What's Your Gam3? 22nd Oct

Welcome

Welcome to What’s Your Gam3? 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.

Thoughts on the week

Tokens in-game

I could go into a long rant regarding the use of tokens in games, but I’ll save that for another time.

With several gaming tokens looking very promising right now Twitter is ablaze with token speculation, grinding guides, and airdrop farming.

Personally, I see this all as very off-putting to the mainstream crowd that we constantly chant about, “mainstream adoption”.

The idea of someone snagging a rare drop and being able to trade it fits into the traditional gamer mindset, all you need to do is look at people selling WoW accounts. However, having a currency that is needed in a game having a wildly varying real-world value just isn’t it. The constant financial pressure on the player will be detrimental to their gaming experience. It will also cause issues for the studio as they try and balance the in-game economy that benefits players with the external economy for those speculating.

If I was designing it I would have NFTs for items and records of achievements, then allowing trade in a “standard” token or fiat.

What's Your Gam3? Ep. 60

This week on What’s Your Gam3? I spoke to Yaku. You can hear the full episode on YouTube! 

Yaku

The Vision of Gaming Project Yaku

The Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Business Development at Seven of and Three Plays introduced their game as a decentralized future set in 2177 Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from "Ready Player One," they envisioned a gaming realm similar to the Oasis: "I kind of compared to always the oasis...that's essentially what we're building." The game emphasizes self-creation and individuality, summarized by its tagline: "creating your reality."

Diving deeper into the gameplay, players are offered a familiar MMO structure, allowing them to "customize your character's appearance and skills based on skill, tree and itemization." However, this is merely a glimpse into the vastness of the game, hinting at deeper layers yet to be discussed.

The Gaming Platform and User Experience

Initially, players need to download a desktop client to access the game. Soon, however, the game will be accessible via the Epic Games store, simplifying the process. Making the move to the Epic Games store was a significant step for them as it offers both security against online threats and a vast demographic of potential players. "Epic Games has a huge Web two demographic already on their platform," he remarked, emphasizing the mutually beneficial relationship.

Despite being in its pre-alpha stages, the game offers a range of activities. Players can partake in community events, explore the vast game world, and soon, indulge in game modes such as bike racing, described as an "adult Mario Kart."

Digital Fashion and Customization

They shed light on the expansive nature of their gaming universe, highlighting a blend of self-expression and business integration. One exciting element is the introduction of a branded clothing line for their new wing, "Kuro." More intriguingly, the game has carved out spaces for major fashion labels like Nike, Diesel, and H&M, allowing players to purchase and customize digital assets. According to the spokesperson, "They will have digital assets that will be available for purchase and customize your character." However, the inclusion doesn't stop with big brands. The upcoming creator hub will give community members a platform to craft and market their own digital assets. The goal is to empower players with a dynamic inventory and itemization system to represent themselves in a myriad of ways.

Delving Deep into the MMO System

He highlighted that while racing might appeal to a certain set of gamers, the game's MMO system promises a more comprehensive experience. Yaku offers players the choice of three different races, each with unique classes and abilities. The representative shared, "each choice you make is a meaningful choice, whether from race, whether from, oh, should I go down this side of the skill tree, this side, it will create a completely unique playstyle." They aspire to provide a dynamic system where every decision, from skill tree progression to character development, has significant repercussions.

Drawing inspiration from established MMOs like World of Warcraft, Yaku aspires to provide a multi-faceted experience, encapsulating diverse combat styles from "caster range modes" to "Final Fantasy melee inspired combat." Their unique "ascendancy" leveling system promises not just skill enhancement but also visual transformations of the characters, reminiscent of power-ups in Dragon Ball Z. This, the spokesperson believes, will appeal to a broader spectrum of gamers

Player Experience and Interaction

In a bid to enhance the MMO experience, Yaku aims to make every player's decisions highly consequential. They are devising ways to make role choices meaningful while also allowing players the flexibility to explore different avatars and roles. This is an attempt to strike a balance between preserving the uniqueness of each character and ensuring there are enough players for various game roles like healers.

For those eager to stay updated with Yaku's developments, the interviewee recommended following their Twitter and joining their Discord, where exclusive competitions and announcements are made. To the delight of many, the interview also confirmed the introduction of a cruise mode where players can enjoy casual rides around the game's expansive map.

Marketplace and Blockchain Integration

Taking a deeper dive into the technological backbone of Yaku, the game's marketplace is anchored on blockchain technology, enabling true ownership of digital assets. "All of those items will be on chain," the representative emphasized, offering players a seamless in-game shopping experience. Starting with assets from the Yaku studio, the marketplace will gradually feature skins and items from their partners like Honda and Toys R US. They aim to perfect this marketplace with rigorous quality checks, ensuring it aligns with their guidelines.

