Splinterlands Review 2023: Ultimate Guide of This P2E Game!

About Splinterlands
Splinterlands features play-to-earn NFT and mobile games that allow players to earn money. Players familiar with Hearthstone or any other card game can use Splinterlands to win matches with the perfect Splinterlands tips and tricks. It is a crypto card game platform developed on play-to-earn Blockchain technology where players can indulge in card gaming.
Splinterlands Summary
Official Website | https://splinterlands.com/ |
Stage | Live |
Genre | Collectible card game |
Device | Web, iOS, Android |
Blockchain | Hive, WAX, Ethereum, Steem, Binance Smart Chain, Tron |
Reward | Ranked Battle Rewards, Daily Focus Rewards, Season Rewards, Loot Chests, and Leaderboard Rewards |
Free/Paid | Free to play, but, to earn rewards, participate in tournaments or join guilds, you need to purchase a Summoner’s Spellbook that costs $10. |
Token | SPS and DEC Tokens |
Buying and selling cards on Splinterlands can be profitable if the players have an experience in trading cards. The game is free to play, but if a player wants to earn real money, they need to purchase the Summoner’s Spellbook with $10 and rent cards to claim rewards. Players can also spend time in Practice Mode to hone their skills and develop strategies to win the game. DEC and SPS token holders can also enjoy additional benefits by holding coins in the Splinterlands account.
This Splinterlands review highlights the platform’s free-to-play NFT games, battles in Ranked Mode, Splinterlands tutorial, types of NFT cards, leagues, seasons, tournaments, and many more.
Summoner’s Spellbook
Every player at Splinterlands needs to purchase an item known as Summoner’s Spellbook from the Splinterlands marketplace to start playing and earning DEC rewards. The item costs $10 and unlocks the earning potential along with additional features such as the ability to earn DEC by winning battles, a daily quest, tournament events, card packs, and a hive Blockchain account. However, know about Summoner’s Spellbook in detail here.
Splinterlands Gameplay
Modern & Wild Ranked Battles
- Battle Format
Splinterlands gameplay is split into two distinct formats that allow players to practice battle rounds based on their Splinterlands cards. New players with fresh Splinterlands NFTs benefit by playing in the Modern battle format, making the gameplay fairer as it gives them a suitable playing field. Players with diverse card collections or veteran players with Alpha and Beta cards can enjoy the Wild format of gameplay where all Summoner cards are playable. - Playable Cards
As discussed in this Splinterlands beginner guide, two formats – Wild and Modern – decide the kind of cards the players have. As a general thumb rule, all Modern cards can be used for new game editions such as Dice, Chaos Legion, Untamed, Reward Chests & Promo Cards with Chaos Legion, or Untamed style frames. On the other hand, the Wild cards can be used for all game editions.
- Rewards
Players can earn Season Rewards and Daily Focus Rewards by playing Wild and Modern battles and get the opportunity to earn Loot Reward Chests from the given formats. - Display
The player’s avatars are shown on game screens and are specifically colored based on the current highest league of the player between the Wild and Modern formats. For instance, a player in the Modern Bronze II level and Wild Silver III level will have a frame with a Silver avatar.
Types of Splinterlands Cards
- Summoner Cards
As per our Splinterlands review, every player gets to choose one Summoner for every battle, which summons a team of a maximum of 6 Units depending on the player’s choice. Each Summoner comes with abilities, buffs, or debuffs that affect the Units or their opponent’s cards during a battle round. - Monster Cards
During the battle, after the Summoner is selected, players can make decks with friendly monsters with the Monster cards belonging to the same splinter as the Summoners. Summoners and Monsters are pretty much the same cards with one distinction– Monsters belong to the neutral splinter whereas Summoners belong to the dragon splinter. - Gold Foil Card
Summoners and Monsters can be either regular or a variation of a Gold card, and gold Foil cards are much rarer than the standard or regular foils. The Gold Foil cards offer additional Collection Power than regular cards, along with a bonus of 10% during a winning battle.
Building a Collection
Every player must build their card collection to create individual teams under specific battle conditions and rule sets. Splinterlands is one of the decentralized collectible card top crypto games, built on the Blockchain network where players can build their card collection by following the steps mentioned here:-
- Building a starter set
- Buying booster packs
- Using vouchers to purchase packs
- Buying individual cards
- Renting cards
Drafting a Team
According to this Splinterlands card guide, every player must draft a team that is the standard Splinterlands game mechanics of battling. There is limited time to create a Splinterlands team from card packs, after which the team can get ready to battle against the opponents.
