What's Your Gam3? #17

Welcome

Welcome to What’s Your Gam3? #17 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? [review]

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].

Bloodloop

“A 5v5 tactical Hero-Shooter game, integrated with blockchain.”

TLDR: 

• Early development

• Enjoyable core loop

• Some underpowered abilities

• Polish needed to stand out in genre

• Too early to recommend it, but keep an eye on it

How to play

• Closed testing via Epic store

Game Loop

• Currently, the only game mode available is team deathmatch

• Joining the lobby there is the possibility of up to 5 v 5

• I played games 5v5 and 3v3 matches

  

• Before the game starts you select your hero

• Right now there are 3 to choose from

• Each hero has a primary weapon and 3 abilties

• The weapons range from dual SMGs to a bow and arrow

• For the abilities they go from a beam that can stun enemies to an echolocation to a teleport for backstab kills

  

• As the game starts you are loaded onto a map

• The map is essentially 3 corridors on 2 levels

• Each team spawns at their respective ends

• Your aim is to kill the most people in the time limit

• The score is shown at the top, there is also a scoreboard that breaks down individual kills, deaths, and damage

• On killing enemies you can grab hearts which heal you

• When you die you spawn back at your team’s end of the map

• This loop repeats until the time ends

• The result screen shows a variety of game stats

Game feel

• My experience was improved outside of the gameplay, by it being closed testing with a bunch of content creator friends - so I’ll try to remove this from the section, as I’d have had fun playing almost anything with them

• Gunplay felt good

• Graphics and animations smooth

• Some of the movement felt a little wonky, and there were stops I’d like to be able to jump over but hit an invisible wall

• I liked that it showed kills, deaths, and damage - easy to spot who was “kill securing”

• Some of the abilities were enjoyable and added to the strategy others were disappointing and I just ignored them

• Only having a single weapon felt a little limiting

• Map was a little “flat”, ignoring the scenery it was 3 columns.

• Collecting the pixel hearts from fallen enemies was good for healing

  

• It did get pretty sweaty at points, but that could be because we were all taunting each other in VC

• Some comments on Twitter about it mainly being lyra, whilst areas did feel familiar there did seem to be plenty of alteration, and I’d hope to see more development away from the framework as the game moves through the dev cycle

Rating

• The core loop was enjoyable

• Some hero abilities felt pointless

• Some areas of the map weren’t accessible - wired jump-blocking

• Gunplay and certain abilities are enjoyable

• Plenty of team strats

• Too early to recommend, and will need work to stand out in the genre but worth keeping an eye on

Web3 integration

• Is going to be on Avax

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

Nekoverse: City of Greed

“A Roguelike Deck-Building Game with a twist on P&E economy. Become a landlord and develop your land to amass wealth in City of Greed”

TLDR: 

• 5 reel slots

• Choose your symbols

• Simple, clean aesthetic with a splattering of lore

• Surprisingly strategic

How to play

• Playable in browser

• Free-to-play training mode

• Land NFT required for play to earn mode

Game Loop

• Your first choice is to play free-to-play or play-to-earn - however, this doesn’t affect the game loop

• Next, you pick which level to play - this changes the goals and your start slightly, but again the game loop stays pretty constant

  

• Starting you are faced with a 5 reel, 4 symbol slot

• Initially, it has only a few symbols on it

• Your goal is to reach the “tax” in a set number of turns, eg. level one is 10 coins in 5 rolls.

• Each roll costs 1 coin

• After rolling you are rewarded with various amounts of coins depending on which symbols are on the screen

• Once these are added up, you get a choice of 3 items to add to your deck

  

• Most are symbols but there are also some modifiers

• These new symbols are added to the reels for your next turn

• The symbols and modifiers all have a “coin return amount” and a modification.

