Everything You Need to Know About: Splinterlands

Splinterlands is a play-to-earn, collectible card auto-battler that was previously known as Steem Monsters. The game is built on the Hive blockchain and features players battling against each other, using these cards in one vs one matches. Splinterlands also features daily quests, seasonal rewards every two weeks, guilds, a tournament system, and an in-game marketplace where players have the option of trading, buying, selling or even renting cards for their battle decks.

Gameplay

Splinterlands is made for the card lovers. Players can play, trade and earn in-game rewards from their mobile or desktop devices. The game holds over 283 cards, each having their own stats like Speed, Armor, Mana cost, and a variety of attack types such as ranged or magic. These can then be combined to build a deck that fits your playstyle.

The game also consists of factions known as “Splinters” with each and every card belonging to a different Splinter. These factions are Fire, Earth, Dragon, Death, Life, Water and Neutral and they serve as the mercenaries. Each faction provides their own unique buffs to the cards.

The gameplay is quite simple. For each game, players select a summoner card (which provides some sort of bonus or opponent debuff), then select creatures that are neutral or are the same type as the summoner. For example, Dragon Summoners can use Dragon Creatures and Neutral Creatures but cannot use Water Creatures. Using the cards chosen, the players battle against each other.

The battles are mostly decided based on the strength of the cards, but positioning should not be underestimated as a wrong move can cost you dearly. Cards with Melee attacks can only attack from the first position while Ranged units cannot attack when placed in the first position. The first team to destroy all its opponents hit points wins the game.

Splinterlands itself offers a variety of in-game options such as quests, ranked matches, and tournaments.

The game has four main modes other than events and missions. These are:

• How to play: This is the tutorial level to let you get accustomed to how the game works as it explains stats, abilities, and more.

• Practice battles: This is to allow you to get used to the game, practice strategies, and test different deck builds without affecting your rank.

• Ranked: Play against people and climb the ladder within the league by winning battles.

• Challenge: Invite your friends or opponents to a duel without affecting your rank.

One of Splinterlands competitive advantages is that it is free to play which means anyone can try the game. To unlock its play-to-earn features, players have to purchase a $10 USD Summoners book which allows the ability to participate in Daily quests, take part in season rewards, and earn Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) which is the in-game token.

Play to earn in Splinterlands

Splinterlands has a variety of branches through which you can earn. These include:

• Renting Cards: Splinterlands Cards are NFTs (Non Fungible tokens) that can be converted into DEC or sold on the marketplace. The easiest way to earn in Splinterlands is by lending high-value cards, allowing you to earn a passive income.

• Tournaments: Tournaments will provide you with DEC tokens as rewards for winning battles, and if you play ranked and win consistently you can earn bonus DEC tokens as well.

• Gifts: Everyone loves receiving gifts and Splinterlands allows you to earn gifts through the completion of daily quests and season rewards. You can also receive gifts from players and send gifts

Potions and Dice are also NFTs which can be used to optimize pack openings, allowing for chances of a better card with each card in a pack at least holding a potion. These NFTs can be purchased within the marketplace and sold on external marketplaces such as Opensea.

In-game tokens

The game consists of two tokens, the first one is the Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) and is the native token of Splinterlands. Players obtain DEC through winning battles that start in the rank of Bronze 2 or in reward chests. Players can also convert cards to DEC and use it to buy cards, purchase card packs, buy card skins, and join tournaments.

At the time of writing, DEC is valued at $0.0005698 (INR 0.045)

The next token is Splintershards (SPS). This is the newly introduced governance token which allows players to be more involved in decision making and have better control over the game itself. SPS holders also get bonus rewards and discounts on promotions. You can trade SPS on PancakeSwap or through airdrops.

At the time of writing, SPS is valued at $0.04749 (INR 3.79)

Splinterlands already has a big presence within the Web3 space as it is one of the most popular projects, recently surpassing even Axie Infinity. The best cards may be a little expensive for the average player but there are cards for low prices that allow you to compete at a decent level. The card renting feature also allows players an easy way to get started on the play-to-earn route which can enable you to earn and get higher level cards.