Games Are Great Applications for Crypto
Digital collectible card games such as Blizzard’s Hearthstone are wildly popular all around the world and bringing in billions in revenue each year according to gaming industry analysts. Many also think that the field is a perfect match for cryptocurrency-based collectible game items. Splinterlands provides an example of why this is, leveraging the technology to stand out from the established options.
Utilizing the transparency of the blockchain it’s possible to see how many of each different card exist in the entire game, so players can know exactly how rare and valuable their cards actually are. And cards can only be transferred with owners’ private keys, which means that the operators of the game cannot take them away from players and they are free to buy, sell, or trade them as they see fit, just like physical trading cards.
Additionally, all of the battle results, and the cards contained in packs, are generated by a published algorithm based on unpredictable data from the blockchain itself. The developers explain that this means that no one, not even themselves, can tamper with battle results, or give certain players better cards in packs.
Bitcoin.com Exchange to Sponsor Decentralized Collectible Card Game SplinterlandsPlaying a match of Splinterlands
Every match of Splinterlands consists of an ever-changing set of combat rules, a timed team building session and the actual fight. On average a fight won’t last longer than two minutes, guaranteeing an exciting experience and the ability to play on the go. By changing the combat rules with every fight, the game achieves unique fights and challenges players to really get to know their cards.
Unlike other card games, where it’s simply the player with the overall stronger team that wins, players in Splinterlands are challenged to adjust their team for every fight to best comply with the rules and achieve victory. Currently, there are over 200 different cards with balanced statistical mechanics and 46 abilities.
Splinterlands has also introduced another unique feature to add value to their cards by addressing the problem of duplicates in a completely different way from most games. Duplicate cards can be combined to create a stronger card. Not only will the player have leveled up but by combining the two cards, the player is also automatically reducing supply.
The use of blockchain technology and crypto assets in video games has begun to attract attention from the mainstream gaming industry recently. For example, in January it was reported that French video games giant Ubisoft is looking to support new startups in the field as the next season of its incubator program will focus on blockchain technology.
