NFTs in Gaming: ChainGuardians
Also published on our educational platform Remarxs.com
What happens when traditional gaming is combined with blockchain technology and NFTs? ChainGuardians is born.
Figure 1: Bitsee Naka, one of the most powerful ChainGuardians, available for purchase on the Opensea Market
Similar to the previously covered Pepemon, ChainGuardians takes inspiration from the world of anime.(1) Anime (Japanese cartoons, often geared towards adults) has a major global following, which is growing, particularly in the West. Moreover, gamers and anime consumers are not mutually exclusive- many gamers enjoy anime and enjoy playing anime-inspired games.(2)
ChainGuardians takes the best of both these concepts to incorporate NFTs. With a unique, real-time gaming system, a defining style, and beautiful artwork, the game features all of the prerequisites for any potential fan-favourite. The founders of the project are well experienced in game development, across both mobile and browser-based platforms, with a strong foundation in NFTs and blockchain as a whole.(3)
Recently, investment from groups such as Genesis Block Ventures (GBV) and other NFT portfolios has massively boosted interest in ChainGuardians.(4) Big early investors such as Master Ventures and AU21Capital have also backed the project.(5) This article takes a deeper dive to explore why, and some considerations for the potential investor.
Video: The ChainGuardians world video
Play and earn NFTs
One of the most interesting concepts ChainGuardians introduces is the idea of earning NFTs through playing the game. The game itself is free to play.(3) This provides an opportunity for players to collect in-game NFT items which correlate to real-world value and may be exchanged using blockchain on online marketplaces.(6)
NFTs can currently be traded on secondary marketplaces by this means (at this point in time, Opensea),(3, 6) and as the game progresses from launch, a primary ChainGuardians marketplace will open for trading items.
Figure 2: ChainGuardians NFT characters on the Opensea marketplace
What makes NFTs valuable in ChainGuardians?
The creators of ChainGuardians spent time, money and effort contracting artwork from renowned anime artists.(1) As NFTs, these items are individually unique, and the number of each type of NFT produced is limited, ensuring scarcity and value in the marketplace,(3) only likely to grow alongside the platform itself.
The actual items themselves span from weapons to armour to in-game characters, and have been coined “cryptocollectibles”.(3) There is a descending value to each NFT item based on its scarcity, going from Legendary Rare Uncommon common.(6) It is likely that the more valuable the item is in-game, the more intrinsic value it will hold.
Figure 3: What ChainGuardians hopes to bring with blockchain gaming
The in-game currency
ChainGuardians currently works on the Ethereum Blockchain (ETH), and in-game assets are based on the ERC-721 standard.(3) The Chain Guardian token (CGC) is used to buy or sell in-game NFT collectibles.
In-game CGC can be also converted to the ChainGuardians Governance token (CGG).(7) CGG represents the user's stake within the gaming platform: users who purchase these tokens will be able to directly influence the future of the game, through influence on protocol decisions as well as separate rewards for engaging in the ecosystem.(3) Interestingly, this provides a value-based incentive for the most engaged users to help improve the platform. Decisions that CGG holders have influence over include:(7)
- Future in-game characters and their abilities;
- Game economics and balancing schemes;
- APY for stakers and the supported NFTs and;
- Hash rates for NFT miners.
As with all good quality improvement projects, this is an iterative process with key stakeholder involvement (users of ChainGuardians): the most invested people in the game are constantly reviewing it to its betterment. From a value-based standpoint, this bodes well for the future growth of the platform and building a strong, loyal user base.
CGG has a liquidity pool backed by the POWER token (i.e. the liquidity provider token); CGG holders will earn POWER rewards over time.(7)
Playing ChainGuardians
Figure 4: Available game modes in ChainGuardians
ChainGuardians is a turn-based battle game, which remains active at all times.(1) When players are not manually engaging with the game, AI can run battles based on each individual character's attributes.(1) It is available on both computer and mobile platforms, but initially will run as browser-based; over time, the creators intend it to have a separate, dedicated platform.(3)
Both player-versus-environment and player-versus-player content are a feature of the game.(5) The game has both role-playing modes as well as an NFT mining game (discussed later). The role-playing game features a levelling system (increasing the value of your NFTs) and in-game earnings of CGC (which hold value in themselves); the more you engage with the game itself, the more in-game CGC you earn and the higher your character levels.
The PVP game is still in its beta stages, allowing players to match their NFT champions against each other in competitive fashion. Its initial launch was 22 March 2021, and new users can play for free.(8)
The creators are keen to make the game increasingly expandable, with the opportunity to incorporate multiple blockchains worlds into the gaming experience. The developers promise to continually develop the playability of the game as well as end-game content.(3)
Revolutionary concepts in NFT technology: NFT mining and Bring Your Own NFT
ChainGuardians is the gaming first project within the Web3 space to introduce the concept of NFT mining.(1) In-game NFTs can be used to mine the in-game currency used in ChainGuardians (CGC), which can be spent on further purchasing in-game NFTs and will therefore have a correlate value to other blockchain systems. Essentially, staking NFTs in this way will generate passive income for the user.
Figure 5: NFT mining on ChainGuardians
The ChainGuardians mining system has a feature entitled “The Colosseum”. The Colosseum allows users to place external or partnered NFT assets as holdings. Rarer and more valuable NFTs will have greater relative power within the system. Currently supported NFTs are outlined in their “Cryptoverse Alliance”.(7)
Figure 6: The current “Cryptoverse Alliance”
Summary
ChainGuardians has a well thought out and thorough design, with a complex blockchain vision. The game has received positive initial reviews; moreover, the high-quality artwork and novel NFT mining concept is all in its favour and mirror the high ambitions of the creators. There is certainly potential for ChainGuardians to explode within the NFT scene, in particular gaming, with much interest shown to date.
By Michael McLarnon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mclarnon-01/
References:
1. Freuden D. medium.com. 2021. [25/03/21]. Available from: https://medium.com/monsterplay/chain-guardians-a-play-to-earn-nft-anime-gaming-world-7169712a67c8.
2. GeekySweetie. The Influence Of Anime Culture On The Gaming Industry 2020 [25/03/21]. Available from: https://geekysweetie.com/the-influence-of-anime-culture-on-the-gaming-industry/.
3. ChainGuardians. White Paper.
4. GenesisBlock. Genesis Block Ventures Invests in NFT Mining Game Chain Guardians 2021 [Available from: https://gbv.capital/chain-guardians/.
5. ChainGuardians. About 2021 [25/03/21]. Available from: https://chainguardians.io/about-cg/.
6. CryptoBlockDan. What is … Chain Guardians (Part 1)? : medium.com; 2019 [25/03/21]. Available from: https://medium.com/@cryptoblockdan/what-is-chain-guardians-part-1-d4ad7307d2e8.
7. Law A. ChainGuardians ($CGG): play games to earn cryptocurrency? 2021 [25/03/21]. Available from: https://boxmining.com/chainguardians-cgg/.
8. GuardianLedeir. ChainGuardians. 2021. [25/03/21]. Available from: https://chainguardians.io/blog/chainguardians-pvp-release/.