Axie Infinity emerged as a revolutionary force, despite not gaining much traction upon first releasing the game in 2017. Today, Axie Infinity is redefining not only how we play games but also how we perceive ownership, community, and the very essence of entertainment.
Axie Infinity: All You Need To Know About This Groundbreaking Blockchain Game
Axie Infinity is a recognized and well-known name in the web3 gaming industry. Besides being the most well known free to play / play-to-earn game, it is also the most played in the entire web3 gaming community.
Continue reading this article and join us on our journey into the captivating world of Axie Infinity. We will be exploring its groundbreaking features, the enchanting Axies themselves, and the revolutionary concept behind the game that has the potential to reshape the gaming industry as we know it.
What is Axie Infinity?
Axie Infinity is a revolutionary NFT-based play-to-earn online game for desktop and mobile players, running on the Ronin network which is an Ethereum linked sidechain. It is a fantasy world where enchanting features known as Axies roam free. Players can collect, breed, and mint these fierce and collectible Axies and pit them in battle against each other.Â
During the launch, 4,088 Origin Axies were released. These rare Axies are said to gain stronger powers as the game progresses. The game economy is owned by players truly, setting it apart from traditional games.
The creators of Axie Infinity took inspiration from the Pokemon, even having a few similar concepts as having different class types with weaknesses and strengths against other Axies.
The game originally had an “idle battler” system similar to the mobile game Idle Heroes. These kinds of games are designed to run in the background with minimal player interaction. However, after a December 2019 update, the game underwent a major transition to its current system, which offers a deeper gameplay experience.
To win the game, you must defeat all enemies with your team of three Axies. Strategic card selection with each turn is key to success. With each battle, players’ Axies transform and become stronger, granting them the upper hand in easily conquering both PvE and PvP modes.
You must be wondering what Axies actually are. Let’s take a closer look at them!
What are Axies?
As Pokémon has Pokémon and Digimon has Digimon, in a quite similar way, Axie Infinity has AXIES!
We can say that they’re the main character of this game because the whole game revolves around them. The thing that is to be noted is that Axies costs real money. You have to buy them. Unlike other digital creatures in other digital games, you won’t be gifted with free Axies upon signing up.
But to look at it from another way, you can breed Axies to become a stronger player. Or even sell or trade your Axies on the secondary market, which you can’t do with web2 games. If you’re having a lucky day, you can make quite a rare Axie. An Axie was sold for 300 ETH in November 2020, worth a value of over $1 million at that time on the secondary market.Â
Axies are diverse creatures with unique traits, from cuddly critters to majestic beasts. Body parts, classes, and skills all contribute to their individuality. No two Axies are identical, making each one unique that players can truly call their own. The game doesn’t just involve collecting these captivating creatures but also nurturing them. The breeding mechanics of Axie Infinity allow players to create new Axies with endless possibilities.
Axies play a crucial role in the game’s turn-based combat system. Each Axie possesses a unique set of four moves, varying from offensive strikes to defensive maneuvers, each with its own energy cost and effects.
Building a well-balanced team of Axies with complementary abilities is essential for conquering opponents. Further, each Axie has four stats: Health, Morale, Skill, and Speed, which depend on class and body parts.
Axies are more than just battle companions. Players form deep emotional connections with them as they interact, creating treasured companions with their own unique stories to tell.
The team behind the Axie Infinity
The Axie Infinity journey started with the goal of bridging the gap between gaming and blockchain technology allowing the players to own in-game assets truly and introducing the play-to-earn model.
The game development began in early 2017, led by co-founder and CEO Nguyen Thanh Trungu alongside Tu Doan, Aleksander Larsen, Jeffrey Zirlin, and Andy Ho. Nguyen was fascinated by the groundbreaking success of CryptoKitties, which are adorable NFT kittens saved on the Ethereum network.
The brains behind the popular blockchain game envisioned a virtual universe where players could collect, breed, battle, and trade digital creatures called Axies, all while earning tangible rewards in cryptocurrency.
The blockchain game, Axie Infinity, was finally launched by the Vietnam-based development studio Sky Mavis in October 2018 with Axie Infinity’s first battle system followed by a real-time card battle system and application, which started in March 2019, and then an alpha release in December 2019.
How to get started with Axie Infinity
Getting started with Axie Infinity is quite simple.
- First things first, download the game from their website.
- If you are a starter, you need to either create a new Ethereum wallet or use an existing one, such as Binance, Metamask, or WazirX, to purchase ETH.
