Splinterlands is the only game I’ve ever played in which you actually have zero interaction with your opponent. There are no turns, there are no quick scoping or dexterity skills. You can’t pick up on their strategy and try to outplay them, hoard your resources for one last burst -nothing. It has about as much strategic depth as the card game War. Except at least with War no one gives you long lectures about the labor theory of value.
The reason it’s important for Splinterlands to have no interaction is because of its most popular UI element- a button that lets you completely skip the game and just see who won. If your play affected the game, then you might have to actually play it! This idea is so absurd that to introduce it in any other game would instantly make people ask the obvious question- why are you even playing the game if you just want to skip it? Regular humans would admit they don’t want to play it, but crypto play-to-earners would say you get “money” if you win a game … as long as you’re past a certain rank. And how do you get past that rank? You buy cards that have a certain “power” level.
Anyone with a little perspective can see how obvious this grift is. You pay money to have cards that allow you to win a little bit more, which allows you to earn some of that money back … until you come across people who have bought even better cards. Then maybe you put a little more in. Then a little more. It’s everyone’s favorite: pay to win. Exactly why I turn to video games, to remind me that wealth is power.
And that’s the future of gaming, some CEOs tell me. I don’t know. Sure, the idea of being paid money to play video games sounds appealing- that’s why so many people want to be popular streamers. But it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that when you play, you’re doing something for the joy of doing it, and when you work, you’re doing something for the results. There’s no way to make a pay-to-earn game- all you can make is abysmally low-paid blockchain jobs.
Top Image: Splinterlands
Related: Amid Non-Fungible Token Boom, Publicly Traded Human Sells Quarter As ‘Fungible Token’
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