Axie Infinity Explained

We can never deny the fact that NFT games are exploding in popularity right now in the blockchain space. The sudden surge of these play-to-earn games truly came when Axie Infinity was the hottest trend during the Covid-19 pandemic.  This was a time when people needed to put food on their tables and it helped many people around the world- especially the Filipinos. In this article, let’s have a deep understanding of what this game is.

What is Axie Infinity?

Inspired by the idea of Pokemon and Tamagochi games, Axie Infinity is a decentralized NFT-based video game founded and developed by Vietnamese-based startup Sky Mavis which was launched in 2018.  In this game, anyone can earn tokens through skilled gameplay and contributions to the ecosystem.

Players need to own at least three (3) adorable fantasy creatures called Axies to start battling in the game. These creatures also have powerful potential underneath their appearance. Every Axie has different unique traits which determine their role in the battle. Each of them is defined by four stats (Health, Morale, Skill, and Speed) that impact combat performance. Secondarily each Axie has four cards which can be considered as their abilities. Both stats and cards attached to the Axie are defined by six body parts (eyes, ears, horn, mouth, back, and tail). These cards define how each Axie will attack, defend and support, including targeting, buffing, de-buffing, and the like. The game allows players to breed, raise, battle, and trade Axies in the marketplace.

It’s not just gameplay that Axie Infinity offers; players also own land parcels in the world of Lunacia. Land gameplay will allow players to explore the world and battle Chimaera which will soon be released.

How to start playing Axie Infinity?

As this game has become the “talk of the town”, more and more people are showing interest to enter the ecosystem. To battle in Axie Infinity as mentioned above, the player needs three Axies from the Axie marketplace and as of this writing, one Axie costs around $150 and up.  This gives you an idea of the capital needed to get started with a team.

With this high upfront cost to begin with, not all can afford to invest in the game. However, the community came together with an initiative to form the Axie Scholarship program. A “scholarship” in Axie Infinity is when a manager/breeder gives out a free Axie team to a scholar. The scholar will then play the game using these Axies to earn Smooth Love Potions (SLP) on behalf of the manager while taking a cut from the earnings based on the agreed ratio. Scholarship programs are a win-win scenario for the community- managers with extra Axies can earn passive income while scholars can start playing and earning without spending a single dollar.

How to earn in Axie Infinity?

The Axie Infinity economy has two different tokens key to its growth and sustainability. $SLP (which functions as a utility token on the platform) and $AXS, (the governance token). As the user base of the game increases, so does the value of these tokens. $AXS is all the rage now, leading to the steep increase in the price of Axies. 

Players gain SLP in two ways:

Arena (PvP): A set of simple PvE campaigns where levels are connected in a saga map style. Players play against AI-controlled non-Axie enemies. Almost every win rewards the player with an amount dependent on their current ranking, with higher rankings rewarding more SLP per win. At lower rankings, no reward is paid.

• Arena (PvP): A set of simple PvE campaigns where levels are connected in a saga map style. Players play against AI-controlled non-Axie enemies. Almost every win rewards the player with an amount dependent on their current ranking, with higher rankings rewarding more SLP per win. At lower rankings, no reward is paid.
• Adventure (PvE): An ELO ranked and match made PvP mode, where players face off their squads. Completing a level rewards players depending on the star rating (directly related to the number of Axies still alive).

SLP can only be gained if the player has Energy, ultimately making Energy the gating factor in SLP creation, although increased Axie ownership brings up the rate of energy creation.

At set intervals (currently every two weeks) players can claim their SLP from the game into their Ronin wallets. From here SLP can either be traded on an exchange like Binance or used to breed Axies. Players can earn around 500 SLP per week, with three hours of play per day.

On the other hand, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) tokens were introduced in the game’s ecosystem in November 2020. This can be rewarded to players as they progress through the game every season. The latest project of the Axie Infinity team is AXS staking which was launched last September. This means that players can earn AXS more by staking them.

No wonder Axie Infinity is making a great deal of money.

Is Axie Infinity Short-term or Long-term?

Axie Infinity has a long-term vision backed by a solid whitepaper with a well-defined roadmap and precise strategies. The project is led by a team of blockchain and gaming experts. More importantly, it is among the top crypto games out there in terms of market capitalization.

“If you think Axie Infinity is here to stay, then trust the process.”

Conclusion

To sum up what we have in this article:

✓ Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired universe where anyone can earn tokens through skilled gameplay.

✓ SLP and AXS tokens are the key resources at the center of Axie Infinity and the drivers of its play-to-earn space.