What is the best type of blockchain game? The answer is obviously subjective, since it depends on your taste. Do you prefer to test your skills in runner-style games or do you prefer to explore a virtual open world? It can be hard to decide which is truly better. That said, one gaming format has stood out as perhaps the most compelling case for blockchain integration: card games. Even opponents of NFT games, including journalists who have massive features released attempting to disparage the Web3 gaming industry as a whole, they have been forced to admit that there is real utility to NFT card games.
Do you need proof? One of the first blockchain games released at scale was Genesis Spellsa card game that owes much of its mechanics and artistic style to the eternal Magic: The Gathering (MTG). Other early players in NFT card games include gods unchained Y infinity axis. Over the years, these titles have been quite successful and have acquired a dedicated following. But they’re far from the only high-profile card games to hit the market. there are Sorare, Splinterlands, Y Origins of metropolis – to name a few.
But what exactly is it that makes the card game format so perfect for blockchain integration? We spoke to card game experts about the gods unchained team to find out.
I can’t collect them all
Over the years, the rush to collect new and rare items has proven to be one of the most reliable ways for game developers to encourage player retention and growth.. Mtg: Arena, for example, has nine major releases on the schedule for 2023, including ones that tease new gameplay mechanics and add to the lore of the game. In the last 30 days alone, the number of average monthly players on the platform has increased by more than 100,000.
The problem? One of the best parts of collecting cards is in the name: trading. But in Web2 digital card game offerings, such as Hearthstone either Mtg: Arena, players cannot trade (or even sell) cards. Much of this was an intentional choice on the part of the game developers as they wanted to encourage players to purchase booster packs from their in-game markets to increase your earnings.
Time some players don’t care the inability to trade cards is seen by others as a turn off as it limits the types of decks they can build. Instead of customizing their deck to be exactly what they want, they are forced to repeatedly buy booster packs in hopes of getting “that one card” that will complete their planned deck.
gods unchainedBlizzard Executive Producer Daniel Paez is in a unique position to understand this issue, having started his career at Blizzard and was part of the Hearthstone team. He explains that this inability to select cards by oneself is one of the big shortcomings of Web2 card games, a shortcoming that can be solved with the blockchain.
“The quest to try and get certain cards that you really want for your set, that in itself is daunting, right? Trading card games on Web2 don’t allow that, and on Web3 it’s one of the most basic decisions you can make,” Páez explained in an interview with nft now. “There is a demand for players who [want specific cards.] They have your money. They have time to play, but Really you want that specific card. I think that’s where you really need to empower players to be able to trade,” he said.
How Web3 changes the game (of cards)
But how exactly does blockchain technology empower digital card game players? By minting digital playing cards as NFTs, each playing card can be freely traded just like its physical equivalent. If a player is looking for a specific card, he won’t have to rely on booster packs that he can just buy from the game developer, essentially paid dice rolls to get the cards he wants. Instead, they can check out any NFT marketplace that hosts cards for the Web3 card game they’re playing and buy them directly from another player.
voila. True ownership and true empowerment.
On a larger scale, the entire blockchain gaming industry has shown a strong indication of rallying around ownership as its new point of emphasis. Amid the slow decline seen by play-to-win titles throughout 2022, the industry has rallied around a new term: play-to-own. It’s a deceptively simple concept. Through this model, players can finally claim real ownership of their in-game assets and creations. In the case of virtual worlds like decentralized Y the sandbox, the property is all encompassing. Everything in these games is at stake with respect to ownership. Except for other players of course.
That being said, empowering players to own, trade, and collect cards without being bound by the limits imposed by the booster-pack-based model also enriches the player’s overall gaming experience. “The fact is, there’s an inherent joy in curating a collection of unique and rare cards and exploring the space of possibilities they provide to break through the meta and win games,” Chris Clay, gods unchained Game Director explained in an interview with nft now.
Before working with him gods unchained team, Clay served as a director on another great Web3 trading card game: Magic: The Gathering Arena. For him, Web3 provides the logical next step, and potential end point, of this corner of the gaming industry. “NFTs are a perfect technology to regain true ownership of the card, allowing digital TCGs to get one step closer to their legacy physical counterparts. this puts [the] being able to get back into the hands of players to curate their collection however they see fit,” Clay said.
The future of card games?
Certainly, blockchain-enabled collectible card games can shake up this segment of the gaming landscape considerably. They may even create a future paradigm where the main factor for anyone looking to get into a new card game is whether it comes in a digital or physical format.
“The benefits that NFTs bring to this field as well, relative to ownership, will also be appreciated more and more as time goes on.”
chris clay
For his part, Clay believes that digital collectibles will likely win out in the end. “Some gamers will just always prefer the physical versions of these kinds of games…[but] As the demographics shift towards a younger generation, who are more accustomed to digital native platforms, we are likely to see even greater adoption. The benefits that NFTs bring to this field as well, relative to ownership, will also be appreciated more and more as time goes on,” he said.
In fact, of everything on Web3, card games may have the best chance of bringing future generations into the next phase of the Internet.
However, Clay is quick to point out that Web3 is still in its infancy. Trading card games have served as a largely successful proof of concept regarding the new dimensions of gaming and interactivity that blockchain technology can bring to the gaming industry. But there is still so much innovation to be done that many ways to integrate blockchain technology into gaming experiences have yet to be seen. “[Trading card games]Because of their collectible nature, they are a great first place to explore this technology, but it could also apply to many other genres,” Clay said. And so while the full future of card games remains unclear, one thing is certain: we’ll see many more changes on the horizon.
