What's Your Gam3? #9

Welcome

Welcome to What’s Your Gam3? #9 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 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].

Last Resort

Last Resort is a zombie survival game, currently in a very early stage of development. Currently, you are able to play a demo of the game, which took me roughly 30 mins to fully clear.

Pros
+ Quest to give you a reason to explore, however, these were slightly underwhelming due to all of them being fetch quests.
+ Controls felt smooth and intuitive. I don’t usually play with a controller, but I was able to pick it up easily without checking any instructions.
+ Hints of potential for more in-depth gameplay. This comes from the additional NPCs not utilized in the town, plus the extra items labeled as “craft items”

Cons
- No aim control reduces the depth and skill of combat.
- Mini map shows all zombies and when they are agrro’d drastically reducing the tension.
- Limited gameplay right now

My full review was published on Gam3sgg.

I rated it a 4/10 using the Gam3s scoring matrix, however, I still see the potential for it following conversations I have had with the team. It is hard to fit into my scoring scale, and have gone with “too early to say”. I’d probably say check it out if you keep in mind the massive caveats of being early. Collectors might also be interested, as there is a play to mint element.

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

Nitro Nation World Tour

NitroNation World Tour sets you up with a garage and plenty of racing events to dive into. Winning races for rewards that you can use to unlock new, better, cars. You can also put on your mechanics hat and tune your car, for better results.

Pros
+The style and graphics are engaging. I really like the look of it and the sounds and animations are very clean.
+The amount of events and cars to unlock gives you plenty to aim for.
+Being able to tune the cars allows those with dreams of being a mechanic to really go deep into customization.

Cons
-The racing is lackluster. It is very much just a quick time event “Press button when in green”.
-Upgrades have time requirements on them, forcing you to keep returning if you want to upgrade your car.
-Races didn’t feel challenging, this might just be because I was in the early stages.

Whilst it had positives, the game just didn’t have enough depth to engage me. Tweaking the car felt pointless and isn’t something I’d be that engaged with, as I’m not an engine head. Every race felt the same.

I was pretty disappointed as I like Mythical games and regularly play their other game NFL Rivals.

Overall didn’t enjoy it, not for me. Could be enjoyable for the right person.

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

Thoughts on the week

Shrapnel: Discounts & Giveaways

Shrapnel has been all over the timeline and I am genuinely excited to play it, previously holding an operator until I needed some money for my new computer [unluckily selling at the dip just before the excitement].

The current discounts and almost endless giveaways have raised a few questions for me. With Shrapnel as an example rather than the ideas being specific to the project.

Starting off, having huge discounts after people have bought at full price is obviously going to annoy a few people. However, it isn’t something new and we see irl shops doing it all the time. People love to think they are getting a discount, especially if they think it is for a limited period. It can really help to drive sales through an element of FOMO. The team has also been very reactive to calls for refunds etc for those who paid full price.

We then see a massive number of pack giveaways, easily into the 100s of packs. Again the format of these giveaways really works at getting Shrapnel to dominate the timeline. I do wonder how many gamers will be left without a free pack, considering the size of the space.

Taking both points into consideration, when should you just do free2play open testing? Here it comes down to the motivation for the studio. If they want to make money, obviously free2play open testing isn’t the way. However, if they are after community feedback to help polish the game, free2play open testing would really widen this player pool. I will be interested to see how many sales and what revenue is generated from the packs.

The overall picture on the timeline does give me concern that it is creating a bubble. Lots of discounts, lots of giveaways, releasing the token without much detail - either feels like a fire sale or unsustainable hype. All we can do is wait and see though, hopefully the game brings the quality promised and builds a strong foundation.

What's Your Gam3?

Catch up on all previous episodes on YouTube.

Introduction to Palm Heist

• George describes Palm Heist as a game that updates scratch-off tickets to a multichain NFT format, focusing on collection and long-term play.

Concept and Gameplay Mechanics

• Palm Heist reinvents instant games using blockchain for a fair and transparent gaming experience.

• It turns instant scratch-offs into NFTs for varied use in the game's ecosystem, transitioning from a gamble to a collection model.

The Blockchain Advantage

• Blockchain allows for automated, transparent transactions and secure record-keeping, overcoming issues with traditional instant games like ticket damage or loss.

• The aim is to make instant gaming globally accessible as a collectible experience with immediate rewards.

The Thrill of Discovery and Story

• The game is centered on discovery and narrative, with an evolving storyline revealed through NFT minting.

• Likens to a board game where progress involves minting NFTs for gameplay progression.

Player Empowerment and Odds

• George emphasizes giving players the ability to host and control games on Palm Heist, providing better odds and rewarding collection.

Continued Playability and Secondary Market

• NFTs in Palm Heist have multiple uses across games and lotteries, fostering a secondary market for trading and enhancing gameplay through collecting.

Conclusion and Future Directions

• George details the future of Palm Heist, focusing on the unique rewards and utilities of different NFTs within the game.

• Highlights the game's shift from traditional play-and-throwaway tickets to a deeper, collection-oriented gaming experience.

My thoughts

• My worry for the “game” is that the game side is limited, with a lot more emphasis being on the gambling aspect. I challenged this during the discussion and George did try and highlight this might be a messaging problem. Personally, I’d be avoiding any terms that could suggest gambling, as this will lead to regulation difficulties etc.

• The overall concept of exploring a community map and discovering different cards/NFTs does sound interesting. The motivation to explore the map and why people want the cards seemed a bit lacking. Maybe giving mini-games that use the cards could help.

• The idea of releasing new maps and collections to keep it running sounds labor-intensive. I see this as specifically high risk as currently, the project doesn’t have any monetization included.

• Overall I believe the game will appeal more to degens than gamers unless they can place more emphasis on the board game mechanics that George touched on.

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!