The world of gaming is changing, with some games now integrating digital currencies into their platforms using the blockchain. One example is Spells of Genesis (SoG), a blockchain-based mobile card trading game, that is scheduled to soft launch in Canada and Switzerland this month.
In October, creators of Spells of Genesis, the Swiss-based EverdreamSoft, teamed up with All 4 Games, the mobile video game arm of Channel 4 Television based in Glasgow. The partnership has contributed “significant and welcome improvements to Spells of Genesis” thanks to the “experience with mobile games and attention to detail” of All 4 Games, said Shaban Shaame, CEO and founder of EverdreamSoft.
Tone Brennan, executive producer of All 4 Games, said that partnering with the Switzerland-based developer “was all a matter of seizing a new opportunity,” especially in terms of promoting blockchain awareness.
“If we give gamers the chance to play a great game that has the blockchain as a core element of its economy, then that might help players to take their first steps into the digital currency world,” said Brennan.
Asset Ownership
A key component of Spells of Genesis is its commitment to true asset ownership. Gaming assets — SoG’s signature trading cards — are tied to Bitcoin’s blockchain. These colorful trading cards, with artwork that allegorically represents larger themes or entities in the digital currency and blockchain industries, also have real world value that can be recorded as the cards are traded, bought and sold.
Shaame said, “We want to set a new paradigm, not only for the gaming industry, but for the economy at large. An economy of peer-to-peer trades, decentralization of companies, projects and patrimony."
To facilitate this sort of peer-to-peer trading and individual asset management, Everdreamsoft teamed up with Tokyo-based IndieSquare to release the Book of Orbs, a mobile wallet that allows users to create and manage blockchain assets via tokens called ORBS (Ownership Revolution on the Blockchain). Tokens are created via Counterparty, a blockchain protocol that extends Bitcoin’s functionality. Furthermore, ORBS are interoperable among other blockchain-based games, allowing for cross-game capability among card trading games like Force of Will (FoW) and SoG.
“Anything that gives players more flexibility and ownership of the things they enjoy is a good thing for them and for us,” said Brennan. “The gaming environment is already very disruptive with constant changes, shifts, and innovations in how people behave in the digital world so I’d expect this to continue.”
Improved Gameplay
Spells of Genesis isn’t just about promoting the advantages of blockchain technology and ownership of digital assets, according to Brennan. The gameplay experience is its real driving force.
“What we saw in Spells of Genesis was a nice combination of an authentic fantasy battler combined with a challenging but easy-to-grasp gameplay mechanic,” said Brennan.
Since All 4 Games joined forces with EverdreamSoft to prepare Spells of Genesis to launch, a great amount of polish and refinement has gone into finalizing a quality product that will appeal not just to gamers in the blockchain space, but also to the mainstream gaming community.
“The core gameplay already felt good,” said Brennan, “but seeing the beautiful map screen go in and the more balanced levels appearing as we get closer to launch has really helped it come to life.”
Shaame added: “We are confident our early supporters and potential new ones, will have a lot of fun playing the game as well as benefit from the advantages blockchain-based digital assets offer to the economy."
“If the game is strong enough and the fans are passionate enough,” said Brennan, “then the peer-to-peer transactions [will] make sense.”
Spells of Genesis will be soft launching in Canada and Switzerland on December 13, with in-app purchases set to become available soon after. The current public release of the game is available to play online and as a manual Android install.