The emergence of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games on DeFi horizon was similar to a bomb of a delayed effect: it was a matter of time until its popularity explodes and a new model of earning while playing embraces the entire crypto industry. Today, the prospect of generating additional returns while fulfilling gaming quests has already resulted in a spectacular 2,000% increase in the gamers engaged; however, what’s even more important, P2E games are already considered as foundational components in the rising Metaverse economy. This may as well give us an insight into the future, where P2E games are poised to occupy the frontline of the gaming industry while constituting a prominent part of the crypto, so obsessed with virtual reality and NFTs these days. Eyeing an opportunity that has no equals in the space, HoneyWood.io took a chance and launched its own unique blockchain-based farming game.

Targeted at all types of audiences, HoneyWood captivates the imagination with its simple yet compelling approach combined with the possibility to generate real returns. Applying the Match3 field over the farming game, with PVP and PVE-models at once, HoneyWood creates an unparalleled space where entertainment and value-generation go hand-in-hand. Based on an entirely separate blockchain network, HoneyWood brings in the Cosmos network with Tendermint solutions, which results in a highly-reliable ecosystem, whose past audit acts as the best reassurance of the network’s security. Boasting the whole variety of the earning mechanisms, among which PVP Battles, Farming, Staking and highly-compelling NFT collectibles are not to be missed, HoneyWood invites to experience the richness of benefits of the game’s economic system. Moreover, by launching 2 native coins - HoneyCoin and CONE, - the players get a chance to access the Game Store together with Marketplace and exchange their coins for the gaming benefits and NFTs, while simultaneously partaking in the community voting system. Thus, HoneyWood merges best practices of the blockchain space in one pot with unmatched earning opportunities, which makes it a favourable bet with the official game release on May 13.

Now, witnessing the ambition of this project, I invited the CEO and founder of HoneyWood Roman Chizhikov for an interview in anticipation of the official launch date.

What inspired you to reinvent gaming, and what are the ways how HoneyWood particularly can overturn the industry?

Traditional Web2 gaming has a long history. Thousands of game developers, designers, and storytellers worked together to create amazing masterpieces. But Web3 gaming lacked many features of Web2 and the most important of them is gameplay. Popularity of blockchain games skyrocketed on the idea of ‘play-to-earn’. But as the market slowly matures, we can clearly see that being paid for gaming is just not enough. That’s why I created a game which will give players all what they strive for: not only the possibility to earn money while gaming but also significant community, playability, storytelling and cool graphics. 

People very often ask me why we make HoneyWood on a separate blockchain. To answer this question, we need to keep in mind another vast problem of Web3 games, now the technical one. Main chains like Ethereum and Solana have troubles with speed, scalability and (sometimes) enormously high fees. As a professional blockchain developer with 7-year experience, I see the solution in creating your own chain. We made one on Cosmos. It’s fast, has very high capacity and low fees to be enjoyed by everyone.

Do you see how HoneyWood can lead people out of the financial hardship amplified by the pandemic?

We all now suddenly found ourselves in the same boat. Pandemic and war conflicts gave an extra instability to the world, which already was cracking. Boundless, crypto games — and HoneyWood — are free of politics. P2E and Play-and-earn games now bring people the opportunity to earn money to support their families. Our game will be a good shelter to wait out the frost of crypto winter — in the first months after release players will get almost 40% return of investments for their digital assets in HoneyWood.

But I want to draw your attention to the fact that HoneyWood focuses not only on money making. We give our players much more: powerful community, ability to get heard, distraction, entertainment, and onboarding into the world of crypto. 

What makes HoneyWood unlike other P2E games in the space?

