A Comprehensive Look at the New Gameplay of the Crypto Game Illuvium: Exploring the World of Divine Beasts

Author: Blue Fox Notes

With the rise of Axie Infinity, crypto games (on-chain games) and NFTs are gaining increasing attention. Compared to DeFi, the audience for games is much broader, as evidenced by the rapid growth of Axie game users. Previously, Blue Fox Notes discussed this in articles like "The Breakthrough Path of Crypto Games" and "Crypto Games and NFTs."

Differences in the Driving Forces of DeFi and GameFi

From the development path, we can see significant differences in the driving forces behind DeFi and crypto games (GameFi). Last year, DeFi launched through liquidity mining and farming models, attracting early users to invest funds to support the development of protocols, providing liquidity for DEXs, lending, and derivatives.

In contrast, the appeal of crypto games lies in the Play-to-earn model. Through play-to-earn, some players can earn a living income.

In these two models, we can observe slight differences in their core player groups. For example, one of Axie's core user groups consists of gaming guild members from regions like the Philippines, who earn a living by playing games. This can be seen as another form of PoHW (Proof of Human Work), requiring time and effort, serving as a work proof. In DeFi, it resembles a form of PoS (Proof of Stake), requiring capital investment, serving as an asset proof. Relatively speaking, early users in DeFi had more abundant funds, while early users in GameFi had more abundant time. Of course, this is not an absolute distinction; for instance, launching crypto games also requires liquidity and may involve aspects of DeFi (providing liquidity, staking, etc.).

Looking solely at protocol revenue, although the value contributed by a single user in GameFi may not match that of DeFi, if the user base of crypto games is large enough, their protocol revenue could reach levels that most DeFi protocols find hard to achieve. From the Axie protocol fees below, apart from Ethereum, the entire crypto space (including Bitcoin) currently cannot reach this level of income. (Of course, the sustainability of a single game and its lifecycle cannot be concluded yet; relatively speaking, DeFi protocols tend to be more sustainable.)

(Axie protocol revenue surpassing DeFi protocols, TokenTerminal)

Given the importance of crypto games in the future crypto landscape, Blue Fox Notes will introduce some crypto games to explore their development models. Today, we will first introduce an RPG (Role-Playing Game) battle game called Illuvium, which is still under development and plans to launch a beta version by the end of 2021.

What Kind of Game is Illuvium

In simple terms, Illuvium is an RPG battle game based on Ethereum, combining elements of traditional RPG collection games with Auto Battler-type combat mechanics. The game is set in a mysterious alien world.

(Rypper Beast, Illuvium)

*Rhamphyre Fire Dragon Beast

Rhamphyre has glowing wings that are 20 feet wide, and its skin resembles flames. Its ultimate skill unleashes a firestorm on enemies, causing burn damage, followed by a peck that inflicts explosive physical damage.

(Illuvium takes place in an alien world where a spaceship crashes, revealing a vast and diverse landscape with expansive oceans that swallow most of the land, inhabited by numerous alien creatures called Illuvials, referred to as beasts in this article.)

Players are the survivors of the interstellar spaceship. During their exploration of the alien world, players encounter various beasts, battling and capturing them. In Illuvium's design, there are over 100 types of beasts, each with varying capture difficulties. The harder-to-capture beasts are rarer NFTs, holding higher value in trades and greater utility in the game. The following will introduce some of the beasts disclosed by Illuvium. The beasts captured by players can be used for collection, trading, battling, or earning rare in-game items.

The game’s soundtrack is composed by Tamás Borbély, who aims to evoke emotions and empathy through music that complements the adventurous experience, infused with a fantastical touch.

What Do Players Primarily Do in Illuvium

As Illuvium plans to release its beta version later this year, there is currently no intuitive understanding of the game's specific gameplay and quality. Below is a brief introduction to what players primarily do in the game based on the information disclosed by Illuvium, which may change over time.

The core of Illuvium lies in capturing beasts and battling them.

