Author: 0xAkina
Gm onchain gamers!
As Ben has covered in the most recent WASD Weekly, the onchain gaming ecosystem has been popping off.
Over the past several weeks, numerous new games have launched, while existing ones have shipped updates and dropped new playtests.
As Ben tweeted last week, we may soon hit a point where there’s an onchain game for everyone.
I certainly agree with his take, and I’ll show you why today by taking you through my three favorite onchain games.
Will you agree with my picks?
Let’s get into it and find out!
SAGE Labs
Game Overview:
SAGE Labs is a space MMO built on Solana and a part of the Star Atlas ecosystem.
As I wrote in my piece on it earlier this year, you can think of SAGE as “Star Atlas V0,” as it has the same economy and assets as the “main” game but in a simplified form and with fully onchain game logic.
In SAGE, your goal is to establish dominance over the galaxy by exploring, mining resources, engaging in space combat, crafting items, and more.
You’ll do so while also building out a fleet of ships, which are represented by NFTs and serve as the backbone of your imperial conquests as they can be used in these different tasks.
Like Star Atlas, SAGE has a complex in-game economy anchored by two tokens: POLIS, a governance token, and ATLAS, a utility token used as a medium of exchange in the in-game marketplace.
SAGE is currently playable on mainnet, and the developer team is set to continue adding new features over the coming months.
Why I Like It:
As someone who likes MMOs, I’ve had a lot of fun with SAGE.
The game’s economy is the most extensive of any I’ve encountered in an onchain game, with numerous moving parts that are a dream for spreadsheet-oors to map out.
(You’ll need to use them and other community tools to play the game effectively).
I also like the diversity of gameplay and enjoy the different modes, such as exploration, crafting, and combat.
SAGE is always evolving. The team constantly introduces new ships and features like guild battles to keep things fresh.
While I like how developed the economy is, this comes with a tradeoff of requiring a significant time commitment from players.
You have to stay up-to-date on even minor changes to SAGE, as these tweaks can affect your strategies and performance.
While many players automate gameplay via bots, most players don’t yet have these capabilities and thus face a higher barrier to entry when getting started.
Despite this, I’m still a big fan of SAGE and can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Tarochi
Game Overview:
Tarochi is an RPG developed by Paima Studios using the Paima Engine and deployed on XAI.
The game is comparable to Pokemon, as you capture monsters, battle, quest, and explore.
Monsters are represented by stateful NFTs, which are non-fungibles with metadata that updates based on player actions and can be sold on secondary marketplaces.
Tarochi is currently in the midst of Season 1, the game's first mainnet release.
This update introduced many new features, the most notable of which are PvP battles (combat was previously PvE) and Genesis Trainer NFTs (a collection that provides provides several in-game perks).
Season 1 is playable and set to run until the end of April, when Season 2 is slated for release.
Why I Like It:
Tarochi is one of the most addicting onchain games I’ve come across.
The core game loop of collecting monsters and battling in the arena is a lot of fun.
I’m particularly excited about the upcoming Guild event, where you’ll be able to compete and team up with other players, further enhancing the social aspect of the game.
(WASD is recruiting for this!)
I also like that you can play the game on mobile - It feels just as smooth as desktop and helps make the game more friendly for casual players.
Despite these positives, I feel there’s still room for improvement with Tarochi.
For instance, the game does not have much of a story or lore, and the soundtrack is repetitive and loud.
Addressing these should create a more engaging experience and help Tarochi score even more points in my book.
Pirate Nation
Game Overview:
Pirate Nation is an RPG developed by Proof of Play.
In Pirate Nation, you take on the role of (surprise, surprise) a pirate, where you’ll explore, craft NFT items, battle on the seas, and earn Pirate Gold (PGLD).
Gameplay shares some similarities with Farmville (a game co-created by Proof of Play’s founder), as you’ll have a limited amount of energy per day to allocate to tasks like quests, crafting, exploration, and combat.
As I outlined in my piece last month, combat has recently been overhauled through the addition of PvP matches and a new battle system.
Under the hood, Pirate Nation is unique in that it’s a true “multichain game.”
This is because the game not only migrated its contracts to Apex, the first L3 built using Multichain, Proof of Play’s Arbitrum Orbit-based stack, but also uses mirroring to enable certain playable characters (Founder’s Pirate NFTs) to live on Ethereum L1.
Why I Like It:
I really enjoy Pirate Nation and feel it’s one of the most impressive onchain games out there.
The game’s quest system is well-designed and immersive, and crafting (and then flexing) items is very satisfying.
Combat has improved considerably on the back of the additions I mentioned above, while the game’s graphics are among the best in the space.
In addition, I’m a big fan of the Proof of Play team, which does a great job of communicating with the community and shipping new features.
All in all, I’m very excited to keep playing Pirate Nation and to see how Proof of Play grows out its ecosystem.
Onchain Games, Gud Games
As you can see, between SAGE, Tarochi, and Pirate Nation, I’m having a ton of fun onchain gaming these days.
These titles are all impressive, fusing fun gameplay with cutting-edge infrastructure to create immersive experiences.
I’m incredibly excited to keep playing and covering them here for you all.
(And to establish a WASD Guild presence in each!)
Be sure to check all three for yourselves and see if they’re your favorites too!
🤝 Thank you to our sponsor: Fire Eyes 🔥_🔥
Fire Eyes is a leading organization for onchain governance.
They are active players and contributors to onchain games, and care deeply about furthering the development of the Ethereum and DAO ecosystems.
Fire Eyes is a great outlet for any team looking for in-depth feedback on community sentiment and token design.
If you’re interested in getting in touch with 🔥_🔥 - DM them on X!
Thanks for reading!
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