Game of the Week: Crypto Unicorns

Welcome to our weekly article highlighting what we consider to be the most interesting blockchain games currently playable.
8th June 2023: Crypto Unicorns (Laguna Games)
“They’re unicorns, they’re magical, they can do anything.” With those words, Laguna Games CEO Aron Beierschmitt encouraged his team to develop the games and IPs of the Crypto Unicorn multiverse.
Live on Polygon since May 2022, farming game Crypto Unicorns has recently announced the extension of its IPs with Unicorn Party. A bundle of more accessible games, Bumbercorns is a battle royale-style game now available for mobile and browser, while second title Mob Run is an io-style game expected to go live in July 2023.
In Laguna Game’s original title Crypto Unicorns, however, the essential focus loop is on farming, material crafting and breeding. This all takes place on Crypto Unicorns Land NFTs, which are available on the game’s marketplace in three ranges of common, rare and mythic.
Laying a foundation for the larger Crypto Unicorn ecosystem, the Rainbow Token RBW can be earned by selling resources to other players via the game’s marketplace.
The release of a new PVP mode has added depth to this gameplay enabling players to enter their unicorn NFTs in jousting bouts. Winning those tournaments earns users RBW tokens and other resources. The outcome of those battles is determined by the unicorns’ basic stats, something that is reflected in a players’ attention to the farming and breeding process.
While owning a unicorn NFT serves as a boost to the gameplay, it’s not a requirement to start farming. As is the case with free-to-play labelled Bumbercorns however, players can’t take part in jousting without owning one.
Visit the game’s website for more details.
1st June 2023: Cross The Ages (The World of CTA)
Inspired to get onboard web3 and NFTs based on his passion for trading cards and arts, Cross The Ages CEO Sami Chlagou recently shared his insights on the game with BlockchainGamer.biz.
A narrative-driven and “free-to-play-and-earn” TCG, Cross The Ages has deep strategy aspects incorporated with cards that can be powered up through intentional crafting.
“Easy to learn, hard to master” is a description that accurately fits this game where players tactically build their decks to compete for territory on a 4×4 square board.
A card’s number is the main indicator of how powerful it is, and hence whether it will capture the opponent’s cards.
Trying to master the heptagram, which is the heart of the Cross The Ages gameplay, is a whole lot more complex however. Consisting of seven elements, with a rock-paper-scissor relationship between them, a card’s power is increased by 150 if its element has an advantage over the opponent’s card. Likewise it loses 150 power if it’s a disadvantageous card.
Understanding the heptagram elements is essential to win, progress and be able to enjoy the game. As an incentive for this, advancing will enable a player to get more powerful cards, adding utility to their in-game assets.
Deployed on the Immutable X blockchain, Cross the Ages is a mobile-first game currently live on the app stores and available on PC. Visit the game’s website to find out more.
26th May 2023: GRIT (Team GRIT)
In development since 2021, wild west battle royale GRIT from Team GRIT and publisher Gala Games, recently launched on Epic Games. Aiming to bring an innovative gaming experience to everyone, whether it be on horse back or from top of a train, it’s all about avoiding to get shot by being the player shooting first, which is easier said than done. Features like multiplayer, single player and co-op modes are also available to spice up the gameplay.
Running on Gala’s own blockchain and Ethereum means that players can own their in-game assets such as characters, horses, and more. Those NFTs are available to purchase through Gala Games’ store although they have yet to be integrated into this build of the game.
Set in an impressive wild west environment, this hold your horses shooter has a spectator mode when you die, offering an exciting experience even for the less successful player.
Although it’s hard to see many of those even attempting to play this PC game. Impressive as the graphics are, the question remains whether it’ll be enough to onboard a larger audience than the most dedicated web3 gaming crowd. Nonetheless, it’s well worth giving GRIT a go.
The game is available to download from Epic Games store.
18th May 2023: Axie Infinity Origins (Sky Mavis)
First released in 2018, Axie Infinity has been labelled by many as a trendsetter in the still relatively juvenile industry of blockchain gaming.
Developer Sky Mavis – not its name at the time – created the game with a vision to combine immersive gameplay with the potential for earning income, leveraging the disruptive technology of blockchain. And realising the lack of a blockchain matching that vision, also eventually created its own chain; Ronin.
With its engaging gameplay, Axie Infinity Origins has managed the balance of attracting a wider age range. A traditional battler, with cute bouncy Pokemon-style monsters, the combination invites the most inexperienced player.
