not SOL.

Many blockchain items might have negligible amounts of ENJ minted into them, with minimum value being recovered by melting. The primary benefit of minting assets with ENJ will always be securing items on the blockchain and enabling true ownership. You can do what you want with your items thanks to this, including trading them directly with other players. In a best case scenario, your blockchain game items and characters can even be used in other games from other studios in a gaming multiverse — but more on that some other time.

Platform Switch

WOC was the first game announced using Enjin Coin (ENJ), back at the GDC in San Francisco in March. Since then, they’ve shifted plans from launching on PC to being mobile-first. This makes sense if you consider the type of game that it is. They’re the first game to deliver their assets to the Enjin Smart Wallet, a combination cryptocurrency and gaming wallet that renders all your game assets on-screen. You can read backstories of the individual WOC Heroes by clicking on their pictures. Players get transparency from statistics on how many copies of each asset were minted, and are in circulation. This gives a real insight into rarity, and can make or break trading decisions. Speaking of rarity; WOC was also the first ENJ game to hold additional fundraising via an IAO (Initial Asset Offering). What is an IAO?

Initial Asset Offering – a New Frontier in Funding

Players could buy crystals containing randomly allocated special pre-sale skins and characters, from Canarth the robo-beaver/mole to Mooner the flying dog (an exclusive character available only to presale participants). Character skins, like Lambo Mooner and the “Golden Potato Skin” Daagon — created from a meme in their Telegram group — are backed with massive amounts of ENJ. Lambo Mooners contain 2,500 ENJ, and the 10 PoDrags weigh in at 10,000 ENJ backing each. The chance at that kind of value can build enormous hype among a player base before a game goes live. This can even lead to IAOs as viable investments if the value of the crypto backing it grows strongly in the future. For developers, IAOs allow fundraising without disrupting game balance.

Pre-Sale Teething Troubles

As the very first IAO, WOC wasn’t immune to some growing pains. A DDOS attack rendered many unable to participate in the first stage before the developers took the site offline. In addition, a change of pricing structure to a flat fee when the pre-sale came back online angered some who had paid more in the first stage with an ascending price structure. All in all though, the biggest issue seems to have been that not enough people were able to participate, as the pre-sale sold out in less than half an hour when it came back online.

This lead to a recent announcement of a second pre-sale (featuring less exclusive and lower-backed skins and characters) to allow everyone the opportunity to get some heroes before the game goes live. Dubbed an “Early Access Sale” the sale goes live on the 10th of November. Compared with the 1,500 heroes available in the initial pre-sale, the Early Access Sale will feature 15,000 heroes, comprised of 13 new heroes. They will feature both normal and Early Access character skins, giving a total of 26 possible skins in a crystal, each priced at a flat fee of $25. Lucille Games will leverage their existing Pokéfind fanbase to drive more interest, and ENJ backing of Early Access heroes could total 1,200,000 ENJ if they sell out.

For now, I’ll be watching out for details on their continued development, with current plans for a beta playable in Q4 this year. It’s not going to go up against the likes of Witcher 3 in terms of depth or complexity, but WOC does look to be a fully-fledged game with lore and combat mechanics that should satisfy blockchain enthusiasts and gamers alike. And that is an important step forward for the legitimacy of gaming as a usecase of blockchain technology.

Full disclosure: The author took part in the WoC presale and is a longtime fan and holder of Enjin Coin. You can find more info on War of Crypto at https://warofcrypto.io and their social media channels like Telegram and Twitter.

Lucille Games | warofcrypto.io | Mobile, PC | Enjin Coin | Beta Q4 2018

The post War of Crypto: Blockchain Gaming Beyond Basic Crypto Games appeared first on Token Gamer.

9 Lives Arena will be a cross-platform RPG where players can create ENJ-backed fighters, customise them with weapons, armor and spells and fight for fame and glory in the 9 Lives Arena! Proceed with caution — 9 Lives will feature permadeath when fighting in the arena. The stakes are high — win or lose your precious ENJ-backed gaming assets!

Without further ado, let’s check out what the Kickstarter has to offer!

Packages

There are multiple packages available all containing an assortment of rewards, including Ooogies, limited armor sets, limited edition Belts, special in-game titles, Enjin Multiverse items! Also available to the higher pledge tiers are invitations to the 9 Lives launch party and the opportunity to design your own unique 9 Lives Arena items. These high tier rewards are very limited so if you got the cash better get in fast!