*Capturing Beasts

Capturing beasts is one of the important scenes in Illuvium. When encountering these Illuvials, players need to defeat them and then use "shards" to capture the beasts. To successfully capture, players must consider their capturing abilities, as the beasts also possess strength; thus, to increase the chances of capturing rare beasts, players need sufficiently strong "shards."

Items in Illuvium mainly include shards, weapons, armor, and infusion items. Among these, "shards" are primarily used to capture beasts in the alien world. There are two ways to obtain these "shards": one is through gameplay, and the other is by purchasing them with ETH from Illuvium's DEX. "Shards" themselves also have rarity, with rarer "shards" making it easier to capture rare beasts.

Additionally, players use weapons to battle beasts. Weapons also have levels and can be upgraded by adding different gems. Higher-level gems enhance the weapon's aura. Weapons can also be purchased on Illuvium's DEX.

Armor serves a protective role. During battles with beasts, players can use armor for protection. When the armor is damaged to a certain extent, players must wait for it to recover.

"Infusion items" can enhance the rarity of players' collectibles and can also be used to customize characters and weapons.

*Beast Battles

In addition to exploring the alien world and capturing beasts, players can also use their captured beasts for automatic battles. The results of these battles will be displayed on leaderboards. With battles, the beasts gain utility value. Unlike other RPGs, Illuvium is not turn-based; every battle is automatic, with players strategically selecting and combining their beasts to fight against other opponents.

According to current disclosures from Illuvium, once a battle starts, each beast will find an enemy target to attack. By dealing damage to the opponent, the beasts will gain energy. If they reach a certain threshold, they will unleash special abilities that can enhance themselves and damage the enemy. The battle ends when the opponent is completely defeated.

Beasts can merge to become more powerful. Players need three identical beasts (Illuvials), each at the highest level, which can only be achieved through battles.

Each battle increases the experience of the beasts (Illuvials), aiding in leveling up. As levels increase, the beasts' power also grows. Therefore, it is best to place beasts in battles to gain experience and level up. However, if defeated in battle, the beasts will return to their "shards" and require time to recover. Additionally, players can pay for a quick repair.

*Player Battles

In addition to capturing beasts, players can also participate in battles. Players wear armor and wield weapons. By infusing gems and crystals, players' armor and weapons will emit affinities and professional auras. These armors and gems can be mined and collected from the game environment or purchased from the secondary market. While traveling in different regions, players can enter various areas through obelisks. Each area features unique landscapes, rare resources, and different beasts.

From the above, we can see that beasts are the core characters of Illuvium, and understanding them is key to playing the game. So, what exactly are the beasts (Illuvials) in Illuvium?

Beasts of Illuvium

Initially, Blue Fox Notes translated the alien creatures Illuvials as beasts, but according to Illuvium's official description, these creatures from the alien world possess certain magical extraterrestrial traits. Therefore, Blue Fox Notes translates them as "beasts" or "magical beasts," though perhaps there are better names. In this article, we will uniformly refer to these alien creatures as "beasts" to provide more imaginative space.

Beasts (Illuvials) have two basic attributes: affinity and profession. Affinity includes: water, earth, fire, nature, and air. The damage a beast takes depends on its own and the enemy's affinity. There are unique balancing relationships between them; for example, "fire Illuvials" can deal extra damage to "nature Illuvials," but "water Illuvials" will inflict more damage on them. Therefore, strategy is crucial during battles, requiring players to adjust their combat strategies according to different opponents.

There are five basic professions in the game: warrior, guardian, rogue, psychic, and empath. This setup is similar to traditional RPGs. The five professions have different synergies; for instance, guardians can withstand greater attacks, while rogues are weak defensively but have sharp and swift attacks.

Based on affinity and profession, beasts exhibit different rarities. The rarer the beast, the stronger its combat power. Furthermore, the over 100 types of beasts are not modularly assembled; each is a fully designed creature with unique characteristics. Beasts can evolve from the first stage of a cub to the third stage of a deity. Below are images of some beasts disclosed by Illuvium:

*Rypper Beast

Rypper lives in inland waters and is highly aggressive. It can venture onto land for combat, featuring two rows of four spider legs, standing 3 feet tall and 8 feet long. When threatened, its size can double, and its tail has 2-foot barbs surrounded by spikes, causing additional wounds….

