The Alpha: Illuvium Overworld

While we intended to wait until the release of Illuvium Zero before writing our first review of this exciting new ecosystem - after playing the beta for Illuvium Overworld it was impossible for us to remain silent any longer.

We just couldn’t wait to provide a write up about our experiences and drop the latest Illuvium alpha on our community so here we are.

Of course, we have to discuss Illuvium Arena at some point as it is actually part of the gameplay, but we will mainly be focused on Overworld and how this little gaming ecosystem will operate.

Periodicvum Tablevium, go!
So to begin with a short overview, Illuvium describes itself as “the world's first IBG (Interoperable Blockchain Game)” and an “open-world exploration, NFT creature collector and autobattler game built on the Ethereum blockchain.” essentially it is a blockchain game, with a metaverse twist.

The Illuvium ecosystem will initially be made up of three games:

• Arena: an Autochess with Illuvials (cute and badass little monsters) where players battle it out to …
• Overworld: Exploration and mining game, to exploit the Illuvium territories. Here, you will mine precious resources to capture Illuvials and enhance their stats in the Arena.
• Zero: a mainly mobile game, focused on lands management & exploitation. Here you will find the necessary resources to explore the Overworld.

You will be able to play the 3 games completely independently and for free. The difference is that if you want to level up in the Arena with really cool Illuvials, you will either need to buy Illuvials on the marketplace, or to hunt for them in Overworld. If you want to capture more than Tier 0 creatures, you will need some fuel. How do you get the fuel? Either you buy on the marketplace, or you extract it from your land. So the key to owning, earning and extracting ETH from the game is of course, the lands.

The ecosystem seems pretty well designed so far. Players can have fun for free (the game is actually really enjoyable with T0 lands and creatures), or they can “invest” and grind harder. We can’t provide any financial advice on that part however, as nobody really knows how the rewards will be distributed when the lands become exploitable. Even less so when the full 20,000 lands become available on the market. But aside from the earning potential, is Illuvium actually any good?

Fruit Loop
Yes, yes it is, for a public beta. Only a small portion of the map is currently available (one territory) and we could easily spend hours and hours exploring, mining, capturing Illuvials… It is a really good match between Minecraft and Pokémon, with absolutely beautiful graphics.

The gameplay loop is pretty simple and extremely enjoyable: explore, mine, capture, go back home, upgrade, do it again. Too simple? Think again Ape. Most of the best games out there have a very simple game loop, and that’s how you get addicted.

- Minecraft? Mine, explore, build.
- Pokémon? Explore, capture, fight.

This is their little something special. This, “One last shard and I can upgrade my boots”, kind of feeling you experience in Satisfactory, but slitghly in a different way. You are not wondering “why?” anymore, just “wen?”.

When can I upgrade my Jetpack?
When can I capture T3 Illuvials?

In only a few hours, you are completely stuck in this loop, and completely happy to be there. Only focused on upgrading everything. It’s a safe bet to imagine that Zero will be the same, with buildings and production management on the fly…

There are many reasons we are excited about the beta. Aside from enjoying the game itself, it is mostly because it is incredibly promising for the future of blockchain gaming. This will set a new standard in the industry. Of course we could criticize that the game looks too “unreal engine” at the moment and for now there is a lack of animation for the character, etc… but compared to most of the industry, Illuvium is raising the bar for a new chapter of blockchain gaming, and we are more than bullish about this new horizon.