In the world of blockchain gaming, the emphasis is typically on blockchain first; and the “game” is an afterthought. Topics such as “How to earn playing XYZ” or “Is playing XYZ worth your investment” are the norm, reviews of games focus on the crypto aspect rather than the gameplay, and you’ve got to be a seasoned crypto pro to even start “playing” in the first place.
Town Star by Gala Games flips that concept on its head. They’re designing a game that’s engaging, fun, and easy to jump into. It’s a game for people that enjoy playing games, no crypto degree necessary! And it’s free! Absolutely free to play, with no frustrating pay-to-win aspect or investment barrier.
The sign-up process is painless and intuitive, even to a non-crypto-savvy gamer. You set up your player profile (e-mail, username, password) and a wallet is automatically created for you and linked to your account. Verify that you recorded your recovery phrase, and that’s it!
At its core, Town Star is a resource management game. It reminds me of Civilization or StarCraft without the battle aspect, maybe a little SimCity or Roller Coaster Tycoon. The goal is to build a town and craft products which can be sold for in-game currency and leaderboard points. You’ll have to pay your workers otherwise they’ll go on strike. You’ve also got to maintain a supply of gasoline or you can’t deliver your products. And you’ll have to manage your space because you only get one plot of land.
The game is a puzzle, and there’s a billion different ways to solve it. Do you start in a forest where you can sell off your ponds to make a quick buck, or do you start in a desert where you get free access to crude oil? Should you start next to a river so that your crops are automatically watered, or do you set up shop next to a mountain so you can mine iron and craft Blue Steel? Will you go for quantity or quality? Can you sell enough flour to outpace the other player selling cakes?
And don’t worry if you’re late to the party, the world resets every week! Every player has (about) 6 days to earn as many points as possible, then we all get a day off, the world resets, and we get to try again. You can restart as many times as you want to really perfect your opening strategy, or you can just wing it and see how far you can get. The top 10 players every week are rewarded with GALA (an ERC-1155 token) with plans to expand rewards to the top 1000 players. Additionally each week has a unique challenge such as “finish in exactly 20th place”, “sell the most wheat”, or “sell the most sugar” where the reward is a non-fungible token (NFT) which can be used in Town Star.
The game is currently in Beta and the development team is incredibly active in the community, particularly on Discord. Every week brings updates, enhancements, and balancing tweaks – and community suggestions are valued and often implemented. It’s the perfect time to get involved because the players really and truly have the opportunity to influence the future and direction of the game; and ultimately the GALA Ecosystem as a whole.
That’s another thing – as much fun as Town Star is, this is just the first of many. The GALA Ecosystem is going to grow, there’s going to be more games, and there’s going to be more ways to leverage those NFTs! Imagine a gaming system where you can earn a reward in one game, then use it in another game. Or sell it for real world currency. Or trade it to another player. The way that GALA has chosen to leverage blockchain to enhance the gaming experience is incredibly exciting, come check it out!
