Moonkarts - A web3 go-cart experience.
MoonKarts is going to be the first game released by the @arcadecolony platform on Hive.
From their whitepaper
Arcade Colony stands out with its capability to convert traditional Web2 games, developed using engines like Unity, into Web3 games.
Arcade Colony presents Web2 game publishers with the opportunity to join the Arcade Colony platform via a low effort augmentation of their Web2 game into a Web3 game with full integration of NFT store fronts, a marketplace, fungible rewards, governance, NFT integration, account management, and more.
I am lucky enough to have early access to the upcoming game and am very excited about what they have built.
A real driving experience complete with nft's, rewards, leagues and all tied into your hive account so everything will be accessible through keychain.
First impressions.
The very first impression when you log into the unity engine is very positive. High quality graphics with a very web2 feel about the starting screen.
You enter into your garage with the usual options of editing your car and driver. Change your settings. Buy packs and open them. And most importantly, get racing.
Since it's only in testing mode we have unlimited credits to bulk up our drivers and cars which allowed me to buy multiple packs and merge the cards for higher levels.
The garage.
This could be any ps game over the last decade. All of the usual options are there with a few extra additions for pack sales and merging cards. The packs even look a lot like the beta from splinterlands.
You buy packs. Kit out your car and head for the race track. Simple but fun. Hopefully there will be ways to win your cards as well and not make it pay to play.
The racetrack.
Before racing you can set up all of your options for drivers, parts and add-ons. Or you can have a preset from the garage to speed things up.
- Driver
- Vehicle
- Parts.
- Power-ups.
This is for solo play but multiplayer works the same way.
Then your ready to go.
I even came first. Wohoo.
And gained five more cards for it.
Pro's and cons.
Pro's first.
This is one of the highest quality games i have seen in six years of operating in web3. It feels like a classic go cart game and has a very small learning curve for anybody wanting to join.
The cart handles well and it's really fun to drive. Great graphics and having multiplayer is what is going to get people addicted racing against other users.
Since the game is still in alpha mode i'm sure that a lot of the points that i'm going to suggest below are on their to do list and we will see an even better finished version.
The nft's fit seamlessly into the game and depending on how they set up the reward structure can be a big incentive for people to race and win. The garage mode gives you lots of options to customize your cart which is always a big part of racing games and makes it a lot more interesting.
Con's.
I'll address the immediate cons i found from playing the game rather than features which might come down the line. Sometimes less is more and one of the best carting games IMO was Crash team racing which had simple tracks but fun and easy to play.
I don't expect the same quality levels as a big time studio but it would be nice to aim for that over time. My biggest annoyance with the game so far is the card imagery. I found that all of the drivers looked the same. All of the add-ons looked the same and that it is impossible to tell between gold/regular foil and even the different levels of card. It would be nice to have a clearer way to differentiate all of the different grades of card and make it easier to upgrade and merge them to a higher level.
Also in multiplayer you don't really see the other racers which is a big minus in terms of gameplay. Half the fun is the battle between racers and hitting them with missiles. Mini maps are coming but we want side by side driving action.
Suggestions.
I'm sure that the team have a lot of ideas for building the game going forward so they won't need this part.
- Make multiplayer a lot a lot more interactive with the opposing racers.
- Future tracks to have more features like shortcuts and speed strips.
- Define the different nft's better. One color for each rarity. Stronger gold features on gold cards. Wider range of artwork.
- Have a solo player mode where people need to beat challenges to unlock more tracks, items and leagues.
- Have monthly tournaments with unique nft's as prizes that can't be bought. Or even prizes for unlocking different challenges.
- Trophies/ nft's for winning ten races, 100 races, 1000 races. For beating certain times on each track. More incentives to play the game.
- Make weapons limited use nft's. get ten uses out of missiles or shield before it is gone. Then you can have prizes in the game that people like to win but you don't get an oversupply.
- Make the merging process a lot smoother. At the moment you have to click every item individually instead of having quicker and easier options.
I'm sure that a lot of this is on their radar anyway but it is the direction that i would like to see the game going in over time. For now it's a fun game to play with lots of potential and an addictive nature.
Overall
Looking at the big picture I think that it is going to be a big hit for the team. These are the type of games that can achieve massive adoption if they don't over complicate it with DAO's and tokenomics.
Just build a fun game to play. Have micro purchases, pack purchases and then a good reward structure. Racing games don't need to be an more complicated than that. Just fun and competitive.
If they can keep building in this direction then it's a game that i can introduce my friends to without any instruction manual. This is the way to go.