Splinterlands: Crypto Trading Card Game for Ample Rewards

Online trading card games have been the rage ever since they were introduced through the digital version of popular trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, in 1997. And now, with blockchain technology, players can own and use playing cards as NFTs, earning crypto as in-game rewards. Arguably the most famous crypto trading card game, Splinterlands offers a unique online collectible card-playing experience.

Since its inception in 2018, Splinterlands has made its mark in the crypto gaming world, securing the second position in popularity right after Alien Worlds.

With so many crypto trading card games available, just what did the Splinterlands game do to garner such popularity? Let’s find out.

What Is Splinterlands?

Splinterlands is a play-to-earn trading card game on the Hive chain. Traditional trading card games have inherent flaws once they turn digital. For example, your trading cards may be deleted due to inactivity, the deactivation of your account and more.

This is not the case with Splinterlands, which allows players to own their cards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The game’s trading cards are limited in number, which adds to their value, with approximately 500 of these playing cards in existence today.

The game is free to try, and you only need to spend $10 to unlock its earning benefits. It also runs on several other blockchains, such as Ethereum, Tron and WAX. Splinterlands even makes it easy to earn for players who aren’t familiar with crypto. Once you sign in to its website, a Hive cryptocurrency wallet will automatically be created for you.

Splinterlands is named after one of the features in the game, “Splinters/Elements.” The cards employ powers from different splinters/elements when they’re engaged in battle — Neutral, Dragon, Death, Life, Water, Fire and Earth.

By winning matches, and completing quests and other activities, players can earn two types of in-game currencies: Splintershards (SPS) and Dark Energy Crystals (DEC).

Splinterlands Gameplay

Now that you understand what Splinterlands is about, let’s get started with playing the game!

Summoner’s Spellbook

To earn rewards and gain full access to the game, you’ll need to purchase the Summoner's Spellbook when you register, which is available for $10. You can play the game for free, but you’ll only have limited access, and won’t be able to earn anything.

With the purchase of the Summoner’s Spellbook, you’ll get a Hive wallet set up and 3,000 credits, which you can use immediately at the in-game shop, or to buy or rent trading cards from the marketplace.

After you have enough playing cards, you can engage in battle. While you may want to dive right into playing cards, you’ll first need to learn some basic skills and strategies if you want to win a game. You can learn by watching battles, playing practice matches or even challenging other players.

Card Battles

Once you’re ready, you can engage in battles. There are two types of battles: Modern and Wild. The Modern format only allows you to choose the latest edition cards, while you can pick all cards in the Wild format.

Each card lists attributes that indicate the power of the card. There are two types of cards — Summoner and Monster/Unit. The cards are categorized in the following manner:

Stats: Mana Cost, Splinter/Elements, Abilities, Armor, Attack, Speed and Health.

Rarity: Common, Rare, Epic and Legendary

To win your battles, you’ll need to be strategic with the cards you choose. You can only pick one summoner and six monsters/units.

Focusing on either type of battle will determine your league path — Modern league or Wild league — though you can also advance on both if you wish. Your collection power and ranking points will also decide your league advancement. You can increase your collection power by earning, winning, buying or renting cards. Besides individual cards, you can purchase special card packs called Booster Packs to further boost your collection power, especially since each Booster Pack contains a high-level card.

Unlike other similar online card games, Splinterlands is fast-paced. Each battle only takes a few minutes to complete. By winning games you can earn rewards, such as more cards, or Splintershards tokens. As you continue playing games and completing other tasks, you can level up to open more treasure chests and earn more rewards.

The cards aren’t only used for battles. You can also combine them to upgrade your card levels, collect them, trade them in the marketplace, or earn passive income from them by renting them out to other players.

How to Earn Rewards in Splinterlands

Whether you play Splinterlands to earn money, have fun or collect cards, everyone loves earning rewards. There are several ways for you to earn Splinterlands rewards.

1.Ranked Battle Rewards

The most common way to earn rewards in Splinterlands is through ranked battles. To start earning rewards, you must first reach the Bronze league in either the Modern or Wild battle format. You can earn three types of rewards in ranked battles: SPS Rewards, RShares and Loot Chests.

1. SPS Rewards

When you win a ranked battle, you’ll earn SPS tokens. The amounts will vary, depending on factors such as your rating, capture rate, win streak and more.

2. RShares

Besides SPS rewards, you can also earn RShares (Reward Shares). These rewards will impact the SPS rewards, as well as the season and daily focus rewards.

3. Loot Chests: Daily Focus and Season Rewards

The RShares earned for every battle will contribute to the quality of the daily focus reward, which is awarded every 24 hours in the form of Loot Chests. You can earn a maximum of 30 daily focus rewards each day.

Meanwhile, season rewards are offered at the end of a Splinterlands season, which may last between 12 to 16 days. Just like daily rewards, RShares also affect the number of season rewards a player can receive. You can earn a maximum of 150 Loot Chests each season.

Each chest has at least one item contained within: A Reward Card (exclusive card earned from reward chests), Merits (guild currency used to buy items in the Guild Store), a Chaos Legion pack, Potions or SPS tokens. The drop rate of these items varies according to the type of chest.