• You need to strategically build your deck to make the most of these synergies

• The pool of options you get is random each time, make every play through different

• The game continues until you can’t pay the tax or past level 12 when the coins become your profit

• If you fail to meet the tax you have to start fresh from round 1

Game feel

• It is a pretty simplistic loop, but I was sweating near the high levels whilst running out of rolls to meet the tax

• The cheeky chat giving you the tasks at each level was entertaining

  

• I found it easy to pick up the different synergies, whilst I only scratched the surface due to the depth of options

• Very easy to play casually

• You get 20 energy per day, and I’m not sure if I’d have the patience enough to play all 20 a day, maybe a quick roll would help?

• I think it would lend itself better to mobile because of its casual nature.

Rating

• Given that it is a slot, I was extremely surprised at how much strategy went into the game

• The modifiers are relatively well explained and easy to pick up

• Having the options be random gives good replayability and prevents you from relying on a single strategy

• The graphics, lore, and music are engaging.

• I would recommend it to the right audience.

  

Web3 integration

• To access the play to earn version you need a Land NFT which is on eth

• The game’s coin ASG is also on the chain

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

What’s on the timeline

How much web3 does a game need?

When I first entered the space I was quiet the zealot for how much web3 a web3 game needed. Even got frustrated with an article claiming successful web3 when their only web3 element was NFT gating.

My opinion has shifted and now I am supportive of any use of web3, even as simple as using web3 tokens for prize pools. To be more prescriptive of what is needed to be a “real web3” game just isn’t a useful distinction. I’m also pretty keen on “as little web3 as needed”, however, this is more of a reaction to early games shoe horning web3 in which it wasn’t adding value and was detracting from the gamers’ experience.

There will always be a spectrum of “web3ness” and I am excited to see how far web3 games with no off-chain dependencies can get. But I’ll be supporting every genuine attempt to use the technology.

How much web3 is enough for you?

Secret Phrase: web3game

What's Your Gam3? Ep 71. PerionDAO and their 2 products, XP.GG and FANPLAY

Discussion with Perion

Insights from Perion: Mitch shares their journey in the gaming sector, particularly in blockchain gaming.

Company's Shift: They detail the pivot from focusing on one game to a broader scope in web3 gaming.

Investment Strategy

Focus on Experienced Teams: Emphasizes investment in teams with a strong background in traditional gaming.

Enhancing Traditional Games with Web3: Belief in the potential of web3 to augment traditional gaming experiences.

Perion's Gaming Projects

XP Platform: A unique platform designed for gamers to improve their skills and earn rewards. “Get Good”.

Fan Play: A novel wagering platform for Web3 sports games, offering a more immersive experience for players.

Regulatory Compliance

Legal Consciousness: Stresses the importance of adhering to regulations, especially in areas like wagering.

Expansion Goals: Plans to make their platforms more accessible, including to those outside the crypto sphere.

Catch up on all previous episodes on YouTube.

Don’t forget to join us next week!

WYG?: Gam3 Changers - Kix.eth - CEO of Tiltyard - Live now on Spotify!

Kix's Gaming Passion and Career Path:

• Lifelong gaming enthusiast.

• Transitioned from e-commerce and Facebook ads to crypto trading in 2020.

• Started with Coinbase trading and eventually shifted to NFTs by late 2020.

Shift to Crypto and NFTs:

• Journey into NFTs began in 2021 with trading.

• Development of "Crypto Raiders":

• Created a pixel dungeon RPG crawler game, turning it from a side project into a full-time career.

On-Chain vs. Off-Chain Gaming:

• Explores on-chain gaming intricacies and their comparison with off-chain models.

• Discusses the challenges and complexities of integrating blockchain with gaming.

Extensive Gaming Experience:

• Played games like World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike Go, now enjoys tactics games like Teamfight Tactics.

Web3 Gaming Expectations:

• Optimistic about the potential and future challenges of Web3 gaming, especially in integrating finance and gaming.

Advice for Aspiring Web3 Professionals:

• Emphasizes the importance of building connections and gaining practical experience.

Where to find him:

• Active on platforms like Discord and Twitter, highlighting the value of community participation.

Conclusion

• Kix concludes with reflections on the dynamic nature of Web3 gaming and its evolving challenges. He remains enthusiastic about the field's future and the opportunities it presents for innovation and development.

Catch up on all previous episodes on Spotify.

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!