UPDATED 13:27 EDT / FEBRUARY 02 2016

NEWS

Blockchain-based tradable card game Spells of Genesis enters beta

Today Spells of Genesis (SoG), an interesting blockchain-based tradable card game (TCG), went into beta with the game available on iOS and Android. The publisher of SoG, EverdreamSoft SA, uses a blockchain (the same technology that underlies bitcoin) to allow players to own and trade the virtual cards used in the game, along with its own cryptocurrency known as BitCrystals.

The Android version is freely available from the Spells of Genesis website, but access to the iOS app is available automatically for Token Sale backers (or by request for everyone else). A web-based app is also available for people to test out and play the game without a phone.

To raise money and interest for the platform, Spells of Genesis ran a crowdsale of its cryptocurrency token, BitCrystals, which launched on August 4, 2015 and has already ended. According to EverdreamSoft 90 percent of the funding goals (approximately 730 BTC) was funded in less than three days and within a month over 930 BTC worth of BitCrystals were sold. At current market rates the BitCrystals crowdsale raised over $346 thousand USD.

Even with the crowdsale over, it is still possible to exchange BitCrystals with owners (for other cryptocurrencies) on Erik Voorhees’s registration-less exchange ShapeShift AG.

Artwork from Spells of Genesis, "Satoshi", copyright EverdreamSoft

Artwork from Spells of Genesis, “Satoshi”, copyright EverdreamSoft

Playing with crypto-secured tradable cards on your phone

In the beta version, Spells of Genesis allows players to get a taste of how the game works and try out their crypto-bought cards. This beta makes the mobile app available along with a new user interface, a card levelling and fusing system, as well as off-chain and blockchain cards and several in-game currencies as rewards.

Players enter the magical world of Askian, where they will engage in duels using their cards. The different in-game currencies include Gold, Elemental Crystals, and Gems. The different cards follow a familiar RPG rarity system varying in strength marked by particular materials: Common (wood), Rare (stone), Epic (marble) and Legendary (gold).

Upon completing a level players earn gold, which can then be used to buy (in game terms “summon”) a new random card. Once the game is released players will be able to purchase gems through the app store that players can use to buy random rare, epic or legendary cards.

Elemental crystals are obtained by selling (or “crystallize”) spare cards or by destroying enemies. Elemental crystals are used to upgrade cards to make them stronger, when a card reaches maximum level it can be fused with an exact copy of the card, which can then be upgraded again. The final version of the card can then be “blockchainized,” which makes the card available to be traded in the blockchain-based card market of Spells of Genesis.

Presumably, this means that by playing the game players can level up their cards, “blockchainize” their cards and then exchange them with other players for cryptocurrency. More industrious players would then even have the option to make money from trading and selling cards, for example, by exchanging cards for bitcoins (which in turn can be used to make a living).

This is not an uncommon practice for other tradable card games such as Magic: The Gathering published by Wizards of the Coast (subsidiary of Hasbro) or Pokemon where players buy, sell and trade physical cards to make money. In the Spells of Genesis version, the cards are simply cryptocurrencies that can be traded like any other similar coin.

Featured image credit: Artwork from Spells of Genesis, “Blockchain”, copyright EverdreamSoft SA.

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