Axie Infinity
What is Axie Infinity?
Axie Infinity is an NFT-based online video game that was developed in 2018 by a Vietnamese studio named; Sky Mavis, a technology-focused game studio that has always been known for its in-game economy which makes use of Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies. Axie Infinity is a trading battling online video game that allows its players to gather, train, develop and battle creatures known as Axies. These characters/creatures are based on a paedomorphic salamander called Axolotl. These characters are then digitalized as NFTs. Axie Infinity allows players to earn as they play while they breed the axis and trade them in the marketplace. To breed these axies, there is a need for SLP (Smooth Love Potion). SLP is a type of cryptocurrency and just like the others; it is quite flexible. It can be purchased through binance or uniswap.
Many of the developers met from playing cryptokities and gradually moved into them working on axie. Axie Infinity was developed to serve as an exciting, interesting, and educative way to let the world know about blockchain technology. It is no news that people can get confused and overwhelmed when introduced to new things, not to mention new things that can be complex like a new sort of technology known as the blockchain. What other simple way to ease it into our lives than through a game right?
The major difference between axie infinity and other traditional/usual games is the addition of blockchain technology that gives rewards to its players. What are these rewards? What forms do they take? All these questions will soon be answered.
Although it is the case that axie makes use of blockchain technology, it does not involve solving complex calculations, but rather a fun way of playing, earning, and learning at the same time. Axie Infinity allows players to own Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) which equates to owning a part of the axie universe.
Axie Scholarship Programs
There is a popular saying that says; ‘One must use money to earn money’. Axie Infinity is not so different too, as to be able to play to earn, the players must have Ethereum which cannot be gotten free. What then happens to players that would love to play the game and earn but don’t have enough to buy their first set of axies? Axie infinity does not want anyone left out, so the introduction of scholarship programs also known as Axie Lending Programs will help new players with axies even when they can’t purchase their first set of axies.
These programs were started by trusted members of the axie community. They had just two major objectives
To help people without a lot of money to start earning in the Game currency which can be traded for real money
To allow new players to try out the game first without spending their own money until the players are sure that they would like to invest their money in axie infinity.
How Does The Scholarship Programs Work?
There are two sets of people involved in these scholarships programs; Managers and Scholars
Managers; are the people that have in their possession, hundreds of axies that have been accumulated over the years when axie monsters and breeding were less expensive. They cannot play all the axies all at once, so they lend them out to people who need them and use them. In other words, managers are the people who lend axies to people.
Scholars; are the people who are lent axies to breed them, play, and earn.
After the scholars have been lent the axies, and there is a sort of returns on the axies, the split of the returns is usually 60%-40%. That is 60% for the scholars since they are the ones that played the game and 40% for the managers who made it possible for the players to play the game in the first place. At this point, it is up to the scholars to either sell it to the market and have it converted into hard-earned money or hoard it until the price rises.
It is also paramount to point out that the tasks of scholars are to complete daily quests, fight PVP matches and gain SLP.
Fun Fact: The most expensive axie ever sold as of July 2021 went for 300 ETH which is around $1,500,000.
How to Get Started?
There are several processes that a new player has to go through before even playing the axie infinity game. The game cannot be downloaded right away since it involves cryptocurrency. Hence, the need for a digital wallet.
First, a digital wallet needs to be downloaded. For example, one like Meta mask
The player needs to load the meta mask with Ethereum (ETH) which can be gotten from coin base, binance, or any other local crypto depending on the country or place of residence of the player.
Ronin’s wallet needs to be downloaded and ETH enough to buy at least three axies deposited into the wallet through the Ronin Bridge.
The players then buy axies (at least three) from the marketplace
Download the Axie application
The players create an account for themselves
It’s then time to play!
How to Play?
Before the game starts, the players need to select the type of axie they want which depends on the objective of the player. Is it the case that the player would like to breed, or play? These options and many more are important to evaluate before the players pick a kind of axie.
After selecting their preferred type of axie, the player has to sync axie and then set up his/her team and place the axies where he/she feels will be a better advantage at winning.