Let’s take a closer look at these presale items and the value they give in-game.

Ooogies

Ooogy is your faithful companion and helper in 9 Lives. Feed him his favourite fishy foods and he will collect resources and craft for you. Ooogy will come with a companion app for your smartphone so you can connect with Ooogy at any time to give him directions, not only when you are playing in-game! Let your Ooogy work for you!

Ooogys are unique and can possess one or many royal bloodline traits (there are 12 Royal Ooogy bloodlines, and the more royal traits an Ooogy possesses, the more powerful it becomes). Depending on your Kickstarter pledge, you can receive up to five random Ooogys. (Pledge CA$39 to get one random Ooogy, or CA$649 or above to receive five!)

Lost Atlantean Mage Armor Set

The Lost Atlantean Mage Armor set is delivered in the form of a 4 piece crafting recipe, so players with the recipe can use it to create their own set. In addition, the set comes with a matching Belt that cannot be crafted, so they will be limited to Kickstarter backers!

The Mage Armor set reward gives you one or two armor set recipes as well as one or two belts depending on your pledge (CA$65 gets you the green set, CA$156 or more gets you the purple, CA$454 gets you both!) Note, the armor sets colour does not mean you will automatically craft an item of that rarity. The colour of the set is cosmetic, meaning you need luck and skill to acquire the highest quality items, and prevents pay-to-win scenarios.

Belts

In 9 Lives Arena, belts are a non-craftible item, meaning that there will be no recipes to create them. Belts can only be found, won or traded with other players. When your character dies with a belt on, that belt will be featured on that player’s statue, a testament to the glory they reached in the Arena!

The 9 Lives presale features the silver and gold Demon Skull Belts. The silver version can be attained when you pledge a minimum of CA$156.

Gold Demon Skull Belts are limited to 50 worldwide, and can be attained at a minimum pledge of CA$649.

Enjin Multiverse Items

9 Lives Arena is only the second ENJ-backed game that has hosted a presale for their ENJ-backed crypto assets. However, 9 Lives is the first to feature some of Enjin’s Multiverse items — items that can be used across many games, and provide unique mechanics and forms in each one. The 9 Lives Kickstarter campaign gives you the chance to up to three limited Multiverse items per pledge, with a selection of the following –

Epochrome Sword

The Epochrome Sword is a legendary, immortal sword, forged on the dragonworlds and immune to the effects of entropy. In 9 Lives Arena, wielding the Epochrome sword will match your stat budget to your opponent, creating a level playing field.

However, if you lose your last life while wielding the sword, your opponent has the opportunity to take it from you! There is an upside — your player’s statue will proudly wield the sword, for all time!

Receive an Epochrome sword for a minimum pledge of CA$104.

Mike the Hungover Lord

After attempting to steal the legendary Fomorphic Nectar from vengeful deity R’aenea the Huntress, Mike the Hungover Lord was cursed to wander the infinite multiverses, taking myriad forms, for all eternity.

In 9 Lives Arena, it is unclear the extent of Mike’s powers. We do know that sometimes he morphs sporadically into a super Ooogy with incredible powers to collect and craft. However, his transformation is short-lived and unpredictable. Stay tuned for more info on Mike in 9 Lives and other multiverse-supporting games!

Mike can be obtained by pledging a minimum of CA$156 or more.

Multiverse Forge Hammer

The Multiverse Forge Hammer is the rarest of the three available Multiverse items.

In 9 Lives Arena, the Forge Hammer is the most powerful crafting tool in the game. It gives the user a greater chance of forging epic quality items. It can be obtained for a minimum pledge of CA$234. For even better value, you can pledge CA$454 or more and receive all three multiverse items!

The 9 Lives Kickstarter is rewarding supporters with valuable items with the provenance of being the first rare Enjin-backed crypto gaming assets.

Launch Party Invitations, In-Game Titles and Custom 9 Lives Items

Higher end pledges, ranging from CA$649 to CA$13,000+ contain an assortment of rewards including invitations to the 9 Lives Arena launch party, special in-game titles such as “Lord” and “Glorious Lord” that precede the names of your fighters, the chance to create a custom item or set of your design, as well as special backer recognition in the credits.

For more information and to pledge, visit the 9 Lives Arena Kickstarter page. But hurry! Pledge rewards are limited — get in now to procure some rare items of real value, and support Enjincoin adoption for fairer, more equitable gaming!