Launched in May, Season 4 takes aim at touching base with an even larger audience who’ve never played the game before. One new feature is the redistributed rewards, which means players with lower rankings get a bigger piece of the total prize rewards. Another is the new rank system, making it easier to progress for players with lower rankings as well as making it harder to maintain the higher ranks. The match speed has been increased and starter Axie upgrades can be achieved easier, using specific resources collected from the daily and weekly missions.
Blockchain-lite
Although the most significant step towards onboarding a new set of players might be the recent announcement that a blockchain-lite version of Axie Infinity Origins has set sail at the Apple App Store, through which players in Latin America and southeast Asia can now access the game as a free-to-play experience.
Of course, more generally, Axie Infinity Origins is also available in its full blockchain version as an APK for Android devices or PC/Mac download via the game’s website.
Want to find out more about Sky Mavis and the future development of Ronin, check out BlockchainGamer.biz’s recent interview with its co-founder Jeff Sirlin.
12th May 2023: Blocklords (Metakings)
Despite the project having been in various stages of development since 2019, the launch of this month-long community build is the first time we’ve been able to have a look at this medieval PC strategy game.
Of course, not all the final features are live but playing through the tutorial and beyond provides an engaging experience in terms of how Blocklords’ basic resource-based economy is going to work, as well as providing some insight into the metagame aspects for higher level players, which involve being lords of the land and setting taxes for their citizens.
Available until early June, Blocklords can be downloaded from its website now. No NFTs are required to play although NFTs holders can import them into the game to get a boost. Players can also earn a NFT by completing the free battle pass event during the beta.
4th May 2023: Xeno Dragon (nStep)
In this classic Korean strategy RPG, players are thrown into a world of dragon battles. Each dragon will grow and level up as the game advances through four modes; Adventure, Dungeon, Expedition and PvP Arena.
First comes Adventure mode. Here players get to know their dragons and abilities, manage their team and send it out into auto-battles against increasingly powerful monsters. With a time limit of 3 minutes to complete each course, to spice up the gameplay, players are occasionally sent into a three-track endless runner area to top-up mana.
So far, so easy, even for a novice of Korean style RPGs. Needless to say though, as the game progresses to Dungeon mode and the chance to acquire Dragon Gears, it gets more challenging. Levelling up the dragon team becomes a necessity. In this mode players are faced with just one big, significantly stronger, dragon. In the narrative of the Olivia continent, these are called the “the heads of each of the scattered Dragons”.
Pay attention to the tutorial
Dungeon matches can last up to 10 minutes, however, to me it only lasted for about half of that as I probably didn’t pay enough attention in the tutorial. Lesson learnt. I guess I won’t need to tell you who came out victorious.
As incentives, players earn rewards for completed matches. In Arena mode there’s an opportunity to earn dragons. Additionally, the game offers daily, weekly and special quests as a way to earn. $NST is the main token in Xeno Dragon. Looking ahead, the token is set to be updated for use in other games as part of the nStep ecosystem.
Boosting gameplay with NFTs
An alternative way to acquire dragons is by purchasing NFT Dragons, which are stronger and hence increase the chance of winning. Having an NFT Dragon also gives access to the NFT Arena, a game mode with even greater earning mechanisms.
NFT Gears is a further way to boost the dragons. Both NFT Dragons and NFT Gears can be obtained through Mystery Boxes in the marketplace.
Xeno Dragon is developed by nStep, a team of South Korean gaming veterans with a background in Disney, LINE, Com2uS and more. Released on mobile, the game is currently available on the app stores in open beta albeit without any blockchain integration. It runs on the K STADIUM groundchain.
For more details, visit the Xeno Dragon website.
28th April 2023: NFL Rivals (Mythical Games)
Somehow it would be wrong to start off a profile of a sports game and not give it away straight away; I know next to nothing about American Football.
Sure I’ve watched Super Bowl from time to time and I understand that the sport is more like rugby than soccer as we Europeans understand it. Beyond that, I’m alien.
So playing NFL Rivals has been a big portion of challenge, but also a lighter bite of pleasure. Basic skills such as gaining yard with the ball rather than being pushed back, as well as passing (if you’re not too pressed for time), aren’t too difficult.
It’s refining those skills and managing under increased pressure that requires more patience.
There are more than a few moments where you just can’t make sense of the game. When you aim for a touchdown and press sprint but the player instead throws the ball off the pitch and falls to the ground.
Just the beginning
Little niggles like those make the game feel unfinished, which is no big surprise as it’s been released in early access for the first months. This is the season called the Offseason.