(Rhamphyre Beast, Illuvium)

*Dash Beast

Dash Beast resides in the "Crimson Wastes," characterized by blood-red hot sand dunes. In Illuvium's design, Dash Beast possesses supernatural agility, allowing it to move quickly in battle, making it hard to target. It has sapphire-like eyes, mysterious liquid antennae, and a light blue tail. Its ultimate skill is Phantom Strike, allowing Dash to dissolve into water vapor during combat, temporarily avoiding selection, and then launch a surprise attack on multiple enemies.

(Dash Beast, Illuvium)

*Atlas Beast

Atlas Beast has large, watery garnet eyes and always appears to be staring intently. When it battles, it inflates, raising its hind legs. It possesses a supernatural ability to manipulate water particles, forming a liquid barrier that dulls enemy attacks. While not the fastest, it can bite with strong teeth.

Additionally, its seed-like ends have sharp claws that can fiercely grasp enemies for self-defense. Its ultimate skill is Water Shield, which creates a glowing water shield around its face by shaking its head vigorously, restoring Atlas's vitality and repelling enemy attacks.

(Atlas Beast, Illuvium)

*Archeleon Beast

Archeleon Beast's shell resembles a spotted red mushroom cap with a slight bulge in the center. It emits a green glow overall, with purple seaweed-like tendrils growing from various crevices. It can sense danger and transmit healing or nourishing energy when activated. Its ultimate skill is Rejuvenation, emitting a flickering green halo, with plant life tendrils sprouting from the ground beneath it. It channels this natural energy upward through its webbed feet, transforming it into an external elemental energy field, primarily related to its shell, which contains a main energy storage and converter. Its halo radiates outward, healing allies and striking enemies.

(Acheleon Beast, Illuvium)

Illuvium's Scalability Solution

If Illuvium is based on Ethereum layer 1, the user experience would be poor. To enhance speed and reduce costs, Illuvium currently employs Immutable X's Layer 2 scalability solution.

Illuvium is also a DAO Game

In the short term, the Illuvium team plays a dominant role in the initial launch. As the game develops, it will transition to community governance through the ILV token, ultimately governing as a DAO. Users can propose through the ILV token, and all decisions regarding game content and upgrades will depend on the decisions of ILV holders. DAO governance has been widely practiced in DeFi, although it is still maturing, it continues to evolve.

The introduction of DAO governance in crypto games also draws from DeFi models. As DAO governance deepens, it may give rise to a completely different game format, ultimately led by players or the community in directing the game's iterative path. Of course, there is still a long way to go before achieving DAO governance in games, and various discomforts will be faced in the process. However, if successful, this could be an important trend in the future development of crypto games.

Illuvium is also a Play-to-Earn Game

Players in Illuvium can capture beasts of different types and rarities. When equipped with better weapons, armor, infusions, and shards, players have the opportunity to capture rarer beasts. Rarer beasts are easier to win in battles and hold higher value. These beasts are NFTs, and once players capture them, they can be used for battles or sold for profit (play-to-earn).

Players can invest time and effort in capturing beasts; of course, gaming guilds can help lower the entry barrier for players while enhancing their capturing abilities. The captured beasts can be sold on the secondary market for profit. Whether Illuvium can successfully achieve a cold start may hinge on gaming guilds.

Can Illuvium Succeed?

This question can only be answered by time.

The founders of Illuvium are Kieran Warwick and Aaron Warwick, and one of the main reasons they attract attention in the crypto space is that they are brothers of Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix. The success of Synthetix could draw attention to Illuvium at its launch.

However, in the long run, the success of Illuvium primarily depends on two aspects: first, the playability of the game itself—whether the game quality can attract genuine players and whether its concepts can be translated into high-quality implementations, which needs to be validated in the future. Second, the design of its economic mechanism. Whether the utility of its tokens can support the sustainable development of Play-to-Earn is one of the key factors for the sustainability of crypto games.