I might be a little late to the party but Guild of Guardians has maintained its place as one of the earlier GameFi projects that still stands up today. With projects like Splinterlands and Gods Unchained being released alongside it, Guild of Guardians still manages to hold a strong player base.

Background

Taking inspiration from Diablo and Dungeons and Dragons, Guild of Guardians aims to create the same environment and gameplay that past RPGs bring. Adding the earning power from blockchain gaming to create new experiences for players who might’ve gotten tired of this decades-old concept.

The creators are advocates for true ownership of in-game items. They mentioned that players spend millions on in-game items thus, they made Guild of Guardians so players can have full authority over the items they took the time to farm for. Unlike most blockchain games with a high barrier of entry, Guild of Guardians is free-to-play and available on mobile so more people can have access and try the game out. It’s backed by some familiar names in gaming and blockchain spaces like NRG, Yield Guild, Ubisoft, and Immutable.

Graphics and Gameplay

Although the promotional materials feature a host of cool-looking characters fully animated, the gameplay instead features graphics similar to Axes.io where your boxy-looking characters hack and slash their way through hordes of enemies that are trying to kill you. The animations are well done and smooth looking. There is even a slow-mo effect when you’re casting big spells like your ultimate skills which can be helpful when you need to properly aim your ability to focus priority targets or a huge mob of enemies.

Controls for the game are smooth and nicely laid out without many distractions although gaming on smaller mobile phones may be more challenging as you have less space to press buttons. The gameplay is engaging enough that you may find yourself lost in it for hours although it does get a little repetitive when you have to do the same quests over and over as well as complete them on the same map. 

Guilds also play a vital role in the game as most of the play-to-earn mechanics require players to be in a guild to access crafting and join Guild Raids and Guild PVP which will yield the most resources in the game. Players have to carefully build a team of heroes called Guardians, keeping their classes, factions, and elemental synergies in mind to create effective teams to complete challenges and earn rewards.

There are also plans for Land Gameplay and Global esports tournaments that players interested in Guild of Guardians should watch out for.

Earning Mechanics

Players can create their own in-game items through the Guild crafting mechanics of the game. Each crafted item will be an NFT that can be traded and sold in the game’s marketplace. There's also the Guild of Guardians Gems (GOG) which is the main currency used for most transactions inside it. Players can choose to stake their $GOG for yield farming although they should actively participate in the game to claim their rewards. $GOG holders also get to participate in voting for important game decisions.

Final Thoughts

I personally find it exciting that there are more Play-to-earn games being released on mobile as I think more people are on their phones these days rather than their computers. It’s also nice that there are more and more play-to-earn games in the RPG genre that can be played on mobile which was previously dominated by card games like God’s Unchained, Splinterlands, and Axie Infinity to name a few. Although the gameplay for Guild of Guardians is not groundbreaking by any means, its free-to-play nature enables people even outside the GameFi world a place where they can dip their toes and test the waters to see if it's for them.

Overall, I think there is a lot of potential to be found in a game as highly accessible as Guild of Guardians and if you are looking for your first game to try crypto gaming, then I recommend giving Guild of Guardians the first stop.