I started playing @Splinterlands after getting a free starter pack at SF3 in Krakow. It makes up part of my little SF souvenir board.
Since then I have spent some funds on cards, including some of what I powered down on St++mit. That is still only enough for me to play the Gold league since the rules changed recently. I get knocked down to Silver at the start of a season and have to work my way back up to Gold I where I can win 30 chests. I play the daily quests for the extra rewards and have found myself doing a fair few extra battles for fun.
My rewards from last season were not spectacular, but I did get a fair few DEC. Those have been spent upgrading various cards. I am trying to get key cards up to the maximum level I can use with my summoners. Upgrading the summoners will take a lot longer given the prices as I do not plan to invest much more in the game for now.
I am still improving my gold cards as they give me a little extra DEC from each battle they are used in. I am selling off cards I will not use to finance this. As 
The guild I used, Splinter Elites, is full for now and I get a little extra for being in that, although I probably give them back more.
I know some others treat the game as an investment, but it is really just a bit of fun for me. I would rather invest in powering up HIVE to do more for others. That does not mean I will not spend on this game if I have some windfall/airdrop to use. Investing/holding is all very well, but you need some fun in life and money-watching is not that much fun to me.
If you are a rare person who has yet to play Splinterlands then please consider using my referral link. You will need to buy a starter pack to play.
To battle!
