Strategy games have been presented in different packages throughout the years, from tabletop board games to online puzzle and strategy games. With the popularity of cryptocurrencies, a lot of games are now being developed with the goal of having players earn from their gaming hobbies. One such project is Eternal Dragons. An exciting auto-battle game that features magic, knights, and (you guessed it) awesome-looking dragons! Let’s check out if it’s actually fun to play or just another money-sink disguised as a game.

Background

Eternal Dragons is an auto-battle game built on the Solana Blockchain created by Trailblazer Games. A team consisting of people with background experience in companies like KING, E.A., and Microsoft. They’ve also worked on some popular titles like The Sims and Candy Crush. Eternal Dragons is planned to be Free-to-play and encompass three game types: a city builder, an auto-chess battler, and a real-time builder strategy game to provide a lot of value for their Eternal Dragon Non-Fungible Token (NFT) that can be used across these different game types. The game will run on a span of 4 chapters including a prologue that aims to introduce the game and its 10,000 initial Genesis Dragons.

Graphics and Gameplay

Eternal Dragons feature graphics that look well-designed and not rushed. This is only based on the gameplay footage they showcased on their YouTube channel as I was not able to participate in the pre-alpha testing which was released on November 4th. The design looks similar to Dragon City.

Gameplay, on the other hand, reminds me of TeamFight Tactics as the Dragons and characters you play in the chess-like board have eight different classes, position-based abilities, and various elemental affinities although the characters are placed horizontally rather than Riot’s auto chess battler’s vertical.

Characters have default skills and primary stats which they would excel better at. Knowing this is important as you can equip the characters with items to make them stronger. There are also skill sets and class skills that players need to keep in mind and take advantage of so they can utilize these additional boosts to the team they would like to place on the battlefield.

Earning Mechanics

Eternal Dragons uses a two-token system in the form of Eternium (not to be mistaken with Ethereum) and Eternal Dragons Token ($EDQ). Eternium is the utility token that is used for most of the transactions you’ll do in the game like breeding, leveling up dragons, and other uses that will be unlocked when more game modes are released. This can be earned by completing quests in PVE, unlocking achievements, and as a reward from PVP gameplay. On the other hand, $EDQ is the governance token used for DAO votes, the entry fees for some competitions, and potentially the ability to create other NFT items.

Earning is limited by Dragon Feed, which is equivalent to an energy system in other games. This is in place to regulate the minting of the tokens and dragon eggs as players have a chance to acquire them through item drops. At this time of writing, there’s a floor price of 5 SOL for one of the Genesis dragons being sold in the Magic Eden marketplace.

Final Thoughts

I believe Eternal Dragons first and foremost is a fun game, as I personally love strategy games and auto chess battlers. It’s a cool representation of how games of those types are going to look when strapped with earning mechanics. Providing higher stakes as you have money on the line and more fun as you have more reasons to develop new strategies and synergies with your characters to up your chances of winning. Although I have yet to play the game to see what it will feel like personally and there is a concern about it being a bit behind on its roadmap, I believe it packs a lot of potential and as it is free-to-play many players can give it a shot before they pull their wallet out. I suggest keeping an eye out for this cool cross of chess and dragons.