Splinterlands is a blockchain-based online collectible card game. Players that love trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, or Magic: The Gathering should enjoy this game. However, being a blockchain game, Splinterlands offers much more features than traditional games.
This article will extensively discuss Splinterlands and its unique gameplay and features.
Splinterlands Gameplay
Plot
Since the advent of the splintering, the wizard council had ruled significant parts of Splinterlands for about a thousand years. These beings possess uncanny powers that make them control and alter almost all parts of the world according to their bidding. On their part, wizards ensure that they keep the source of their power a secret.
At some point, the council of wizards unveiled the planet Praetoria for exploration and settlement. This move didn’t go well as it eventually caused the order to break up, creating the opportunity for Praetorian scholars to unravel the wizards’ secrets.
Before passing on, Gariboleus, an aged wizard, left a magical inscription on a wall hidden deep within a cave in the Praetorian wilderness. This inscription explained how the event started.
Truck Vandenberg, the first pioneer explorer of Praetoria, discovered the inscription. He later revealed Gariboleus’ inscription to the order of the shield. Later, Truck shared the secret with the most influential people in Splinterlands for an unknown price.
The Splinterlanders discovered that the source of wizards’ control over Splinterlands is a large deposit of unknown rock types that extend throughout Splinterlands. These unknown rocks, later called Splinters Hoards, had existed for thousands of years since the great splintering. When they combine a sufficient amount of Splinters Hoards, these rocks have the power to alter the very framework of Splinterlands.
As Splinterlanders discovered more information about the Splintershards, those who understood the secrets began harvesting as much as possible, hoping to harness as much power from it as they could.
Basics of Splinterlands
There are two modes in this game. The first is a free version where you cannot win rewards, while the other version requires that you own NFTs and gives room to earn.
As earlier noted, Splinterlands is an online card game. Therefore, players must own a deck of cards to battle against others. Each of these cards has unique traits, which are essential to make a player or character strong. At the same time, the traits of a player’s cards increase his ability to win the game.
To begin with, new players must create an account or use an existing web3 wallet like MetaMask because Splinterlands runs on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Next, a new player would need a Summoner’s spell book, which costs about $10. After that, the player can buy a deck of cards from a secondary NFT marketplace.
In-game battles
The in-game battles allow you to select a lineup of summoners and monsters. To be precise, you can select 6 cards, each having different characters. Meanwhile, monsters have tons of abilities and are capable of various types of attacks.
A card’s potential depends on its statistics. While a high-stat card is powerful and has more winning potential, a low-stat card is likely less likely to be powerful.
Some of the different characteristics of Splinterlands cards are speed, health, abilities, armor, attack, Mana cost, etc. These attributes directly contribute to a player’s chance of winning.
Meanwhile, splinters (what are they) also have multiple elements. The main elements are death, dragon, earth, life, water, fire, and neutral mercenaries.
Cards are in four categories, each having a diverse level of circulation. The card categories include common, rare, epic, and legendary. There are also Gold cards which are superior versions of regular cards. A gold card is only different in appearance from a regular version, not in terms of gameplay or efficiency.
How to earn with Splinterlands
Play-to-earn
Splinterlands is a lucrative game for skillful players with the best cards. There are three major gaming modes where players can earn crypto rewards or free NFTs in Splinterlands: The Tournament, Ranked play, or Quest. Besides crypto rewards, Splinterlands also gave out in-game collectibles to players. These are magic potions, free card packs, collectible cards, and dark energy portions.
To show commitment on its part, Splinterlands had doled out over $6 million worth of digital assets to players as of the second quarter of 2022. Players must open a reward chest to access the rewards mentioned earlier.
Another way to make money on Splinterlands is by selling cards or collectibles you won from the game. For instance, if you win a rare card that might be more valuable to another player, you can sell this card on an NFT marketplace in exchange for crypto.
Card Rentals on Splinterlands
Players who own card decks with high stats might rent their card collection instead of selling or leaving it idle. Renting also gives higher winning chances to players who can’t afford to buy high-stat cards.
All they need is to pay a fee to card lenders. Thus, they will have the exclusive right to a card collection temporarily. You can rent out in-game assets (cards) every day and cancel the service at will.
Each rental transaction is recorded on the BNB Smart Chain network, and Splinterlands smart contracts ensure an autonomous rental deal. The card owner gets paid in crypto while the other party receives the cards. The deal is over at the end of 24 hours, and owners will instantly get their assets back.
Splinterlands tokens
Splintershards (SPS) and Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) are the two crypto tokens on Splinterlands. SPS functions as the governance token of Splinterlands, giving holders the right to vote in Splinterlands DAO. Also, players can stake or lock SPS to earn more of it.
Dark Energy Crystals is a reward that players earn by winning ranked battles. Players can sell and withdraw their DEC winnings on a token exchange or use it to purchase in-game items and trading cards.
Concluding remark
Splinterlands delivers excellent gameplay to blockchain gamers. The win-to-earn feature is equally important as it allows Splinterlands users to earn real money in crypto and NFTs.
