Usually my weekends are spent writing my blog articles on PeakD and spending time with my family. But this weekend I thought I'd try out some new projects. So I decided to play 
I've been on the Hive blockchain for a little over a year and have been just blogging and engaging with the community. It's time I expanded my mind to other aspects of what Hive has to offer.
After hearing about Splinterlands for a while I finally decided to give it a go. For a person who didn't play video games at all growing up I didn't seem to get it.
What I though about Splinterlands V/s reality
To be honest it's quite overwhelming and I felt it's a lot of stuff to remember especially the abilities.
The impression I had about Splinterlands is quite different to what I experienced.
I thought what the game was all about involved your moves in a battle like a game of cards. To my surprise I discovered once you chose your pack the outcome is already decided before entering the battlefield and recorded on the blockchain (whether you play the battle or not)! So what the game is all about building and arranging your packs. At least that what I gathered from the few beginner battles I played today. I also discovered that you can trade, stake your earnings and rent out cards.
Here's a GIF of one of today's battles. As I mentioned, I thought you have to play your moves turn but turn on the battle field so when I clicked rumble I was clicking on my cards frantically to play the game as I didn't know what to do next!
I did watch the video tutorial and read the guide so I'm a little better off at the end of the day.
My Thoughts on Splinterlands
The fact that you can own gaming assets which is the cards is awesome!
I never really got what the hype was about NFT's like Cypytopunk and all the other pixelated JPEGs selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It all seemed overrated. But I'm starting to like the concept of NFT's in gaming. Can't wait for 
As for Splinterlands, I like the aspect of strategy and building your deck.
When it comes to the adaptation it's cool because its affordable seeing that you can play for free but not have the ability to earn and the entry level investment is just $10! I would have bought a spellbook today but My cards been blocked and I didn't realize it takes 13 days to power down. So I'll have to build up some author rewards. Learnt something else too.
I watched a few introductory videos which I'll share here as well. And what's amazing is how people are making a lively hood from the game.
In an interview with 
In another blog post on PeakD by 
My Splinterlands Goals
For now in the short term, I would like start learning about how to strategize a battle, start getting some practice, having fun with the dame and earning DEC with rented cards. I read how it's much better to rent in the beginning than to buy cards.
Since I'm into graphic design and I blog I can take part in the social media and artwork challenges to engage with the community.
I don't expect to earn anything significant for a while but I'm hoping that in a few years I'll have a decent deck built up to start earning some decent rental income as well as staking rewards.
Aside from the earnings, I think Splinterlands will enhance my strategical thinking abilities and be a good replacement for T.V as recreation😁
I hope you liked reading my experience trying out Splinterlands and I wonder how similar it was to your's. Feel free to share some newbie tips in the comments.
Sources and Links:
@shaidon/how-splinterlands-changed-my-life
THE COMPLETE SPLINTERLANDS BEGINNER GUIDE! SILVER RANK IN HOURS! (Part 1 of 2)
10 Tips for Starting Splinterlands in 2022, a beginner's guide