- Then to begin playing, you must set up a Ronin wallet. You have to add it as an extension on your device. A full guide on how to set up this wallet is available on their website.
- Create an Axie Infinity account on its marketplace. If you made an Ethereum wallet using Metamask, you can sign in straight to Axie Infinity.
- Attach Ronin to your marketplace account and transfer ETH to Ronin from your main wallet using Ronin Bridge.
- Players are required to buy at least three Axies to begin playing. The Axies can be easily bought from other players through Marketplace or through Axie Lab by purchasing eggs.
- After buying your first Axies, you can set your team up – they’ll be used throughout the game in both Adventure and Arena mode.
Game Modes
Once you have acquired three Axies after setting up your account, now you need to head out straight and sync your axies. Once your axies are synced, you have to build your team. As of now, there are two game modes.
- Adventure Mode (PvE)
- Arena Mode (PvP)
Adventure Mode (PvE)
In adventure mode, you engage with AI opponents from Axie Infinity. The mode consists of 36 levels, and as you progress, the challenge becomes more demanding. Playing PvE allows Axies to gain XP, increasing their level, health, and attack stats, making it easier to progress.
For newcomers, starting with Adventure Mode is recommended. By doing so, you can earn up to 100 SLP (Smooth Love Potion) per day. It’s also crucial to enhance your Axies’ EXP (experience points) so that they can effectively navigate higher-level stages. This enables you to earn your daily 100 SLP efficiently.
Arena Mode (PvP)
In the arena, you compete against other players within the Axie Infinity ecosystem. You’ll be paired with players of similar skill levels based on your Match Making Rating (MMR).
When you win, your MMR goes up; when you lose, it goes down. The number of SLP you can earn in the arena relies on your MMR. However, losses won’t earn you any SLP.
Axie Infinity’s Tokens – SLP and AXS
Axie Infinity has two tokens that have a key role in shaping the in-game economy and driving player engagement. These are SLP and AXS. Let’s take a close look at what they bring to the game.
Small Love Potion (SLP)
Within the Axie Infinity ecosystem, SLP operates as a native cryptocurrency. For every battle won in Axie Infinity, a player is rewarded with an SLP token which, unlike AXS, doesn’t have a limited supply. The more battles players win, the more SLP they can gather.
This mechanism encourages players to improve their Axies’ skills and strategies through active engagement and rewards them with SLP. Players can breed their Axie creatures using SLP tokens, sell them at a set price, or auction them in the Axie Infinity Marketplace.
Axie Infinity Shards (AXS)
AXS is an ERC-20 token in Axie Infinity, taking the Axie experience to the next level by serving as the utility token of the Axie Infinity ecosystem. The AXS token reward is given to the top players from all 19 game seasons. Many players had been seen swapping their SLP for AXS because of the limited supply of AXS.
Holders of AXS have a say in the platform’s development, allowing them to send and vote on governance proposals that shape the game’s future. This feature highlights Axie Infinity’s decentralized decision-making by the community.
However, AXS provides more than governance rights. Players can earn additional rewards by staking AXS tokens, further fueling the play-to-earn model.
In addition to the tokens’ utility, AXS tokens reflect the platform’s success. As the Axie Infinity ecosystem thrives, early adopters and contributors can benefit from the appreciation of AXS’s value.
Axie Infinity merges gaming and cryptocurrency through SLP and AXS tokens. Players can earn, strategize, and receive real-world rewards with SLP, while AXS emphasizes community-driven development placing the game’s destiny in the hands of its players.
The Land of Axie
The concept of owning a part of the metaverse seems fascinating, right? Well, Axie Infinity allows players to buy and sell plots of land in the game. Axie’s homeland, known as Lunacia, is divided into non-fungible token (NFTs), which serves as Axies’ cozy homes and operation bases; players can buy, lease or sell them.
Players can upgrade their plots by using various resources and crafting ingredients found during gameplay. Additionally, AXS tokens may be discovered on land plots, or the land owners use Axies to explore resource nodes on the map.
Players can choose from five Land types, each with its own unique items. These five land includes Genesis, Savannah, Forest, Arctic, and Mystic.
In November 2021, a rare Genesis Plot of real estate was sold for 550 ETH (approximately $2.48 million), setting a new record for the highest amount ever paid for a Genesis lot of real estate in a metaverse.
Axie Infinity Land allows players to monetize virtual land, blurring the line between virtual and tangible value. This adds a new dimension of play-to-earn, potentially opening opportunities for earning.