The post 9 Lives Arena Kickstarter Campaign Reveals ENJ-Backed Crypto Gaming Assets! appeared first on Token Gamer.

Enjincoin’s Early Adopters Program is kicking into gear, with several game studios jumping on board to be the first to take advantage of the Enjin ecosystem. Let’s take a look at what’s been announced so far!

War of Crypto, Lucille Games (warofcrypto.io)

War of Crypto is a free to play epic fantasy P2P fighting game for PC (and later mobile) where players assemble a team of heroes and fight it out with each other — similar to Pokemon, players can level up and even evolve their heroes to give them a competitive edge. Collect crypto ‘dust’ by winning battles and use this to level up your heroes!

War of Crypto has the honor of being the first game to hold an IAO (Initial Asset Offering) presale on the Enjin ecosystem. Players were able to join in a private presale, giving the chance to acquire special heroes with never-to-be-seen-again presale skins (and in one case, a unique hero that after presale will no longer be available at all!)

When the next Enjin Wallet update is released, War of Crypto heroes bought in presale will be viewable in the wallet, making them the first ERC-1155 tokens available to the public. Once the War of Crypto beta is released (slated for Q4 this year) players can start battling and leveling up their heroes. Exciting times ahead!!!

Follow War of Crypto on Twitter, Telegram, Instagram or Discord for more updates as they come.

9Lives Arena, Touchhour (9livesarena.com)

9 Lives Arena is a competitive RPG game with a focus on PVP gameplay made for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. You will be able to customise a character, train up your special skillsets and craft custom armour to suit your individual style.

What sets 9 Lives apart is the permadeath feature — your character has 9 Lives and when they run out, they die permanently. The stakes are high — it’s eat or be eaten!

One of the most unique features of 9Lives Arena is your companion Ooogy. Ooogy can be tasked to mine, lumberjack, collect loot and craft items while you aren’t playing. Simply leave him enough food and he will play passively for you. Ooogy will be able to be contacted via a mobile app, where you can give him tasks and check up on his progress!

9 Lives is holding a Kickstarter fundraiser starting on the 12th September, with limited edition Enjincoin-backed items up for grabs for supporters. Follow their Telegram channel or Facebook to stay updated as more info is released.

Age of Rust, Spacepirate Games (ageofrust.games)

Age of Rust is a dystopic sci-fi adventure game set in the far reaches of space. Artificial Intelligence mechs have driven humanity into hiding by hunting them down and stealing their tech, bringing technological advancement to a halt and bringing forth the age of rust.

Age of Rust will incorporate problem-solving based gameplay mechanics in which players are rewarded in crypto — while their current in-game currency Rustbits are on the Counterparty network, they will be migrating to Enjin ERC-1155 tokens later this year.

Age of Rust will be available only on PC at this stage. Stay up to date by following Spacepirate Games on Twitter, Telegram or Discord.

CryptoFights (cryptofights.io)

CryptoFights is a turn based PvP fighting game in which players can strategically choose their gear before a battle in order to give themselves a competitive advantage. Winning battles awards players with XP and gold, allowing them to level up, buy better equipment, and progress to new arenas with tougher opponents and greater rewards.

Players will roll dice in order to determine hit accuracy and damage, the element of luck mixing with the player’s strategic choices to create exciting and compelling combat. Weapons and armour will be ERC-1155 tokens backed by Enjincoin, allowing players to truly own their in-game items.

At this point CryptoFights will be exclusive to Android mobile. Follow their Facebook, Twitter and Youtube pages for more updates.

Forest Knight, Chrono Games (forestknight.io)

The most recent game to announce it will be using Enjincoin is Forest Knight! Forest Knight is a turn-based strategy game for Android and iOS mobile platforms. Build your kingdom, explore the landscape, battle enemies and grow your team of characters (led by your main Knight, who can be upgraded and use equipment). Each hero is unique with their own proficiencies and skillsets, allowing for dynamic battling.

Forest Knight will initially be a single player adventure game but there are plans to fundraise for the addition of a PvP battle arena, with ENJ-backed crypto item rewards for the strongest fighters. Players will also receive crypto rewards for completing challenges or setting records.

That’s it for now! We can expect more game announcements in the near future as more developers jump on the Enjin bandwagon. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates as they are released!

The post Enjin-Backed Crypto Games: August Roundup appeared first on Token Gamer.