Leaderboard Rewards

In Splinterlands, you have the ability to earn a spot on the Modern leaderboard and the Wild leaderboard. You can be on both leaderboards at the same time, and earn DEC rewards from both leaderboards at the end of each season. Challenging those who are on the leaderboard and winning can give you a spot on the boards.

Tournament Prizes

You can also use your Splinterlands cards in tournaments to win prizes. As tournaments are player-created, the entry requirements to participate vary. The prizes that you win also differ. You may win more Splinterlands cards, Splinterlands tokens, or even other cryptocurrencies. And if you happen to get the same high score as another tournament player, the rewards will be divided equally between you.

Is Splinterlands Profitable?

Playing Splinterlands can be a profitable way to spend your free time because it enables you to earn both DEC and SPS. On the Splintershards stats page, you’ll see your capture rate, or CR. The CR plays a function in determining the RShares and SPS earned per battle. With a higher CR, you can earn greater rewards. Besides ensuring a high CR, there are five other ways to maximize your profits in Splinterlands.

1. Renting Out Cards

Unlike in other collectible card games, you can rent out Splinterlands cards for a passive income. You can easily list cards for rental through the platform. Rental fees are based on a daily DEC price which you set, and the funds are automatically transferred into your account daily.

2. Participating in Guilds

When you participate in guilds and enter ranked battles, you can earn bonus DEC rewards from your battle wins.

3. Staking SPS

You can also stake SPS in your game account or in a BSC wallet to earn more SPS. Since staking requires you to lock up your SPS, you cannot use your staked SPS. However, the tokens can be unstaked as desired after four weeks. All SPS tokens earned from winning ranked battles and loot chests are staked automatically once you claim them.

4. Providing Liquidity

Another way to earn money in Splinterlands is by staking SPS or DEC tokens in its Liquidity Pools. When you provide liquidity to the respective liquidity pools, you earn pool rewards.

5. Burning Cards for DEC

You may also burn your playing cards for DEC. The DEC burn value is the same as the Collection Power value, and can be viewed on the Collection page under the Power column. You may also research the burn value of cards that are owned by other players. There is a community-made chart available that shows the burn value for all of the Splinterlands cards.

Splinterlands Tokens: SPS and DEC

Among all the rewards you can receive from playing this collectible card game, the two Splinterlands tokens, SPS and DEC, are the most valuable outside the game. Let’s take a closer look at them and their function within Splinterlands.

What Are Splintershards (SPS)?

Splintershards (SPS) are deeply rooted in the game’s lore. It’s said these rocks, which give the Wizards’ Council its immense power, came about through the great Splintering and were deposited throughout Splinterlands. As more Splintershards come together, they may produce enough power to change the landscape within the game.

On a more realistic level, SPS is a cryptocurrency token on BNB Chain (previously Binance Smart Chain) that grants decision-making power to stakeholders, game players and others. SPS may also be used for oracle rewards, Guild Brawls and land expansion in the near future.

SPS has a maximum supply of 3 trillion tokens and a current circulating supply of approximately 489.72 million (as of Sept. 23, 2022). New SPS tokens are regularly added to the various rewards pools at 37,500,000 tokens per month, which decreases at a rate of 1% each month. The rewards will stop after 65 months, after which no more new SPS tokens will be created.

What Are Dark Energy Crystals (DEC)?

Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) are used in the game to buy or rent cards for battles. DEC tokens are earned by staking them in liquidity pools, or by winning matches. You can also trade DEC or purchase them with fiat currencies outside of the game.

Splinterlands Crypto (SPS) Price Prediction

The current market price for SPS is roughly $0.069 (as of September 23, 2022). Splintershards was first listed in major crypto aggregation portals at just around 20 cents in July 2021. The token’s price suffered from wild volatility throughout 2021 before bottoming to a relatively stable low, averaging $0.05 from June 2022.

The first jump in the Splintershards price was in July 2021, reaching over $1 shortly after its listing. The high price was unable to hold, however, and rapidly plummeted to 20 cents again within a few days.

Splintershards then saw a second uptick in its price starting from September, to around $0.88 in October 2021 before sinking to a low of $0.10 in January 2022. Over the following months, the price reduced further to around $0.05 and has not hit $0.10 since.

Despite its current low trading price, Splinterlands’ active gaming community and constant developments in the game have led experts to anticipate a rise in its future price. Both Price Prediction and DigitalCoinPrice expect it to cross $0.26 by 2025. DigitalCoinPrice predicts slower growth, to $0.33, by 2027, while Price Prediction forecasts Splintershards’ price to rise to an average of $0.55 within the same period.

That said, while experts may be bullish on this game’s prospects, always do your own research before investing in any crypto projects, which are prone to volatility in price movement.

Looking Forward

With Splinterlands’ low cost of entry, combined with the ability to earn many rewards in and outside the game, it’s little wonder that it reigns top among all crypto trading card games. The game will only bring in more players as its developers continue to enhance its features and functions, such as the planned land expansion. From the game’s constant evolution, it’s clear we can expect to find more ways to profit from playing Splinterlands.