First Online Trading Card Game on the Blockchain
EverDreamSoft, the Switzerland-based mobile game developer is gearing up for the full launch of Spells of Genesis (SoG), their new online trading card game that utilizes blockchain technology.
Spells of Genesis combines Trading Card Game (TCG) aspects with some arcade game principles .The game itself is an innovation in the traditional TCG format, one that leverages blockchain tech in reality and allegorically makes use of it within the game’s own storyline.
Some of the cards will be tradable through Bitcoin’s blockchain as digital assets via Counterparty — a decentralized app built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain that expands its functionalities to include things like smart contracts.
The basics of the game involve collecting cards and composing a team to fight enemies using your characters’ different strengths and spells.
There are two types of cards — blockchain cards and offchain — which can be obtained in-game. You can level-up and fuse your cards to make them stronger.
In the final game release, it will be possible to “blockchainize” the highest card evolutions — tying a card to a token will allow players to get them out of the game and trade them on the blockchain.
SoG is the first online trading card game that centers around the blockchain, with some cards being tradable outside the game, known simply as “blockchain cards,” being stored in a decentralized ledger rather than the game’s own centralized server. This creates a situation where players literally own their cards, being able to exchange the cards in real life — separate from any in-game activity
The idea of true ownership in online gaming was a major inspiration for EverdreamSoft’s CEO, Shaban Shaame, to create SoG in the first place. Cards that hold more liquidity with other digital assets, as a built-in feature of the game, gives people an additional reason to play.
EverdreamSoft marketing director, Markéta Korteova, commented on how utilizing the blockchain to make trading cards truly ownable influenced the creation of SoG, saying:
“His idea was to come up with a new game of this genre, but intended for more casual players than was Moonga,” explains Korteova. “On the other hand, nowadays the concurrence in the game industry is enormous. Moonga players started to trade the in-game cards outside the game, even though this was not allowed in the game rules. At the same time, Shaban is a big bitcoin and blockchain believer and an innovator. Thus, the idea of combining both and exploiting the true ownership of digital assets came to him”
BitCrystals Price Soars as Launch Day Nears
A cornerstone of the online game is its in-game token, BCY. The token is essentially the fuel that facilitates all of SoG’s economic activities. BCY are digital Counterparty assets that exist on Bitcoin’s blockchain, and they allow gamers to buy in-game items. BCY can also be traded for other cryptocurrencies on exchanges like ShapeShift.
When first released during its ICO, the price of BitCrystals was fixed by the game’s developers and increased incrementally over time. It started at 0.00006667 BTC per 1 BCY and the price was changed every 5 days until it reached 0.0001 BTC per 1 BCY at the end of the Token Sale.
After the end, the price started to evolve naturally, according to the market mechanism.
BCY reached its peak in March 2016, a little before the game’s original release date in April. When the developers announced a delayed launch, the price of BCY dropped slightly but has since started to increase again.
Despite EverDreamSoft reaching into a market that seems to be growing faster every day, they think they can differentiate themselves in the realm of bitcoin/blockchain based games. Korteova adds:
Spells of Genesis is one of the first blockchain-based games and, I dare to say, the most complex one,” “The blockchain technology is not only a backbone of the whole game economy but also the guideline of the story, conceived as a blockchain allegory.
Having already developed a popular online game in Moonga, which reached over 250K downloads on the App store, EverdreamSoft hopes their previous success and experience will help push crypto-based gaming over the edge into mainstream popularity.