[Feature] Don’t fade this Arbitrum’s sensational blockchain game!

When it comes to blockchain or crypto-related games, they are always inseparable from the “x-to-earn” (replace x with any action verb) incentivised model. Rarely are these x-to-earn games fun; players are playing these boring games because of the sweet rewards in cryptocurrency. There were many real cases when those rewards were not appealing anymore; players would stop playing the games and send related in-game cryptocurrencies into the death spiral. Axie Infinity and STEPN are the best examples.

Amid the fear and uncertainty of the crypto scene, the development of x-to-earn and even other types of blockchain games are dying down. Despite this dreadful situation, a blockchain game stood out in its first few days of launching. First developed during March and fundraising in May, “The Beacon” launched its playable prototype in November, featuring two gameplay modes: Homestead and Single-player PvE.

The Beacon is a roguelite role-playing free-to-play blockchain (NFT) game. A roguelite game is usually difficult to play, as it requires players to practice and be familiar with the game mechanic to win the game. It might seem challenging, but it is the fun part as well. In the gaming world, difficulty and challenge equal fun. Elden Ring, one of the toughest video games released in 2022, had sold 17.5 million copies as of November 2022. It proves that a difficult yet exciting game might not be turning away its customers but into profits. The Beacon is taking ideas from the traditional video game pioneers, in which the main point of a game is to be fun but not to make money.

Nevertheless, as a blockchain game, The Beacon has a monetarised reward system and a marketplace for trading cosmetics in the form of NFT. Although players can play the game for free, they are not eligible for rare cosmetics NFT drops. Players must mint a “founding character” for 40 dollars to qualify for item drops and other benefits. Enough with the introduction; let’s jump into the game!

1. Visit https://app.thebeacon.gg/

2. Connect the Metamask wallet and switch the network to Arbitrum One.

3. If your Metamask wallet has not installed Arbitrum yet, visit https://chainlist.org/ for a fast installation.

4. After connecting to Arbitrum, create a username.

5. Press “Play” on top to start playing The Beacon for free!

6. You can’t customise your character in free mode, so don’t be surprised by the flat design.

7. Dungeon expedition, here we go. Roguelite game is not friendly to casual gamers, so ensure you can survive the last stage before proceeding to mint.

8. A founding character costs $40 to mint and a small gas fee.

9. My founding character.

Not only that The Beacon gain massive sales of ~$1.4 million in 10 days since launch, but there are also 17,935 new players joining the Ethereum L2 blockchain ecosystem. A new user base will help the development of Arbitrum and its surrounding dApps.

Source: Dune Analytics @treasuredao.

TreasureDAO, the decentralised gaming platform for developers and the community, is the winner of all. The success of The Beacon boosted the price of the DAO-issued crypto, MAGIC, to double in a week. At the same time, TreasureDAO’s NFT marketplace is gaining traction too.

Trove, TreasureDAO’s NFT marketplace: https://trove.treasure.lol/collection/the-beacon-items

The price movement of MAGIC. Source: TradingView.

Coming up next, the brand-new pet system is coming to town. Pets can only be minted by players who hold a whitelist spot. Players must get as many raffle tickets as possible to win a spot by completing the daily dungeon expedition, tavern quiz, etc. There is still time to mint a character to reap the rewards. But remember, make sure you can complete the dungeon expedition before minting, as the game might be challenging for most casual players.