Despite the hiccups however, NFL Rivals offers plenty of room for players to improve. Someone with a competitive and stubborn mindset is sure to return to the game more than once. Not only to get faster at crisscrossing passed players but also to get more accurate at passing, and getting the order and timing of the technical moves right.
Even if you don’t manage to win many matches, your achievements in terms of distance run and passing add up and you’ll be rewarded with Rival coins and gems. Those can be used to purchase new players, something that should work well as a measure to motivate more playtime.
Of course there’s also the quicker option, to spend money purchasing player packs. Those players vary in rank from common to mythic and you can acquire differently ranked cards based on which ones you collect.
Where’s the blockchain?
But despite being a web3 mobile game, NFL Rivals isn’t in any obvious way a blockchain game. That’s what you get for making it through app store approvals.
However if you already have a Mythical Market account, you can link it to the game and import your player NFTs. These don’t give you any in-game advantage compared to the standard web2 players, however.
So, in this, as in other respects, NFL Rivals is very much a work-in-process. But it’s a decent start.
To find out more, visit the NFL Rivals website.
21 April 2023: InfiniMerge (InfiniGods)
As the title indicates, InfiniMerge is a game that combines the puzzle and adventure genres to create an exciting merge gameplay experience. Inspired by popular games such as Triple Town and City Blocks the game aims to offer a fresh take on the merge game genre.
Part of the wider InifiniGods Universe, the adventure aspect of InfiniMerge features ancient mythology and civilizations. The game is developed by blockchain gaming studio InfiniGods, founded by Damon Gura and Owen O’Donoghue, both veterans of the social and mobile gaming space. Passionate about blockchain games, the duo set out to create a project focusing on fun, as opposed to the financial aspect of web3 gaming.
With another title recently announced, tower defense Immortal Siege, InfiniGods aims to onboard all types of players, regardless of game and crypto experience.
InfiniMerge encourages a player-owned economy where users control the supply of two key power-ups, Followers and Elder Gods.
Followers is the main reward that players can gain by completing new daily levels and placing high on weekly leaderboards. The reward can be used to perform special actions within the game such as enable a merge or free up board space. Alternatively, players can choose to bundle their Followers to create an Ark, a tradable NFT.
The inclusion of Elder Gods and their various in-game powers such as randomly shuffling the board and adding extra time or moves to limited levels, adds an extra layer of competition and prospect of progression to the game.
Each day players are presented with a new level to play, tainted by the legends and characters of different mythologies. These daily levels are sequenced out as seasons, retelling classic myths, or telling new stories based on various legends.
InfiniMerge is the first title to be revealed as part of the wider InfiniGods Universe. It’s currently in alpha on Polygon.
To find out more, visit the InfiniGods website.
14th April 2023: Mojo Melee (Mystic Moose)
Having seen some projects recently lose momentum due to what appears to be a lack of interaction through social channels, I’m easily pleased when I find one that doesn’t.
Planet Mojo has gained a substantial level of buzz with the recent announcement that its game Mojo Melee is heading into open beta. When? Well, “soon”.
More interesting than the exact date however, is what the open beta will involve. For the curious, there’s a blog post going into the details, but in general it means that all the game stats will be reset and every player will start from square one. So, no Mojos, champions or spellstones until they’ve been earned through gameplay or bought as NFTs.
This is exciting particularly for beginners as it widens the opportunity of getting into the game and having a chance to progress on equal terms.
More than just a game
Mojo Melee is a PvP auto-chess battle game, developed by Mystic Moose, running on Polygon and the first to be released as part of the Planet Mojo project. Its fantasy-themed surroundings and characters are entertaining and add a sense of excitement. Bonus points too for how the game manages to capture childrens’ attention with its quick battles, jumping Frodas and funny broccoli-looking creatures.
With the game in open beta, players will have to progress and earn the in-game token Gems either through the BattlePass or by earning reward chests. These can then be spent on new game items such as champions and spellstones, which are helpful to advance in battles.
The BattlePass comes with two sets of rewards. One common track that is available for free to all players and one premium, only available if the Premium Battle Pass is purchased. This includes a range of exclusive champions, skins and more, and is also set to go on sale when the open beta is launched.
Furthermore players can win Ore and XP in reward chests, which can be spent on levelling up.
Mojo Melee has a straightforward progression route, with BattlePass rewards for taking part in battles, completing daily quests and leveling up your characters.
Along with the open beta launch, Planet Mojo are minting a special Beta Chest NFT and the Mojo Melee store will also open, where players will be able to spend Gems buying Mojos, champions, skins and spellstones. As well as various daily offers there’s also a “very rare chance that one of your Daily Deals might be a Digital Collectible (NFT) character”.