As I already said, we have our own separate blockchain. The game itself has tailored tokenomics with 2 native coins — utility coin HoneyCoin and governance coin CONE. We will list both of them on crypto exchanges in Q3 and Q4 ‘22. But let’s take apart technical issues and focus on the gameplay. Non-crypto gaming audience is much wider than the current audience of blockchain games, and our primary goal is to attract not only crypto fans but also traditional players. That’s why HoneyWood from the very start, uses the most popular game mechanics: building your own farm and Match3 (think of Candy Crush). These games are well known, satisfying and easy to play. We are going to add more casual games later — Tetris, puzzles, racing and so on.

Some time after launch our game will become truly decentralised, so HoneyWood administration will no longer have control of the game, it will be passed on to the players. What does it mean? True democracy. Players will decide the future of HoneyWood. It will be their world. 

Who are the team members on your board? Could you elaborate more on their professional backgrounds - and the ways they lead HoneyWood to its success?

We have a highly professional team of 22 persons. Our developers have a broad experience of working for blockchain startups, we have game designer from Playrix (that’s why our Match3 version is so appealing!), one of our marketers previously worked for Microsoft and Abbott, the second one has an experience of launching her own digital agency. CPO of the project before HoneyWood led the 15-million dollar product. Together we form a team of passionate and open enthusiasts who are ready to change the world of Web3 forever. 

Knowing about your 2 native assets - HoneyCoin and CONE, could you please break down the difference between them? What is the tokenomics of both assets?

Sure. HoneyCoin is the main currency of the game. You can buy in-game assets for HoneyCoin, you can make deposits while playing the PVP Match3, and you can stake it to get CONE. The initial cost of one HoneyCoin will be 0.02 USDT, though after the listing, this value will naturally change. The economy of the game will be to maintain a stable rate of HoneyСoin because of the absence of any subsequent mass emissions. Stabilized internal mechanics will support this and preset system parameters.

CONE is a utility and governance coin used for staking and management. After initial emission, players can generate additional coins when planting trees. The number of coins will grow, thus automatically diluting the company’s share and bringing the game closer to absolute decentralization. 

Both coins will be listed on several crypto exchanges in Q3 and Q4 2022.

Looking at the broad variety of earning mechanisms introduced by HoneyWood, which ones the inexperienced users are recommended to start with – and why?

We recommend combining the farming of HoneyCoin with exciting Match3 battles. Our beta testers already prepared multiple game guides, which are focused on maximizing the earnings. You can easily find links in our social networks.

Ahead of the official game launch on May 13, what can the community of HoneyWood expect from this big date?

It was a long way! We made our best to create a fun and genuinely enjoyable game whereby the players can enjoy the opportunity of passive income. As everyone knows, most blockchain startups don’t even get to the launch. So we see it as a tremendous victory. We have 2000 players on our waitlist. Some of them took part in beta testing. But after the release of the mainnet, everything will go live. 

On 20 May we will give start to the first HoneyWood thematic event. 20th May is International Bee Day, so for HoneyWood it’s an official feast. We will launch a festival which will last for 2 weeks, with daily rewards, unique items and decorations. So every time our players enter the game, they will find something new and exciting.

How does HoneyWood promote community engagement? And, more interestingly, how can anyone start participating in community voting?

We put a lot of effort into community building. The reason is simple — in Web3, your community is your power. We have our own Ambassador program, launch multiple contests, collaborate with bloggers and always support the willingness of our players to spread the word about the project. Later this year, we will launch a voting platform, where stakeholders of CONE will vote for ideas on how to improve the game. HoneyWood will very fast become truly decentralized and players will decide the future of the game.The main idea of HoneyWood is to be community driven. We named it ‘Bears’ DAO’.

Last but not least – what is the roadmap of HoneyWood?

We have big plans for the galaxy takeover! In Q2 2022, we are going to close private #1 and private #2 rounds of investment and also perform an IGO (we currently have negotiations with multiple launchpads). 

Our plans for Q3 2022 are: we will add NFTs to the game and also launch the marketplace and voting platform. Listing of HoneyCoin is also planned for this period.

In Q4 2022, HoneyWood will reach full decentralization. Also, we will perform the listing of our second coin CONE on main crypto exchanges.