Introduction
Today, I wanted to share about a web3 game called Army of Crypto (AOC). To be transparent, this project was introduced to me by @Treytrillionaire, a friend that I made through Splinterlands. Despite this, I will be giving an honest review of this project from the facts and my experience. I will be giving information on the project, details on how to get started while adding some of my thoughts on the gameplay, what I like about the project and what could be improved etc.
Introduction Of AOC
AOC is a web3 game on the Onix blockchain which is a fairly new blockchain that is focused on helping to onboard indie game developers onto web3. AOC is a card game that involves strategy on card placement and it's not as simple as paying to win or buying the strongest cards. The game is inspired by the struggles of crypto and how there's kind of like a war between crypto and the government for crypto to get mass adoption. This is why you might recognize some of the cards are inspired by popular crypto figures such as Satoshi Nakamoto and Elon Musk.
How To Get Started
Firstly, you can create an account on AOC.
Currently, AOC is in alpha and requires a purchase of an essential pack to play which normally costs $20 but now they have a special promotion to help onboard players so if you contact them on discord you can get 50% off which means only $10. The packs are purchasable in Onix which is the main token for Onix Blockchain. If you purchase 3 packs you can get whitelisted to be first to buy the legendary set when it releases. You will also get access to a special channel on discord and maybe get some news ahead of others. I have already bought my 3 packs!
Currently, there are three exchanges available to buy Onix. The three exchanges are XeggeX, Graviex and Blockchain Financial. Personally, I have used XeggeX so I would recommend buying using this exchange over the others. The good thing about XeggeX is that you don't need to KYC. You will need to deposit crypto there like USDT, LTC, or USDC and then use that to buy Onix. Once you have bought the Onix you can send it straight to your in-game wallet. Make sure you deposit it to the right account; there shouldn't be any mistake if you copy and pasting directly from my second screenshot below.
You can download the game here. Downloads are available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android so download the game where you plan on playing. Once you have downloaded the game, you can use the login details from when you created the account to login to the game.
Thoughts On In Game UI & Gameplay
I think the game UI is pretty clean and everything loads quite smoothly which is pretty good for a game that's still in Alpha. I think it's quite user-friendly as it's quite straightforward to use and navigate through. There doesn't seem to be the option to change the resolution and quality at the moment. I also like how the game doesn't put too much stress on my CPU and GPU. Lately, some games in web3 haven't been very optimized which would make my 7+ years old laptop some trouble and sometimes overheat while playing those games.
As for gameplay, there's four types of cards which are soldier, general, legendary and magic. The attack cards have different costs. Soldiers will have 1 for mana cost, general 3 and legendary 5. These attack cards will have three variations of strength types going from weak to average to strong; this is represented in the color frame.
As for battling, there is a field with 13 octagon slots where you can place attack cards. Positioning will be key to victory. You want to place your attack cards with an arrow pointing to a direction of a card that doesn't have an arrow that would let you kill the enemy attack card. If the arrows are pointing against each other, then the cards will attack each other with the attack and health in mind. If the attack is equal or more to the health then the card is killed.
There's two ways to win the game. The first is to kill all your opponent's attack cards. The second way to win is if your opponent passes 3x consecutively.
The game is a bit hard to explain in words in my opinion. It's better to just play as you go. You can also check out some streams of this game which will be done by some streamers which will help illustrate better how the battles are done. There are also giveaways for these streams where they give out Onix, cards and possibly packs so do stay tuned in the AOC discord to not miss any of this.
What I Like About AOC
AOC is the first game on the Onix blockchain. I think there's tremendous potential as it could end up to be like the Splinterlands of Hive. This is definitely a possibility and I can see the potential of the game. I've seen people enjoy the game play and a lot of positive talk about the game on the discord. I like the gameplay; it's quite different and interesting. I can see the strategy needed and maybe I will try to be one of the top players in this game when it's fully released and there's a leaderboard.
Honestly, I also like how I have a friend that is part of this project and I believe in him so I doubt this project will just fall apart or rug pull anybody. I'm not saying that there's no chance of losing money to bad trading or a forever increasing price in Onix but I'm confident that this project is here to stay and here to build for the long-term.
What Could Be Improved on AOC
There are some things that can be improved on AOC. It's still alpha so there's still bugs of course so I can't really blame that as that's normal. I think card art for the NFTS need some improvement. The art isn't really up to the standards I think as there's a lot of NFTS with better art in my opinion. I don't think there can be much done about the art for the current set since all the packs and cards have been pre-minted so they are pretty much final to my knowledge. Hopefully in future pack set releases; we can see an improvement in the art.
I also think the website needs improvement. I'm not a big fan of the appearance; I think it needs to be more modernized and simpler. The AOC roadmap page should be in a graphic. I think that would be an easier way to see; it doesn't look nice just in words and bullets. The registration page also needs some work as it feels kind of old and outdated.
What I Look Forward To
Recently, LeoFinance has partnered with Army of Crypto which is amazing news as there were talks in a recent AMA that they will try to develop a way to exchange HBD for Onix which will make it even easier for users on Hive to get onto the Onix Blockchain as well as purchase AOC packs. I'm definitely looking forward to be able to buy Onix with HBD as I will have some extra money here on Hive that I'm not really sure what to spend on.
I'm also looking forward to see more games being developed on the Onix blockchain. I see a lot of potential of this blockchain and it's still early. The price for Onix is highly undervalued and could see a lot of upside potential in the upcoming bullrun along with more development on this blockchain. This will increase the value of the Onix I already hold and stake which would be awesome!
Lastly, I'm looking forward to the introduction of being able to use magic cards which will make the gameplay even more interesting. Currently, the game hasn't implemented these mechanics but they should be coming soon in the next big update on the game.
Concluding Thoughts
Overall, I have high hopes for AOC which is being built on the Onix blockchain. Let's see how it goes. I've already purchased my 3 essential packs. Hopefully we can see Hive/HBD for Onix soon as it will be even easier to recommend my friends on Hive to join the game. I hope I was able to give enough information for you to be interested.
Thank You
Thank you for reading and supporting me. If you are interested and have any questions feel free to comment below. I have also left links to where you can find information about AOC and Onix Blockchain which should help if you're interested to learn more.
Army of Crypto Whitepaper: https://armyofcrypto.com/whitepaper.pdf
Army of Crypto Website: https://armyofcrypto.com/
Onixcoin Whitepaper: https://onixcoin.io/whitepaper-v3.pdf
Onixcoin Website: https://onixcoin.io/
Onix & AOC Discord: https://discord.gg/Nmmh4uzvBh