Axie Infinity’s Play-to-Earn Mechanics
With Axie Infinity Play-to-Earn mechanics, players can earn cryptocurrency through in-game actions instead of gaming being solely an entertaining endeavor. This creates an ecosystem where virtual actions have real-world implications. Let’s look at how many ways there are to earn in Axie Infinity.
Battling your Axies
At the heart of the Play-to-Earn mechanics in Axie Infinity are battles. Players engage in strategic, turn-based battles against opponents by assembling a team of Axies to earn Smooth Love Potion (SLP), the game’s native cryptocurrency. The more battles a player wins, the more SLP they earn. This encourages engagement and incentivizes improvement.
Breeding Axies
Battles are just the beginning. The Play-to-Earn mechanics extend to the breeding mechanic as well. Players use SLP to breed Axies and create new creatures with unique traits. The breeding fees depend on how many times the Axie has been bred out of the limit of seven times, after which the Axie becomes sterile.
The traits of Axies, like purity, body parts, and rarity, determine their value. There are transactions of Axies getting sold for thousands to even tens of thousand of dollars, with the most expensive Axie sold to date for 300 ETH, which nears a whopping $250,000.
You must connect your Ronin wallet to your account before putting your Axies for sale on the Axie Marketplace.
In-game Economy
Axie Infinity’s Play-to-Earn model has given rise to a flourishing virtual economy. The players earn SLP as a reward for participating in and completing daily quests, adventures, and arena battles inside the game. The players can hold, trade, or sell it on various cryptocurrency exchanges besides using it within the Axie ecosystem, such as for breeding or acquiring new Axies.
Scholarship Program
Not everyone can afford to own a lot of Axies, as owning them can cost you quite a lot depending upon their rarity and breed. Here Axie Infinity’s scholarship system comes in handy. Through this system, more well-off Axie owners rent out their Axies to selected individuals who can’t afford to own certain Axies, getting payments for these rentals via a percentage of SLP earned during the renter’s playtime.
Latest developments in the Axie Infinity Universe
The team behind Axie Infinity has introduced Axie Experience Points (AXP) and Axie Levels, a significant leap in the game’s evolution, making Axies from digital collectibles to enduring companions and treasured heirlooms.
Earning AXP and AXIE levels
By engaging in the origin game mode, players can now earn AXPs. In Origins, ranked battles requiring stamina earn the winning team’s axies 150 AXP. This allows an axie to earn a maximum of 4,500 AXP per day. AXP is unique to each axie and cannot be shared between them.
Once your Axie collects a total of 13,310 AXP, it’s time for a transformation journey through the ascension process. To make this happen, head to the Axie management page on App.axie. This process acts as a magical connection, moving your Axie’s off-chain level onto the blockchain.
This journey will require AXS, the native Axie Infinity currency; This adds an extra layer of utility to those precious Axie Infinity Shards. However, hold your horses! For the initial launch, this fee is joyfully waived.
There are three incredible milestone markers for ascension – at levels 9, 19, and 29.
Perks of AXP
Multiple benefits are unlocked whenever you guide your Axie through this transformative process.
- Firstly, the magic of ascension aligns your Axie’s on-chain level with its off-chain reality, ensuring its growth is preserved in the blockchain.
- Secondly, this elevates your Axie’s level cap, allowing it to climb even higher levels.
- And lastly, the player earns the awesome ability to upgrade any body part you fancy. Once your fully ascended Axie reaches Level 30, you can enhance three body parts to Level 2, boosting its magical abilities.
What’s ahead for the Axie Infinity
While there’s no official news of any significant coming updates, the future of Axie Infinity is as mysterious as it is thrilling. The brilliant minds behind this famous blockchain game are constantly brewing up new ideas that could bring transformative changes. Most recently they combined IP from well known NFT collection CyberKongz inside the lore of Axie. Another success story that mutually benefits holders of both communities. Who knows which collection might get a deep integration next time?
Drawing from the game’s history and the trends, future updates might lead to an Enhanced Gameplay Mode, deeper integration of the AXS Token, more advanced Breeding Mechanics, Expansion of the In-Game Economy, interactive Events and Competitions, Cross-Platform Integration, and even Technological Enhancements.
The team responsible for Axie Infinity is renowned for innovation and responsiveness to community feedback. Players can expect exciting surprises and continuous evolution in this enchanting blockchain gaming universe. The game’s future is maybe even more exciting than we can imagine!
This article is written by The We3 Game writer Syed.
