So recently we have had some changes in the Splinterlands ecosystem that have been popular with some, and not so popular with others. I have to admit I'm rather indifferent to these changes from an investment perspective as my main reason for gaming is entertainment. There has yet to be a game in the blockchain space I have felt is worth large levels of investment with hopes of return. For instance in February I could have invested heavily into Splinterlands rather than purchasing a large quantity of Chain Link (I off loaded the Chainlink at 15 USD). If I had of invested in Splinterlands I would have put 10k into a bad place and not seen a real return. Better places to invest basically.

Splinterlands still strikes me as a bad game for investment, but a fun game to play. If it one were to believe it's worth investing in, and hoped to have a decent return then one has to almost develop a religious like faith in what their developers state is in the offing. But as far as meaningful changes so far? Nah. I can't help but suspect if they reigned in the bots and aimed to be more versatile, and offer more to real players that they would crash out of their top spot as a dapp. However if you're bot mining the platform it's great. But over time I'm guessing it will have a brief peak then fade out like many other card games on different block chains have.

Having said this I could see Splinterlands doing well in the midst of bull market euphoria. Not amazing as some are anticipating, but alright. Exploitative growth rather than sustainable human user gaining and retaining growth. Splinterlands is not worth the large costs to put in as a game that will sustainably grow though, and not diverse enough to be an option for other gamers to pick it over something else. The rewards have been rejigged and skewed to many times in an off balance way for reward to be the reason to play, and the graphics and lay out aren't sleek enough to head to head with other up and coming games. It's also over run with bots. Nothing against bot owners by the way. Shake..what..ya..mamma..gave..ya.

Having said all this it's still sorta fun to play. It's also a part of Hive, and given my like of this particular area of the blockchain space I continue to play as I see it as supporting Hive by interacting with it. I buy cards as well as game for fun. Not investment. I see my cards as money lost once I've bought them. I have no intention of seeing a huge return or any for that matter, so SL only has entertainment value really. Gaming for fun is what myself and millions of others game for.

There are other games in the block chain space that easily offer better graphics, feel more rewarding to play, and long term it seems show more promise in regards to retaining players. So in this post I'm going to touch on a few that have really jumped out at someone who games for fun and enjoys meaningful changes to growing block chain games.

Hash Rush

Hash Rush is a strategy game that I've been playing for a while now and I have to admit I'm quite taken with it. It's a strategy game that has a feel like the old Zelda for NES and Clash of Clans combined. The presentation is remarkably sleek as well. The sheer amount of diversity the game offers for where it's at in its current stage of development is mind blowing. Given it's stand alone value as an entertaining game it's definitely showing promise, and once up and full running I could see it holding its own at player retention.

The game recently rolled out it's own token called the Rush token. Honestly I can't help but feel that they have their priorities in order by focusing on gaming experience first, rewards second. The play to earn is being focused on, but not so much that the games quality suffers. This means their players are people who are there because the game is fun and sleek. Not there because there's reward pools to exploit. Basically it's looking like healthy organic growth. It handles really well for a game in beta and certainly worth watching where it goes.

Relentless

If you enjoy Splinterlands or card games in general, then Relentless will be a game you may enjoy. I have to admit I have had fun with it on mobile and it's relatively smooth game play. Like with Splinterlands you own your assets. A fun part I have found is the graphics. It's sorta zaney which is neat.

There is a market place for its cards and people do buy and sell. I wouldn't slot this in as a game to invest in as an investor, but if you enjoy card games on mobile then it's entertainment value is worth a few bob. Otherwise it's just a fun free to play block chain game.

Gods Unchained

Pretty much everyone here in this space has heard of or played Gods Unchained. As far as blockchain card games go they do have a really entertaining product. Granted it doesn't come with the same built in community that Splinterlands did, but they have decent user numbers. The graphics and presentation of the game are spot on as well.

The down side to this game is that it has had some bumps and knocks regarding it's market place and growth. However it does continue to plod along, and it stills is a full on entertaining product. It's a game where I could see explosive growth occurring in bull market conditions. I think over time they will have better luck at on boarding new players and keeping them if they run the right direction as well.

So far these three games have been really fun to play and definitely worth a look by those of you who enjoy blockchain gaming. I've been buying and selling crypto since around 2010 and it's mind blowing how far things have come along. There are big projects that are being promised to be great like Age Of Rust, and 9 Lives Arena that I'm eagerly looking forward to playing when released, but at the moment the best strategy game I've found is Hash Rush. Out of the games I've listed above (including Splinterlands) it's the most enjoyable and engaging. It's also free to play. It does require you have a decent set up. I don't think the game would preform well on an old laptop for instance.

Well guys that's it for this post. If you made it this far thanks for reading and as always looking forward to your awesome posts and projects.

Image credits.
Medium
Coin Telegraph
hash rush.com
gods unchained website