If you're into DeFi right now there's a good chance that you've come into this space thanks to Axie Infinity (which we wrote "A new way to game") which opened up a new way of gaming to the world with a play-to-earn model. Since then, there's been a lot of other games coming into this space (such as The Sandbox) and now, a new game called Illuvium is coming in to up the ante in that space.
Graphics
What's interesting about Illuvium is that it's been built using Unreal Engine which has been used to power a vast number of graphically stunning games (Cyperpunk 2077) as well as for augmented reality graphics and other graphics demos (see example below).
A game built using a system as powerful as Unreal is going to catch some attention and that's important since you need to entice players to play, stake and build the in-game (and out of game) economy.
Gameplay
In the same vein as Axie Infinity, Illuvium brings together Pokemon-like concepts of capturing characters (Illuvials here), growing their capabilities and battlign them against others for reward. These Illuvials come with different character types (e.g. fighters, guardians and more) and can be fused together to become more powerful. These are all gameplay features that gamers will be used to whether they've played Axie Inifinty or other similar games.
Various NFTs are available in game and can be viewed at Illuviums site: https://www.illuvium.io/nfts
There will also be an additional game on top of Illuvium called Illuvium: Zero that is available on mobile. This is listed as a base-building game on top of various lands which are either paid or non-paid lands. Paid lands will produce resources that can be mined in-game and the other land types will not. There will be a number of dutch auctions to open up the paid-land areas.
Analytics
In addition to this, the game is going to store all battles performed (see screenshot from the Illuvium Discord from Aaron, one of the founders) so that's going to mean amazing things for those who are interested in the analysis aspects of games like this. When you consider that mission replays in games such as aircraft combat simulators build tactical replay views (such as Tacview in DCS - Digital Combat Simulator) which mimic what real fighter pilots use, you'll know then that analysis is important especially if you want to improve. The fact that Illuvium offers this is intriguing.
Mentioning of game replay feature in Illuvium Discord
Tokens
Associated with this game are ILV tokens which are already able to be bought and sold on exchanges (see price history below). It's not needed to play the game (ETH is used as currency) but ILV can be used to stake and earn rewards or converted for in game currency. ETH is used to spend when Shard Curing, Traveling, Crafting, Cosmetics and Revivals.
Price at time of writing of ILV is $1062.76 per CoinMarketCap
Founders
The team behind this game are the Warwick brokers (Kieran and Aaron) along with a number of other talented artists and developers (see here). The Warwick's also have another brother (Kain) who is well-known for founding Synthetix which built a system for minting and staking synthetic tokens on Ethereum and who has amassed quite a large fortune in doing so. There is pedigree here and this game will do well on all of the above points we mentioned but seeing just who the team and people involved are also helps further the cause.
Guilds
In addition to all of the above was the announcement of a gaming guild (Polemos) that has raised $2m to bring in gameplay learning systems, DEXs (decentralised exchanges) and analytics to Illuvium. You can read more about them on their website (https://polemos.io/) and the various announcements about it (this one from The Daily HODL - https://dailyhodl.com/2021/11/22/global-play-to-earn-gamer-guild-polemos-closes-strategic-funding-round/).
Also, you can join the Polemos Discord here. The conversation is alread thriving.
Trailer
3 weeks ago, Illuvium released a gameplay trailer which should satiate gamer tastebuds for now (if it hasn't already set them on fire).
If you're interested in learning more you can jump to the following links
Illuvium website - https://www.illuvium.io/
Illuvium Discord - https://discord.gg/gVjWwXr2
Illuvium on Medium - https://illuvium.medium.com/
Thanks to the man's invitation, I discovered that playing pokies is a great way to relax and have fun. The games are not only interesting but also entertaining, with their colourful graphics and lively sound effects. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced player national Australia , there's always a pokies game to suit your needs.