Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn game that was released in 2020 but became extremely popular with the boom in digital currencies throughout 2021. game has a rewards system in cryptocurrencies and a strategy gameplay that mixes Pokémon with card games. For that, you need to have a little monster, the Axies, who are also NFTs. Complex? Don’t worry, I’ll go into more detail about how the Axie Infinity.
First of all, it is important to note that the Axie Infinity is a game that truly rewards its players, generating income through cryptocurrencies that can then be converted to dollars, reais, etc. Nonetheless, an initial investment is required to be able to play.
What is needed to play?
To start explaining how the Axie InfinityI need to say that, as much as the game is free, it is only possible to play it with at least three “Axies”, the NFT monsters used in-game to form teams and battle opponents. Traditionally, it is necessary to buy them with WETH, a form of ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network.
Naturally, when dealing with cryptocurrencies the player also deals with digital wallets, such as the one integrated into the Axie Infinitya Ronin Wallet. This is where the digital currencies created within the game will be sent, and it is also where the player will need a WETH balance to buy their Axies.
The player will also need a means to buy cryptocurrencies. From my own experience, opening an account with a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance is the easy way out. Thus, it is possible to buy the assets and send them to your Ronin wallet linked to the Axie Infinity. Plus, it’s the simplest way to capitalize on your in-game earnings by selling your purchased digital currencies.
Not all, you need to create a Ronin digital walletwhich will also work as one of the ways to login to the Axie Infinity, open an account with a cryptocurrency exchange and buy the required amount of WETH to acquire at least three little monsters.
The NFT Monsters and the Marketplace
Every Axie is an NFT and is traded through the marketplace of Axie Infinity. They are sold by other players through the WETH cryptocurrency, which is practically matched in value with ether. You will see the price of each monster in dollars and WETH, being able to filter by status, types (plant, aquatic…), rarity and much more.
With the Ronin wallet logged in, linked to the marketplace and with a balance in WETH, the player will be able to buy an Axie through auctions or direct sales. Then, the little monster will be your NFT and will be usable within the game.
The prices of each Axie vary greatly, as does the in-game economy.. At their peak in July 2021, the little monsters cost no less than $200. However, the values of these NFTs plummeted to around $25 in February 2022.
There are other ways to get Axies once you’re in the game. For example, each little monster can breed a limited number of timestwo of which are needed to make an egg.
Nonetheless, this process costs SLP (Smooth Love Potion), one of the cryptocurrencies earned in-game. The values vary from Axie to Axie, depending on the number of times they have bred and as the game updates. After all, this is the main means of burning native digital currenciessomething necessary to try to contain price drops.
How Cryptocurrency Rewards Work
With at least three Axies in hand to form their first team, the player can now enter the game and be rewarded in cryptocurrencies. O Axie Infinity has two payment systems, one that rewards SLP to the player, and another that gives AXS (Axie Infinity Shards).
The first cryptocurrency can be acquired by all players through competitive mode. Until February 2022, SLP could also be acquired, in limited quantities, through daily missions in Adventure mode, the PvE of Axie Infinity. However, this feature was disabled at the time to curb the rampant generation of digital currency.
So, only PvP mode can award the prize in SLP. Each player has 20 energy points, recovered daily at 21:00 GMT. The “stamina” will be consumed every time the player enters a match in “Arena” mode, the game’s competitive. Playing without having energy will not reward the player with the cryptocurrency.
Strategy and card gameplay in Axie Infinity
In addition to cryptocurrencies, digital wallets and NFTs, Axie Infinity it is still a game and has a seemingly simple gameplay, but it can become quite complex in competitive mode. The ways to play vary a little between PvE and PvP, so I will focus on what happens when facing other players, as it is the source of SLP and AXS.
First of all, it is important to know that each Axie is a combination of “pieces”, class and status. In total, there are nine types of monsters: Beast, Bug, Mech, Aqua, Bird, Dawn, Plant, Reptile and Dusk.
As in the case of Pokémon, Each class has natural disadvantage advantages against others.. To better understand this, I separated them into three sets, something like “rock, paper and scissors”, in which each type fits.
- “Paper”: Best, Bug e Mech
- “Stone”: Plant, Reptile e Dusk
- “Scissors”: Aquatic, Bird e Dawn
In this allusion, paper beats rock, but loses to scissors. Within the game, this means that each of these sets receives an extra 15% damage bonus over another, while taking 15% less damage.. Indeed, something like the advantages and disadvantages that types of Pokémon have.
As said earlier, each Axie is made up of “pieces”. They all have a starting class, but their horns, eyes, ears, mouths, back, tails, and body shapes create the monsters’ skill set and cards. Additionally, each of these parts grants stat points on top of the class’s base numbers. In this way, there are an infinite number of combinations for the Axies.
The matches are between teams of three little monsters. It is possible (and important) to define the positions of each of the Axies. For example, tougher classes tend to stay in the front, because damage taken typically follows this order: “frontline, midline and backline”.
When starting the game, the player receives three energy points and six cards are dealt randomly, belonging to its Axies and defined by its parts. In each turn, the player will gain two more energy points and will be able to draw three new cards.
In practice, the cards represent actions of one of your Axies. Each little monster can perform up to three actions in a single turn. To play a card, it is necessary to spend an energy point, although there are some exceptions of cards that consume zero or two.
It is worth noting that when a little monster dies in the game, its cards are no longer drawn. So if you only have a single Axie standing, all cards you receive will be his. Also, the Axies’ order of action is based on their speed attribute. So, the fastest will be the first to act.
Briefly, a gameplay de Axie Infinity consists of strategically sequencing the actions of the little monsters with the cards available. Of course, there are still many variants to think about carefully when facing an opponent, such as class perks, Axies placement order, and more. As I’ve already said, it’s a seemingly simple game, but it can be surprisingly complex.
Is it possible to play for fun?
O Axie Infinity It’s more than a game, it’s a play-to-earn system that has involved many companies and investors, turning over millions and millions of dollars. For many people, the game has become a source of income. Also, an initial investment is required to play. After all, the game is much more geared towards generating cryptocurrencies than entertainmentalthough the model tries to reconcile the two.
From my own experience, not worth playing casually. In fact, if you’re looking to make a few bucks with Axie Infinityyour experience is very likely to be stressful rather than fun.
As a final warning, I point out that your opponent’s profile is much closer to a cryptocurrency investor than a casual poker player. Pokémon Where HearthStone. Therefore, there’s little room for really carefree fun at Axie.