Now all we want to know is: when?
Until the open beta release, the alpha browser version of Mojo Melee is available here.
7 April 2023: Crypto Crusades (Merfolk Games)
CryptoCrusades, by Hong Kong-based Merfolk Games, is a mobile strategy game with combat at its core. Players can construct buildings and trade resources but the main aim is to build and recruit enough units to be able to fulfill combat missions. Resources required for those missions can be gathered through harvesting. They can also be used to craft unique NFTs.
In-game currency Gold acts as a special resource and can be obtained through trading, by thieving enemy cities or through NFT-crafting. Alternatively it can be bought in the game’s shop.
Ultimately there are five ways to run a successful empire. Players can choose to play as either a warrior, guardian, merchant, artisan or farmer.
Although this hex-tile strategy game has been long in the making, it only recently launched open beta on iOS and Android and is available via app stores. It stands out as one of few fully on-chain games being optimized for mobile. CryptoCrusades is also the first mobile blockchain game launched on the Skale L2 network.
Although well presented with an easy tutorial any level of player can enjoy, the game still feels a little fresh. Certainly I’ve been experiencing plenty of dropped transactions, which is an issue given that every move in the game is an on-chain transaction.
Nevertheless, it’s good to see this OG indie project finally get released and despite these teething issues, it’s also refreshing to see a blockchain game stay true to its on-chain vision.
Find out more about the game on its website.
31 March 2023: Blast Royale (First Light Games)
With mobile battle royale game Blast Royale, UK dev First Light Games aims to present a “fun, frenetic adrenaline fuelled short session game”.
Trying out games in their early stages is never going to be plain sailing, and being new to the genre just adds to the challenge. After a few matches however, Blast Royale seems simple enough, even for complete beginners.
That said, trying to get the hang of the touchscreen joystick which randomly seems to go unhinged, means “fun” may not be the first description coming to mind. “Frenetic” perhaps more accurate. Still, the short and fast matches are an appealing feature too.
While many games quickly become dominated by heavyweight players equipped with powerful NFTs, Blast Royale offers some more quiet waters to let you get the hang of things before you are totally blasted. With its top-down view players get the opportunity to explore a map and spot weapons whilst deploying into the game at the start.
From then on the rule is simple; last man standing wins the match.
It’s basically a matter of collecting your weapon/s as quickly as possible, as well as topping up on ammo and health, whilst trying to stay in the safe areas and kill your opponents. Try not to get too distracted by the various levels of the weapons “because skillfully shooting while using positional advantages is the main focus of gameplay”, according to the game’s whitepaper.
The aim of the game is to end at the top of the leaderboard. More wins means higher rewards, although players that don’t win also get rewarded based on their placement. Those metrics also determine the number of trophies players receive, which in turn affect your earnings of the in-game token $CS.
While earning might in itself be enough of an incentive to some players, the progression of the gameplay will be more crucial to others. With improved skills, players may eventually earn enough to obtain NFT equipment.
Ranked matches
To be able to play in ranked matches, a player must have at least three different items of equipment. Items can be either NFTs or non-NFTs, which can be upgraded with $CS and $BLST. Upgrading your items improves their performance in the game.
“We don’t want the game to be pay-to-win, that’s really important”, CEO Anil Das-Gupta has said, “but we want the NFTs to have some value, bragging rights and ownership”. Here you can read our extensive interview with Das-Gupta.
Blast Royale is a free-to-play mobile game running on Polygon and currently available through app stores. To learn more about the game, check out its website.
24 March 2023: Hunters On-Chain (Boomland)
As for the game, BoomLand’s Hunters On-Chain is the reimagined web3 version of mobile game Hunt Royale.
Hunters On-Chain is a battle royale action RPG. As such it will offer various game modes; including Co-Op, Hardcore Hunt, Duel and Boss Hunt. (as well as Special Events & Mini Games such as Tower Defense, Races and Survival mode.)
At the start, every player goes through a tutorial which will earn them the entry level common Hunter NFT. The more you play, the more $BGEM tokens you earn, albeit at a low level with these entry level common rarity NFTs. This currency is used to buy chests, which drop Hunter Shards that will be used to unlock and level up more Hunters.
There will be 40 Hunter character in total, each with different stats and designed for different play styles. Upgrading Hunters will also increase its in-game attributes as well as the maximum Hunt limit and $BGEM earnings.
Even though the game is still in its early version on the Polygon testnet, there’s good reason why Hunters On-Chain is our first pick of the week. To learn more, check out the game’s website.