What's Your Gam3? #10

Welcome

Welcome to What’s Your Gam3? #10 My aim with everything I do is to introduce you to new games! As I continue to improve the newsletter, all feedback is gratefully received. Now, let’s see what has happened this week.

What’s That Game?

You can join me live as I play new games on Twitch! Alternatively, you’ll find edited versions of my playthroughs on my YouTube channel. [Don’t forget to follow and subscribe].

Wild Forest

TLDR: 

Wildforest is an RTS game available on mobile powered by the Ronin network. You compete in 1v1 battles to control a map, build structures, train troops, and ultimately crush your opponents. It also ties in persistent troop unlocks and squad selection. The player base seems strong and you find a game quickly. Overall enjoyed the game, but does suffer from snowball gameplay giving those with better troops a huge advantage.

How to play

You can download it directly from Apple and Android stores. They are also offering a free season battle pass if you join their discord. I am always a fan of easy accessibility like this, I’d be interested to see how many downloads come from outside the crypto ecosystem.

Game Loop

Before starting a battle you have to select your squad. You have 6 slots in total. Initially, you don’t have that many to choose from, but as you unlock more troops you’ll have to start thinking strategically. This adds a good amount of depth for those trying to min/max their squad.

You then join a 1v1 battle against another player. The game has several maps, with each map containing the same points of interest. You have your home base and territory spaces, both of these have build spots for you to build barracks, towers, and mines. Choosing what to build where is a key decision-making point and can really swing the battle.

Over time your energy fills up. This energy is used for building the structures and deploying troops.

Your ultimate goal is to destroy the opponent’s base. At the end of the battle, you win resources and complete quests for extra rewards.

Game feel

I really like the variety of troops and the limitation on how many you can take into battle. I am less keen on the troop leveling. I understand the reason for the mechanic, but I have found that the majority of people run the same troops meaning those with the higher level tend to win. The other aspects of the battle don’t give enough room for an underdog to win.

The maps do add some variety in games to avoid them feeling repetitive. The day and night mechanic also adds an extra layer to gameplay. I did find that the majority of the games snowballed, with the player getting an early lead ran away with the victory.

The graphics, animations, and sounds are all very engaging and it is clear they have put a lot of effort into it.

It has plenty of development paths, missions, and quests which give you something to aim for. For those looking to flex their skills, the game also has a leaderboard.

Rating

Overall I have enjoyed playing it. I am dipping in pretty often, with easy bite-sized chunks with each game lasting about 5 mins. I would recommend it to most people to at least give it a try. It is still in testing and the team are taking feedback, I’ll be interested to see how it develops further.

For more information follow their Twitter to keep up to date.

Army of Tactics

TDLR

Army of Tactics is a mobile strategy game [I have been using my big brain this week]. Selecting troops you compete in 1v1 battles to first to 3 wins. Quick troop selection gives you a bonus, whilst trying to counter what the player is added to the board. Your troops then auto-battle to find the victor. Overall it has been “okay” but does feel quite repetitive.

How to access

You can download it directly from Apple and Android stores. I am always a fan of easily accessibility like this, I’d be interested to see how many downloads come from outside the crypto ecosystem. [Same as above]

Gameloop

Once you’ve found an opponent you are presented with a board covered in squares. You have to deploy your troops on your side of the board. Each troop has a cost, size, stats, and skills. Whilst you are deploying, you can see what the enemy is deploying and can aim to counter.

To avoid players waiting to deploy last, units deployed early are given a health bonus.

The troops then fight in an auto-battle. Position and type are key to winning. To avoid the game feeling slow the battle gradually increases in speed.

At the end of the round, you are given some energy. You get more energy for a loss. The winner is the first to 3 victories.

Winning gets your unit cards, gold, and trophies.

Outside the main battling, there are quests, mines, and docks on your island.

Game feel

Picking your starting squad and deploying tactically adds a lot of strategy. Being able to see your opponent’s troops being deployed makes you have to think on the fly. Especially with the added pressure of bonus health.

I did find I was using the same setup every time, a large tank dragon with loads of DPS behind. This led to each game feeling pretty repetitive.

Losing giving you more energy presented an interesting choice, and I often chose to lose my 3rd game intentionally if I was 2 games up.

The missions, quests, and resource creation on your island made sense to encourage players to return. However it didn’t really do anything for more, so I mainly ignored it.

As you unlock a new unit the game shows you a helpful little video describing how the unit works. I really like this rather than having to read the descriptions and trying to figure it out.

