A Prelude to NFT Gaming in 2022 & a Sneak Peak of Legends of Venari - Issue #2
This the second in a series of posts that had been originally published on Revue.co With Revue shutting down, the Bored Ape Games on Chain blog/newsletter is moving here and will be mirrored at thechaingamer.eth on Mirror.
This article was originally published on Dec 18, 2021
Welcome to my newsletter, Bored Ape Games on Chain.
I’m going to be focusing on the intersection of blockchain and gaming. I believe we’re going to see tremendous growth in this area over the coming years and I hope to document some of that here and share it with you, the community.
In this issue, we’ll cover Legends of Venari, a game where players compete to capture creatures, that is set to launch before the end of the year.
Looking Back
As 2021 comes to a close, it’s a great opportunity to look back and reflect on what an absolutely amazing year it has been for NFTs & gaming.
Legends of Venari
Axie Infinity exploded onto the scene at the start of the year bringing attention to NFT gaming, P2E, player owned economies. The game is still only in alpha, and it’s just one game in the crypto gaming ecosystem.
Axie Infinity
We’ve seen the Voxies demo, with the game set to be released before EOY. Their VOXEL token recently launched on Binance and hit a high or $4.76 per token! We’re just getting started!
Voxie Tactics
These are just a couple of games that I’m highlighting here. There’s been so much more. December is such an exciting time, because a lot of the NFT games projects that launched earlier in the year or have been in the works for even longer are now getting close to actually releasing these games!
I cannot wait to see what 2022 brings!
Legends of Venari
Overview
Legends of Venari stood out to me when I first came across it. I really liked the website and graphics. I got Pokémon vibes which made me want to learn more!
The team has a bunch of great content in their discord, whitepaper, YouTube channel and more. I’ve included some of the official resources in a section at the end of this newsletter.
The best way I can think of describing Legends of Venari is “Pokémon Go V1, but with a more involved capture mechanic”. As with the initial release of Pokémon Go, there is no PvE and PvP combat in the game yet. That is coming much later. For now, the team is focused on creating a very unique capturing experience, where players will strategize using different Baits and Rigs. Both these types of items can be used to maximize your chances of capturing different types of Venari.
Gameplay
The core gameplay loop, as I’ve understood from the whitepaper & gameplay demo video is as follows:
Players start out in a region, such as Tecta (name of one of the regions), and place Bait to attract Venari.
Waiting for Venari to show up in Tecta
The timer runs downs and Venari appear on the grid. A max of 6 Venari can spawn with one Bait.
Selecting the Venari you want to capture
Players then select the Venari they want to capture, select their Rig (different Rigs are better suited to capture different Venari), and begin the expedition.
Prepping for your expedition
You then have the option of attacking, giving bait, or playing with the Venari to improve your chances of capturing it.
Here’s a video of the gameplay loop from Legends of Venari that I recorded.
Meeting the Team
I reached out to the Legends of Venari team with a few questions about the game and had a great chat with LoV’s Founder & CEO, Jason, and their CMO, Drew.
I was curious to understand what prompted Jason and team to take the path they did with LoV’s gameplay, focusing on collecting vs. combat. Having the players spend the bulk of their time figuring out what Bait & Rigs to use, which Venari to try and capture, because unlike with Pokémon, you can’t catch ‘em all 😄. There’s an opportunity cost!
During the LoV AMA, Jason described himself as a builder and I wanted to know what games inspired him.
It was the usual suspects. OSRS, Maple Story, Pokémon, & most lately League of Legends.
Jason & Drew have been working to ensure that messaging prior to the alpha going out (which is December 23rd btw) is clear and concise so that there is no expectation mismatch. An overview of what to expect during the alpha season is now live on their Twitter account. You should definitely take a look if you’re thinking of trying out Legends of Venari.
We chatted about why Legends of Venari diverged from what most NFT games projects are doing, which is focusing on PvE/PvP combat. Jason’s hypothesis was that there will be a lot of players who will embrace the collecting experience, curating their collections by buying/selling/trading different Venari because it isn’t possible to capture all of them in a particular season. I rather liked this approach and as a long-time collector, I think there’s great value here. Both in terms of creating a fun experience and fostering a strong community.
For example, the alpha will have approximately 114 Venari (19 Venari with 6 variants) and lots of different Baits.
Each Venari can exist in each variant. Imagine if Pikachu could be a fire type, or a water type, etc.
Jason explained the concept of constellations (you can see the excerpt here from the white paper below) and how they would influence stats for Venari.
Similar to, but not quite like the Pokémon system
One of the things I was quite curious about, especially after listening to Jason talk about how P2E was not a huge focus for him, was how he saw that reconcile with the fact that,
LoV’s primary target audience are blockchain gamers, who are quite interested in P2E at this time and,
LoV has announced several partnerships with Axie guilds & we’ve seen Axie guilds post about their LoV Alpha Pass purchases.
Can this hurt the game?
I really liked Jason & Drew’s response to these questions. The main thing they highlighted was how the existing web3 gaming guilds don’t have much else other than Axie these days, and one of the goals for guild leaders is to build a strong community, LoV can give them that. Bringing out the collectors in all of us. A throwback to trading Pokémon cards in school 😊.
The Ayena Ridges Region in Legends of Venari. Alpha launches 23rd December
Lastly, I was curious about how Jason thought of PvE/PvP? It’s still quite early but he mentioned turn-based combat is likely. He also mentioned that a token would be coming in the future, even though that was something he was initially against.
I really enjoyed talking to both of them. Jason truly came across as someone who is passionate about the game he’s building. They’re not overpromising, though my feeling is they will be working hard on trying to overdeliver.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Legends of Venari become a big success.
Official Resources:
DISCLAIMER
I have not purchased a Legends of Venari Alpha Pass. I was gifted one by the team so that I can try out the Alpha Season that starts on the 23rd of December.