It’s no surprise that most people heard of Axie Infinity recently. The mainstream media has helped in pushing the “play to earn” narrative massively lately. The recent pandemic also had a huge role in pushing jobless people to look for earning alternatives. What’s better than to play, have fun and earn a living at the same time? Well, many NFT games are emerging with exactly that concept at heart. Axie Infinity’s rise came with its skyrocketing token price AXS. In this article, we’ll lay out a detailed Axie Infinity guide, and explain exactly how to play this game and its dynamics.
What is Axie Infinity?
Axie Infinity is developed by Sky Mavis, a technology-focused game studio founded in early 2018. The whole Axie ordeal is inspired by Pokemons and Tamagotchi games. Axie Infinity is classified as an NFT game, that allows individuals to earn currency from playing the game as they breed, race, battle, and trade Axie creatures in the marketplace. Axie Infinity’s mission was to function as a fun and educating way to introduce the world to blockchain technology. Many of the developers and the team members met from plating Cryptokitties, which then evolved to them working on the Axie game and introduce the magic of blockchain technology to players.
All art assets and Axie data can be accessed by third parties, allowing the community developers to build their own tools and experiences to improve the Axie Infinity universe. The difference between Axie and our traditional games is that blockchain economic design rewards their players for contributing to the ecosystem. This means that the more you contribute to the Axie universe, the more rewards to reap.
How does Axie Infinity work?
Axie Infinity runs a blockchain technology. However, instead of mining new blocks on the chain (aka solving complex math problems that generate an accepted hash), Axie Infinity provides a play-to-earn structure. Players can earn by competing PVP battles, breeding Axies and selling them to the marketplace, or collecting rare Axies.
SLPs (or Smooth Love Potions) are needed to breed Axies. SLPs like any other cryptocurrency are volatile. You can buy them from Binance.
Additionally, there are governance tokens called AXS that can also be bought from Binance. Those tokens allow their holders to earn a slice of the Axie universe as they’ll have governance rights and fee-sharing built into it. Players can earn this token by… simply playing!
Don’t Start Playing Axie Infinity before you Do THIS!
The game can be found on the official website, but there are many things to do before you download the game. The game needs accounts and wallets, since it involves cryptocurrencies. Here is a simple guide on what to do before you even start downloading the game:
- Download a digital wallet like MetaMask.
- Send some ETH to your Metamask wallet. If you don’t know how, it’s the same as buying Bitcoins.
- Download the Ronin wallet, and send the ETH to Ronin using the Ronin Bridge.
- Acquire at least 3 Axies from the Axie Marketplace into your MetaMask.
How to Start Playing Axie Infinity?
Battle Basics
Axie Infinity is like playing Pokemon on your ol’ Gameboy. This means that players use action cards to command what action their Axies will be doing for that turn. Each Axie has four cards that randomize for every battle. In order to play those cards, energy must explode. So if you have four energies, you can play any card as long as it fits within your four energy capacity.
Normally, other games allow players to choose which target to attack, but Axie Infinity’s battle system attacks random targets. Usually, Axies hit the target closest to them. Now, there are three types of Axies:
- Plant Axies (Tank)
- Beast Axies (High DPS)
- Fish Axies (Debuffing)
Now, if you lose/win a battle, you lose/win MMR or Matchmaking Rating. If the user wins, on the other hand, he’ll earn additional SLPs. The amount of SLPs won depends on the player’s MMR. The higher the MMR, the higher the SLP rewards.
Other than PVP battles, players can accomplish daily quests (PVE) that help them earn additional SLPs and experience points for the Axies. That’s why players are advised to keep a healthy balance between PVP and PVE modes.
Managers and Scholars
As mentioned earlier, players are required to start with 3 Axies. Today, Axies cost a lot due to high demands, and the rising price of AXS and ETH. In this game today, there’s a Manager/Scholar relationship:
- There are many players from the early days who bought Axies at very cheap prices, and have hundered of them. Naturally, one can’t have time to level up all of them at the same time. Those guys are managers.
- On the other hand, players who can’t afford to pay are called Scholars. Those guys can lend Axies from Managers. Additionally, managers will earn a 40% cut of all the earning that occur from that lent Axie. Once the lending is over, managers can keep the Axie or sell them back to the marketplace for higher prices.
Quick Stats as of Today – Axie Infiity
Today, there are around 140,000 Axies globally. The price starts at one dollar, but the most expensive Axie ever sold went for 300 ETH (or around USD 1 Million).
- AXS price: USD 68
- AXS market capitalization: USD 4.2 Billion
- SLP price: USD 0.094
- SLP market capitalization: USD 200 Million
Should you Play Axie Infinity?
Playing a game and making money is the ultimate dream. Everyone would like to earn from something fun and entertaining. On the other hand, one must understand the risks involved in partaking in this adventure. Starting to play requires you to put some money in the form of cryptocurrencies. Sure, cryptos are on the rise, but when prices crash, this means that your money’s worth decreased while you’re spending your time playing.
That’s why it is advisable to only spend money you are can afford to lose and start small. Once you get the hang of it and get yourself familiar with the dynamics, only then can you conquer your new world.
Have Fun and Enjoy!
Rudy Fares
