A Guide to Gods Unchained
Like many blockchain games, Estates Unchained aims to revolutionize the video game industry by giving players full control over their digital assets. In traditional video games, the cards are just something you play with and are owned by the publisher. Not so in Estates Unchained. By turning in-game items into NFTs located on the Ethereum blockchain, players can trade and sell them on the open market – just like you can with physical cards.
Unlike other blockchain-based games, Estates Unchained led by gaming veteran Chris Clay, who was previously Game Director at Magic: The Gathering Arena. If that’s not enough, the game also has its own token, $GODS, which allows holders to participate in governance proposals and help shape the title’s future. Ultimately, the team and unique features have enabled the game to secure more than half a million registered users till date.
Are you considering trying? Here’s everything you need to know about the team, the gameplay and how to get started.
What is Gods Unchained?
Estates Unchained is a turn-based, free-to-play card game that launched in 2018, making it one of the earliest titles to adopt blockchain technology. It is currently one of the largest NFT collections in the world, with more than 13 million NFTs and around 65,000 unique holders. And these players all earn real rewards for their efforts – users receive rewards in the form of $GODS tokens when they win matches.
Apart from the large user base and financial incentives, one of the main selling points for Estates Unchained is that it lives on the gas-free Immutable X layer 2 blockchain.
Immutable X operates using a ZK digest, which takes thousands of off-chain trades for verification and then groups them together to publish on-chain. Since many trades are processed simultaneously, it means players get almost instant transactions for very low or zero gas fees.
Everything to know about $GODS
To fulfill its mission to build a sustainable P2E economy, Gods Unchained introduced its crypto token, $GODS. As the game’s original ERC-20 utility token, GODS serves several functions in the game’s universe.
With it you can:
- Craft NFTs: Players can use $GODS tokens to fuse in-game cards into new NFTs minted directly on Immutable X. The cards can then be traded on Ethereum layer 2.
- Take part in governance: $GODS gives players the right to vote, allowing them to participate in governance proposals that affect the future of the game.
- Earn Rewards: Token holders who participate in governance initiatives while staking earn $GODS tokens. Stake rewards can also be earned by players completing in-game campaigns.
The tokens also have an out-of-game utility, as you can exchange your $GODS tokens for other cryptocurrencies, such as ETH.
Who made the game?
Estates Unchained was created and developed by an Australian-based company, Immutable. Immutable is a VC-funded blockchain studio backed by some of the biggest investors in Web3, including Galaxy Digital, Coinbase and Alameda Research.
The company was founded to develop technologies that allow players to share the value they create. “Our mission is to redefine gaming for generations to come by developing innovative and engaging experiences that give players true ownership, value and creative expression,” Immutable explains on its website.
The studio eventually developed Immutable X, the first Ethereum layer 2 designed for NFTs, to help achieve this mission. In fact, one of the most pivotal moments for Estates Unchained the team moved digital assets from the Ethereum network to Immutable X at the end of June 2021.
This enabled a significant improvement in the user experience (faster and cheaper transactions) and an increase in trading volume. Over 650,000 Estates Unchained NFT secondary trades have been made since the migration to Immutable X.
Get to know the gameplay
Before you get into the game itself, there are a few things you need to do:
- Visit the Gods Unchained website and register for an account
- Download and install the application
- Verify your account via your email address
- Run the application and log in
Finished! That’s all you really need to do to play the game. However, if you don’t connect a wallet to your account, you won’t be able to buy or sell cards and will miss out on some of the core mechanics of the game. So coupling is strongly recommended.
Once your wallet is connected, if you’re new to turn-based card games, it’s probably a good idea to try the tutorial. However, if you’ve played card games like Hearthstone or Legends of Runeterra, you’ll probably be familiar with the game mechanics and can skip the tutorial. If you choose it, you can get a basic overview of the mechanics in the video below.
In either case, the key features of each card are:
- Mana cost: How much mana it costs to play the card
- Strength: The damage effect the card deals
- Health: How much health the card has
- Ability or Spell Description: It’s relatively self-explanatory
The second thing you need to understand is the game area. The board consists of the following:
- Cards Remaining: Number of cards you have left
- Your hand: The cards you can choose from on your turn
- God’s Health: The remaining health of your god (starts at 30)
- God’s Power: Your God’s Power
- Mana Wheel: Shows your current level of mana
- Enemy god
How to win
To win the game, you must reduce the health of the enemy god to zero. There are different ways you can do this, such as with creatures, spells, god power and other special abilities that you will discover throughout the game. That said, there are a few things to know to help you along the way.
First, there is the “Mulligan phase.” At the start of the game you will be shown three cards which will make up your starting hand. Here you can exchange the cards you do not want to use. It’s a good idea to remove the higher mana cards (preferably five or more) because you won’t be able to use them until later.
Second, there is the “Bag of Tricks.” During the course of the game, you will be given a bag that will allow you to access extra mana points during one round of the match. To balance the game, the player who goes first gets only one “Bag of Tricks” per match, while the player who goes second gets three.
And be sure to check out Estates Unchained “Learn to Play” page for a variety of game tricks.
What will be next?
Estates Unchained aims to change the status quo and ensure that the play-to-earn model is viable in the long run. “By leveraging Immutable X’s ability to create millions of NFTs that cost a fraction to create (over L1 blockchains), players can buy, trade and upgrade cards without the cost of gas, meaning that even our least expensive assets have meaningful value and utility,” explains Chris Clay on the Immutable blog.
But ultimately, these features are just the beginning of the game.
As Estates Unchained continues to evolve, the developers plan to add more tools to the title. For example, the team regularly reveals new cards and packs. Next, they will launch a Band of the Wolf card pack that will help players defend Reneko Village from evil forces. The card set will contain 38 new cards and will be available for purchase from March 30th to April 27th.
Estates Unchained will also be launched on mobile soon. In accordance Estates Unchained “Dev Diary,” the pre-Alpha test for Android ended on March 22, which means it’s only a matter of time before we tackle battles on mobile. Plans to launch the game on IOS are still underway.