Each game was pretty short making it easy to dip in and out of.

Rating

I can see the potential, but I found the majority of the games repetitive. Whilst it has aspects outside the main loop to try and bring you back, I just didn’t feel any reason to. Could be enjoyable for the right person and it does look very well made.

For more information follow their Twitter to keep up to date.

What’s on the timeline

Tokens tokens tokens

I get it, the majority of the people in the space are drawn by the potential for making money within the sector. However, it is pretty disappointing to see how quickly the timeline has switched from “it’s all about the game” to “token number go up” just because of some green candles.

Long term I still see a better future for projects that are trying to foster a real community of players rather than speculators. Speculators are fickle and can turn on the game pretty quickly. The added focus on token price can also lead people to read across to quality of the game, even though they are normally pretty disconnected.

I hope the quality projects don’t fall into the trap of switching their attention to token numbers go up just to chase some of the hype. We are always talking about mass adoption as the key to the success of a project, and the majority of players will always be uninterested in token prices, the same way they don’t check EA’s stock price before buying.

What's Your Gam3?

Catch up on all previous episodes on YouTube.

Introduction to EthLizards: BITB

EthLizards and Web3 Gaming

• Ani's Introduction: Ani, CEO of Lizards, introduces their company as a pivotal figure in Web3 gaming, initially focused on aiding other gaming projects​.

• Evolution of EthLizards: The organization has now expanded, incorporating a development studio and creating interconnected mini-games with leading Web3 studios. Their first product is the platform 'Battle of the Beyond'​​.

• About 'Battle of the Beyond': This platform, launched two weeks prior to the interview, is a mini-game attached to Illuvium and highly acclaimed in the Web3 community​.

• Game's Core Experience: The game transforms a single-player unboxing experience into a multiplayer format, enhancing user engagement

Changes in the Web3 Gaming Space

• The transition from Funding to Building: The years 2020-2022 were focused on funding, whereas 2023 is seen as a year of building and development in Web3 gaming​.

• The emergence of 'Real' Games: There's an anticipation of real game launches in 2024, moving away from gamified staking protocols to games that are fun to play independently​.

• Early Access and Beta Gameplay: The current year has allowed communities like EthLizards to experience early-stage games, showcasing the progress made over the past few years​.

• Outlook for 2024 and Beyond: The year 2024 is not expected to mainstream Web3 gaming but will lay the groundwork for widespread adoption in subsequent years

EthLizards’ Strategic Shift

• Pivoting to Development: EthLizards, originally an investment-focused entity, strategically transitioned to include a game development studio, indicating a shift from solely supporting to actively creating in the gaming space​.

• Interconnected Gaming Experiences: The company focuses on building a series of interconnected mini-games, collaborating with top-tier studios to enrich the Web3 gaming ecosystem​​.

Recent Launch and Gameplay Dynamics

• Launch of 'Battle of the Beyond': This new platform, a mini-game linked to Alluvium, represents EthLizards' expansion into game development and has been well-received in the Web3 community​.

• Innovative Gameplay: The game innovatively transforms a single-player experience into a multiplayer format, demonstrating EthLizards' commitment to enhancing gaming engagement​.

Broader Appeal and Genre Diversification

• Increasing Game Variety: A wider range of games is emerging, attracting audiences beyond those interested in NFTs or ownership aspects of gaming​.

• Expanding Genres: The gaming space is no longer confined to a few genres, with a significant expansion in the types of games available, catering to a wider range of gamers​.

• Industry Maturity: The gaming industry is maturing, with virtually every genre having promising upcoming releases

My thoughts

• This is one of the first examples I have seen of “realistic" interoperability. Whilst EthLizards has worked closely with the Illuvium team, they didn’t need to because the information is open to all on the blockchain.

• I like that the EthLizards are open about leaning into the degen angle. Gambling and loot boxes aren’t for everyone, but being transparent about what is on offer is a great way to get the right auidence.

• It is more gamification than an actual game, but it’s ties to full games should keep the community focused on gaming.

• I am keen to see how the added additional games into the EthLizard ecosystem they are creating.

Don’t forget to join us next week!

Thanks for making it to the end, that is all the new games for this week. Do you know any you’d want to hear more about? Let me know.

Remember to tell your friends about What’s Your Gam3? Otherwise, they’ll hate you for letting them miss out on all the new games.

Remember to play games you enjoy!