I am going to analyze this upcoming crypto/NFT game based on several aspects and my decades of experience in the gaming scene.
The aspects will be:
Gameplay loop →
The most important aspect: regarding all games the gameplay must be enjoyable, it should have an element of constant dopamine rush to get you hooked. The goal for crypto games is to get the players addicted to their game so they can keep their existing player base and with the increased popularity they can gain more new joiners. The loop does not have to be complicated, but repetitive, boring and copy-paste ones will get a lower score.
Art →
The first thing which a crypto enthusiast or a gamer encounters about the game is the artwork: projects with quality, unique artwork can gain a lot of traction even before any gameplay gets published. However, games with cheap, boring art will stay under the radar, who wants to see a 1000th ugly fantasy game or a Minecraft ripoff??
Team/transparency →
Details of the developer/creative team shown is always a plus, especially if they have a past in AAA game making or mobile gaming. It is also important that the team reveals information frequently about the development of the project: it is always better to say they will need more time than keeping it a secret.
Community →
Most of the crypto games right now are in the early/very early stages so the most important thing for them besides the development itself is building a community. In this aspect I will take a look at the efforts of the marketing team, making the project likeable and the state of the social media (Twitter, Discord, etc.) channels.
Tech/accessibility →
If you want your game to be successful, the most important thing you need is: players. Mainstream adoption of crypto gaming is still far away and one of the reasons for that is that it is complicated to access these games for a basic user. For example to play Axie Infinity you would need to purchase at least 3 Axie NFTs, learn how to use a crypto wallet…I wouldn’t say that it is user friendly and it is the most popular game right now. Plus, I haven’t even mentioned the large gas fees when the game is built on basic Ethereum…
Bonus →
Anything worth mentioning which is good to know.
Now lets check out the 2nd game, Heroes of Mavia:
Heroes of Mavia
Heroes of Mavia is a multiplayer strategy/action game where you have your own base and you can attack other player’s base with your army. The game has play-to-earn elements, tokens and NFTs can be acquired by playing the game. Early access for the game is supposed to happen in 2022 Q2/Q3.
Gameplay loop → 5/5
The best quality of this game is the really smooth gameplay loop which they came up with: it is simple, understandable for a wide range of players but has a lot of small details if you want to master it. They are trying to fuse Axie Infinity with the gameplay elements of the very popular mobile game Clash of Clans, spiced with tower defense elements (which is a pretty fun genre). This recipe could bring mobile and hardcore gamers together as well. There are 5 types of assets in the game basically, 2 tokens and 3 types of NFTs:
- MAVIA token: buy and sell NFTs on Mavia Marketplace, can be staked, not useable in-game.
- RUBY token: in-game reward for activities, upgrade your NFTs with it, if spent it will be burned.
- Base NFT: contains the HQ which can be upgraded by RUBY, build buildings on it. Built in fix price renting and shared revenue “scholarship” feature.
- Hero NFT: equip maximum 4 heroes which can help you during fights, can also be upgraded with RUBY, cosmetic skins are also available.
- Statue NFT: boosts for your Base, can equip maximum 4 statues to boost certain attributes like cooldown times, building speeds,…
- The ecosystem is really well planned, you can find more info in their game deck pdf here
Art → 4/5
We could get a few sneak peeks of the in-game characters besides the usual press kit materials and all I say is the design is pretty clean it is not boring and pixelated like a few other popular projects. The Hero designs are unique, hopefully we will get a few more sneak peeks to discover more about their creativity. By upgrading your headquarters the units/buildings are upgraded as well and I really like that they are changing cosmetically as well, becoming cooler looking. My favorite things is that the Base (land) NFTs are pretty nice looking with their landscapes, there will be types like Tropical, Woods… you can see an example below.
Team/transparency → 4.5/5
The game is developed by Skrice which is a game development team based in Vietnam, they do not really focus on the achievements of individual team members, they look like a pretty solid team and the identities of the core members are not a secret which is always a plus. However one thing that is really positive that their communication is very transparent, they are honest about the roadmap and the developments also.
Community → 5/5
The game has a pretty big community, their website has a lot of useful information and its growing rapidly.
- 60.000 Discord with very active members
- 54.000 Twitter
- Youtube channel with AMAs and guides
- The best thing which I really loved while doing my research is the detailed Medium page
- Whitelist spots for the first Base sale are based on activity/community building, not on random raffles or gleam.io quizzes which shows the developer’s organic community building intentions
Tech/accessibility → 5/5
- Entry barrier: players must own a Base NFT to be eligible to play
- The game will be playable from any browser, plus from a mobile app which means millions of players can access it easily
- They will release their own NFT marketplace which looks solid from the screengrabs, the real test will be the first sale
- The game is on Ethereum+Arbitrum so gas fees won’t be a problem
Bonus →
- Whitelist applications are currently ongoing for the first Base sale
- Token release will happen later
- Huge partnerships with YGG, Binance Labs(!), Merit Circle and other crypto gaming investors
Overall: 4.7
Find more information about the game:
