What's Your Gam3? #12

Welcome

Welcome to What’s Your Gam3? #12 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 Gam3?

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].

Today

TLDR: 

• Relaxing island management

• AI NPC interaction using speech was very engaging

• I was disappointed that the demo ended could have kept on playing.

How to play

• Playable on PC

• Invite only

Game Loop

• Your new home is an island

  

• You start with a helper bot and 1 resident

• Your aim is to expand the island and increase your resident count

• To increase the resident count you need to increase your community points

  

• Community points are collected by increasing the happiness of your residents

• They have several needs, and by selecting a need to address you are set tasks

• These take you all over the island collecting items, crafting or building

• A key feature is interacting with the AI NPCs using your microphone

• AI is also used within the building, where you have the choice to either build by hand or give AI prompts for what to build

Game feel

• The graphics were stunning and immersive, if slightly power-greedy

• The quests were very basic chores, plant some seeds, gather some plants, cook a pizza - however, I actually found this really engaging and relaxing. Just pottering around completing chores.

• I really enjoyed the NPC interaction with the mic, even if I managed to offend one of them by mistake

  

• The controls were easy and intuitive

• Adding the hoverboard was good as walking could get a little slow for some of the longer quests

Rating

• The demo took me about 45 minutes to complete, so impressions could change as the game expands

• I really enjoyed it and was very engaged the full time i was playing

• I can see an audience that wouldn’t enjoy it at all, but that comes down to picking the right game for you

• I was really getting into it when the demo ended and was genuinely gutted that I could interact with the new resident

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

Ballies

TLDR: 

• Surprisingly engaging game

• Classic dice game skinned with basketball

• The lack of players was disappointing

• Potential to grow

How to play

• Free to play

• Download from Appstore and Google Play

Game Loop

• The core loop is a very simple dice mechanic [which I think might have been a traditional dice game]

  

• You take the role of a basketball player and face off 1v1 against another player.

• You take it in turns as attacker and defender

• Each player starts with a stat for attack and defense

• When the game starts you each roll 1 die, the number decides how much energy you get

• You can spend the energy on special cards

  

• These cards buff your stats or debuff the opponents

• Then you select how many points to spend or save for the next round

• The idea is if your attack score [your base attack + card buffs + energy spent] is higher than the opponents you score points

• The amount of points depends on how much energy you spend

• In the game, you can also compete in tournaments and rent better players for increased base stats

  

Game feel

• Whilst simple I found it rather engaging

• The mechanic could be skinned with most sports, and basketball didn’t particularly interest me but also didn’t make the experience worse - as it was mainly just a skin

• Sadly I am pretty sure I only played bots, otherwise some people out here with very basic names “RimRumbler#2”

• The game length was nice and bite-sized

• The graphics and animations were clean and simplistic enough to easily understand what was happening

• The ability to buy cards and build better decks, plus renting better players, does risk pay2win - but it doesn’t seem out of line with traditional free-to-play monetisation

• I’d still recommend playing it, it might get you hooked but is a fun little time passer.

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

What’s on the timeline

NFT Gated Games

I probably could have asked this question better, as people couldn’t help to go off into the weeds with potential scenarios.

The vote came about because I often see people on Twitter bemoaning NFT-gated games. This seems strange to me, as paid walled games aren’t something new. Go along to Steam and you will find plenty of games that are paywalled, and there isn’t an uproar that it should be free.

The common counter to the price is that it is too high for the quality or stage of development, which is true. However you aren’t forced to play that game, you can just wait until it is ready for what you expect.

The problem is if the space attempts to force more games to be free-to-play. I like free-to-play, especially as I try a lot of games. How would that really work though? Not all games can monetize via a free-to-play model, or they can but it would force them to shoehorn methods that aren’t player-friendly. The warning to the space is to be careful about what you wish for.

Secret Phrase: PaidGame

What's Your Gam3?: The Path To Kyorikai

Catch up on all previous episodes on YouTube.

Introduction and Overview

This week I spoke with Miyamoto founder of The Path To Kyorikai a Japanese-inspired ecosystem. Sadly X failed to record the space, for the first time in 67 episodes, hopefully, I can capture the space relying on my sleep-deprived brain.

Why Japan?

• Miyamoto outlined a long-standing interest in Japan.

• The journey started with a desire to make a samurai mask, collecting like-minded friends before making the decision to create a business out of interest.

Was it inspired by Anime?

• No.

• This is a refreshing change for me, as I feel that there is plenty of anime-inspired content out there.

What’s the first part of the ecosystem?

• Single-player story mode

• Wake up as a confused samurai

• Adventure off into the world making decisions that affect the final outcome

• Tackling puzzles of increasing difficulty as you progress.

• Some replayability due to the potential endings

• Aim to immerse the player in the “feel” of the ecosystem

What is beyond the first part?

• Build different genres within the ecosystem to attract a variety of players

• New content added to the story mode

• Potential for community-inspired/led content for the story mode

• Add educational aspects to further increase the target audience

What can we expect in the near future?

• NFT pfps to be released on Ethereum, aiming to be visually stunning

• The next stage of closed testing with the community

My thoughts

• I like that is a single-player story because we don’t see enough of these in web3

• It’ll be interesting to see how the ecosystem grows to include their future games

• Keen to see the next demo as well as the PFPs

Don’t forget to join us next week!

WYG?: Gam3 Changers - Derek web3 builder working on [redacted] - Live on Spotify!

Catch up on all previous episodes on Spotify.

Derek's Background in Web3 and Gaming:

• Passion for gaming led to business and consulting roles.

• Entered crypto and NFT space in 2017.

• Previously Involved with CryptoKitties (3rd biggest breeder) and Immutable.

• Strong belief in digital ownership.

Evolution of Web3 Gaming:

• Shift from "play to earn" to digital ownership focus.

• Significant growth with $8 Billion investment.

• Evolving understanding of viable models in the space.

Derek's Most Played Games:

• Extensive history with "Green game" and Warcraft 3.

• Recent interest in strategic games like Teamfight Tactics.

The Future and Challenges of On-Chain Games:

• Innovative but needs to attract and retain a broad player base.

• Challenge in appealing to more than niche audiences.

The Struggle of 'Diet Crypto' Games:

• Difficulty competing against established non-crypto games.

• Challenges integrating blockchain into simpler game formats.

Blockchain Gaming on Mobile Platforms:

• Potential growth due to vast market and lower competition.

• Challenges with blockchain integration in mobile.

Mainstream Adoption of Crypto Gaming:

• Barrier in the perception of NFTs and crypto in gaming.

• Need for positive endorsements from influential figures.

Biggest Challenges in Web3 Gaming:

• Requirement for games to surpass traditional games in quality.

• Need to leverage Web3 for a superior gaming experience.

Outlook for Web3 Gaming:

• Excitement for diverse strategies and upcoming game launches.

• Interest in market response and impact of potential crypto bull run.

Advice for Aspiring Web3 Professionals:

• Importance of demonstrating expertise and passion.

• Value of side projects and personal branding in crypto space.

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!