Players make use of cards to instruct their axies. Each axie has four cards which are given at random.
To play these cards, there must be an explosion of energy
Players can decide to play any card in as much as it is within the player’s axies energy ability
Also unlike other games that allow players to choose targets they would like to attack, the axie infinity battle system allows axies to attack random targets usually the ones closest to them. When a player axies wins, it gains SLP and MMR (Matchmaking Rating). Losing however does not mean that the SLP gained will be lost. Also, the amount of SLP gained in a winning depends on the player’s MMR. Let’s take this rating as of 2021 for instance
Less than 800 MMR = No SLP gained
800-999 MMR = 1 SLP gained
1000-1099 = 3 SLP gained
1100-1299 = 7 SLP gained
1300-1499 = 8 SLP gained
1500-1799 = 9 SLP gained
1800-1999 = 10 SLP gained
2000-2199 = 11 SLP gained
2200+ = 12 SLP gained
NFT’s Games Similar to Axie Infinity
Several NFT games are quite similar to Axie Infinity. Some of these games are free to play, while some are just like Axie Infinity, where it is not free to play.
Town Star; is an NFT game developed by Gala games. It is a stimulating farming and town-building game. The objective of Town Star is to see who will be able to build the most efficient town imaginable. Players use NFTs during the process of playing the game to complete daily challenges and collect town coin rewards. Every day, players are involved in competition with each other to unlock and get the town coin platinum reward. That is, players, compete in a blockchain ecosystem. At the end of each week, players who are leading will be rewarded with great prizes like a gala which is a type of crypto token.
NFTs can be bought and sold on the secondary market but since it is operating on a free-to-play form, players don’t necessarily have to buy the NFT but it is advisable to do so.
Bomb Crypto; was released on December 10, 2021. It is also like the others, a Play-To-Earn game, where players direct a group of cyborgs, usually referred to as Bomber Heroes that have been programmed to fight monsters to earn cryptocurrencies like Bcoin. Bomb Crypto is not free to play, to be able to play this game; a player needs to invest at least 10 Bcoin for a start. Not only does it have great earning potential, but it is also fun to play. A player can move to the advanced step by buying houses and upgrading Bomber Heroes which will also result in being able to fight more monsters within a shorter period and earning more.
Lost Relics; is a Play-To-Earn adventure game. The concept of the lost relics is that there are these particularly lost unique pieces in dungeons in lost relics and these unique pieces/items are NFT and amongst these NFTs are some that are rare and uncommon that there is none like it. They can also give in-game abilities and they are also sellable on the marketplace for thousands of dollars. Although the struggle to get these rare NFTs can be a lot it is free to play. However, getting a paid membership by getting strong NFT weapons (which can be sold back once a player is no more interested to other players) will make it easier to go into more deadly dungeons which may contain more unique items and in turn make players earn more.
Recently, however, during an axie infinity twitter space on their official Twitter page, they mentioned the fact that they would likely be moving to an ecosystem where the majority of their players wouldn’t be making money from playing the game. This means that SLP cannot be earned through the economy anymore and therefore, there would not be any sort of sell-off. According to them, there is a possibility of them getting to a point ‘where 80% of the players are not extracting from the economy and 20% of players have a job within the ecosystem that allows them to earn from it.’ There has not been more insight on what these jobs would be and also this step is a pretty big one. This may result in a great withdrawal from people as the majority of people see it as a form of investment first and then as a game. What happens to those that have invested in this game, would they be able to get anything out of it? What would their assets be worth? Are they going to own NFTs anymore? These questions and more we would like to believe will soon be answered by the team and give more clarifications on how they plan to push forward. Although there is no time frame yet on when they plan to carry out this change a lot of investors, scholars, and players, in general, will like to know to be able to determine their next course of action.
In as much as the urge to earn a passive income can be so overbearing, just like every investment, there are risks and there are bad days. Axie Infinity is a game but one is still investing real money into it so it is recommended that a player makes use of money that he/she is ready to lose.
