Splinterlands is a blockchain-based collectible card game (CCG) that combines strategic deck-building with auto-battler mechanics, allowing players to collect, trade, and battle using digital cards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Launched in 2018 as Steem Monsters on the Steem blockchain, it migrated to the Hive blockchain in 2020 and rebranded as Splinterlands, becoming one of the longest-running and most active play-to-earn (P2E) games in the Web3 space. As of October 2025, it remains a community-driven powerhouse with over 4 billion games played, thousands of daily active players, and ongoing updates that keep the meta evolving.
If you’re new to Splinterlands, I suggest starting with the Campaign after registering for the game. It guides you on how to play and rewards you with Soulbound cards upon completing each chapter. This is your starting point for building a deck.
After completing the Campaign, move on to Ranked Battles.
There are currently four formats.
Frontier is the basic format, where you play with Foundation cards obtained from the Campaign. After 5 wins in the Frontier format, you unlock daily rewards. These can include more Foundation cards and entries to the Weekly Frontier Draw. If you’re lucky, you can win the Weekly Frontier Draw and receive higher-value rewards.
The next format you can play without extra cost is Modern. In this format, you may only use Rebellion, Conclave Arcana, and Frontier cards. Rewards are greater than in the Foundation format. Each win grants staked SPS and Glints. The higher the league, the better the rewards—though you’ll face stronger opponents. Similar to the Foundation format, you can enter the Weekly Draw but with a small cost of 125 DEC each week.
The Wild format allows cards from all sets, but participation still costs 2000 DEC per season. I analyzed it and found it’s not worth the fee for me, as my earnings are much lower than the cost. I recommend considering this carefully before entering.
The final format, Survival, is currently locked until further notice from the dev team.
Back to the rewards: Glints earned from ranked battles can be spent in the Reward Shop on skins, draws, loot chests, or consumable items. These purchases either strengthen your deck (improving your win rate) or can be sold on third-party markets later.
In addition to ranked battles, you can earn SPS by joining Guild Brawls. These are battles between guilds. The higher your guild places, the greater your reward. The beauty of brawl rewards is that they’re not affected by your staked SPS—you receive the same SPS as other guild members, regardless of how much you have staked.
Join a guild as soon as you start playing Splinterlands.
FHREE.org TCG Guild welcomes all the Splinters to join as freeloaders, and you only need to contribute at least 1 Guild Power each week to stay.
I currently have ~32.7K staked SPS, worth about $226. This stake yields ~10% APR, paid in liquid SPS and VOUCHER. I use VOUCHER to buy exclusive cards and sell them on the market. Liquid SPS can be converted to DEC to purchase cards or swapped to HIVE to take profits.
Unused cards can be rented out to earn DEC in rental fees.
However, the rental market fluctuates rapidly with the seasonal timeline. Monitor it closely to maximize earnings.
Like other NFT card games, you can trade cards for profit—buy low, sell high. It sounds easy, but you must follow the dev team updates closely. New card releases can shift the meta and cause significant drops in card values.
Splinterlands has a strong community on the Hive blockchain. Each week, there are three community challenges: Art Contest, Social Media, or Community Engagement. These are opportunities to share your experiences, strategies, or artwork featuring Splinterlands characters.
For me, the potential is huge. I earn ~$5 per post. With two posts per week (the maximum posts you can post each week to avoid spamming), you can get back your Spellbook investment in just one week. What other game offers such a quick return on investment?
If you don't have a Splinterlands account, join me here. If you register a new account using my link, I can delegate to you some cards and 1000SPS for one month to help you in the early stages of the game.
I just built a new Splinterlands channel. I share more information via this channel. Please give me a Like/Subscribe if you like it.