The blockchain partnership currently stands with Immutable, with plans to make the platform chain agnostic. "We want to make sure that we have our game open to transactions on your chain," they added, noting the game's collections currently reside on Solana.

Don’t forget to join us next week!

Gam3 Changers

Coop - Building Earn Alliance and Last Remains

The Journey of Coop: From Modding to Web3

Coop, a seasoned game developer, and entrepreneur, traces his passion for programming and game development back to his teenage years. He recalled, "I started modding Starcraft maximum maps when I was nine years old... it's a mod and before with the Warcraft three is where I started learning how to script and became obsessed with programming." These formative experiences led him to explore various aspects of the gaming world, from modding to scripting, and eventually into the realm of private MMO RPG servers. Despite the potential legal complexities, these experiences allowed him to refine his skills and foster collaborations with talented individuals online.

His journey saw him transition from modding to creating games of his own, especially when the Unity engine became freely available. Over time, Coop founded several gaming companies, with notable mentions including Hourglass, Jangly Games, and Kento Hub. His ventures culminated in the establishment of Jangly Games as the second-largest real money casino in India and later, the sale of Kento Hub to the Square Cash app and Jangly Games to PokerStars.

Earn Alliance: Bridging Gamers and the Web3 Universe

His newest endeavor, Earn Alliance, is a reflection of the evolving gaming industry. "Earn Alliance is a Web3game discoverability platform and soon a Marketplace aggregator," Coop explained. Aimed at connecting games with gamers, the platform aggregates content across various channels, from tweets to Discord announcements, ensuring that enthusiasts have a single go-to place for updates and game-related content.

The platform's approach is innovative. Despite initial hesitance from game developers, Earn Alliance chose to feature games without always seeking direct permissions, resulting in an impressive "3000 games in the feed that we aggregate." Now, Earn Alliance collaborates with over 60 games, forging partnerships that range from NFT launches to co-marketing initiatives.

New Gaming Ventures and Web3 Integration

Delving into a new project, Coop described "Last Remains" as their interpretation of a web3 game. He described it as "a stealth battle royale, extraction, third-person shooter." What sets this game apart is its two primary goals: simulating the thrill of obtaining rare items and pioneering a player-driven economy. Coop revealed, "The entire ethos was around two things. One is the feeling of picking up an item that's super, super rare... The second thing is that we wanted to figure out what a game economy could look like, where the players generate the economy."

This game's introduction also reflects Coop's vision of interweaving various gaming platforms. Drawing a parallel to Steam, he discussed the potential of pushing their "Alliance community" towards "Last Remains," emphasizing the benefits of overlapping distribution and marketing.

Personal Insights and Future Forecasts

Reflecting on his career journey, Coop shared candid insights from his early days, including a bold move from a potential six-figure salary at Netflix to starting up, which even led to a relationship break-up. However, for him, time is the most crucial currency, and he stressed the importance of investing it where one finds value and happiness.

Coop also underscored the significance of Web3 in fostering guilds and communities. Drawing from his experience, he advised budding gamers and enthusiasts to connect with like-minded individuals and collaborate on shared passions.

Looking ahead, Coop expressed anticipation for the public's response to "Last Remains," especially given its unique integration of Battle Royale with stealth. He also mentioned his excitement for other games set to launch, especially those incorporating Web3 layers without making it their primary selling point.

Listen now on Spotify. 

What I Played!

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].

WAGMI

WAGMI Defense is a tower defense/attack-style game where players place troops to defend their towers whilst trying to destroy the enemy players’ towers.

+Simple to get started
+Depth of units for different strategies
+Crates and progression to keep players returning

-Player base felt low
-Art feels dated
-The multiple maps don’t seem to affect gameplay that much

I have been dipping in and out of the game as it is very bitesize, but I don’t see it replacing my normal group of mobile games.

The game is available to play on mobile, by invite, for more information follow their Twitter to keep up to date.

Embersword

Ember Sword is set to be an MMORPG, the current build is a 4 man dungeon crawler offering a variety of classes dictated by player equipment rather than skills.

+Really liked the art style
+Having all moves and stats coming from equipment is an interesting idea and gives the chance for different builds
+Dungeon progression felt immersive
 
-Movement controls felt a bit wonky
-Camera angle and going behind objects was a bit frustrating
-Some of the boss moves felt unavoidable

Really enjoyed the playtest and we played for about 2 hours after saying “we’ll take a quick look”. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

The game is currently in browser, invite only, for more information follow their Twitter to keep up to date.

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!