Leagues
The leagues offered by Splinterlands range from Novice to Champion. Each league ensures that players can find opponents of the same card collection and skill. The Splinterlands leagues include:–
- Novice
The novice league is attained by every new player, including those with inactive accounts. Novice league battles are generally fought against players of the same level. - Bronze
The Bronze league implements certain Power limitations and rule sets where players get an opportunity to win Bronze Chests that offer a probability of 0.2% of having the Legendary cards and a probability of 0.5% of having a Gold Foil card. - Silver
According to this Splinterlands Silver League guide, the competition begins at this level, and the requirements for Collection Power also increase. This league offers a double boost for all DCE tokens in the Reward Chest.
- Gold
According to this Splinterlands Gold League guide, this level can be quite challenging even for those with the maximum level of decks, as they cannot use the cards to their fullest potential. Apart from standing a chance to win Gold Chests, players can enjoy DEC boosts of 8x for all DEC tokens in the rewards chest. - Diamond
The Diamond league separates the pros from the skilled Splintlanders. All card types can be played in this league, and the lower-level cards get tough competition. The Diamond League offers a DEC boost of 16 times for all DEC tokens in the rewards chest. - Champion
Lastly, the Champions League has three levels that decide the best of the best players. Between each Champion level, there is a gap of 500 points instead of the standard 300-point gap. In this case, the DEC boosts 48 times for all DEC tokens in the rewards chest.
Seasons
Splinterlands has various seasons where players can earn additional season points, allowing them to rise in Ranked Battles and decide Season Rewards as per research while making this Splinterlands review. Each season has a different length ranging from 12 to more than 16 days, and the current league of the players decides placements at the end of each season.
Collection Power
According to this Splinterlands Collection Power guide, the main objective of Collection Power is to restrict top leagues of ranked gameplay in either Wild or Modern format, depending on the card collection of the players. Each card comes with Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) burn value determined by multiple variables such as Rarity, BCX, Foil, and Set.
Tournaments
- Modern & Wild Tournaments
Wild tournaments enable players to use all types of cards, whereas Modern tournaments allow only Modern cards. - Anytime Tournaments
Anytime tournaments are one of the most popular tournaments at Splinterlands that allow players to choose and submit their respective teams and the required number of battles. This is available only for registered players, and battles that are not submitted automatically get counted as losses.
- Single Elimination
In Single Elimination tournaments, players must be registered and check-in before the event starts. The players must also have 6 monsters and 1 summoner to qualify for the tournament. - Sit-and-Go Tournaments
The Sit and Go tournaments begin immediately after the target number of players is reached, and these tournaments are usually for smaller groups of players.
Cards
Card Rarities
- Legendary
According to this Splinterlands Strategy guide, Legendary cards are the rarest cards with the lowest supply, rimmed with gold. The standard chance of revealing a rare card like the Legendary cards in a Booster Pack is 0.8%, but this probability can be doubled to 1.6% using the Legendary portion. - Epic
Epic cards come next regarding the rarity of cards rimmed with purple. The probability of revealing a rare Epic card in a Booster Pack is 4.8%, the same as when the rare cards are found in the Loot Chest. - Rare
The Rare cards, rimmed with blue, come with a probability of 24.8% while opening a Booster Pack. - Common
Lastly, with a 69.6% probability, Common cards are revealed in a Booster Pack or with Legendary Potions.
Combining Cards
- BCX
BCX or Base Card Experience is each regular card found in a Booster Pack or a Loot Chest, which equals 1 BCX. Players can combine two versions of the same cards to create a single card with a higher BCX value. - Leveling Up
On the stats and abilities page, players can see the number of BCX cards required to reach different levels and also determine the stats and abilities corresponding to those levels. The number of BCX cards needed to level up depends on the Card Set Edition. For instance, a few Alpha Cards are required to level up since only a few Alpha Cards are available in the total supply.
Card Stats
- Health
Monster cards have Health points determined by the Heart. With Health points, the Monsters can enter the battleground. The Health points depend on the card level, which is affected by the Weakness and Strengthening abilities. - Speed
Monster cards also have a Speed statistic based on the level of the card, and it is affected by the Swiftness and Slow abilities. - Attack
Attacks are available in three forms – Melee Attack, Range Attack, and Magic Attack. The power of the Attack of any card is based on the level of the card, and it is affected by the Demoralize and Inspire abilities. - Melee Attacks
The melee attack is designated by the circular blade icon and is only for the first position at close range. - Range Attacks
The Range attackers are designated by the target or arrow icon and can attack from different positions. - Magic Attacks
Magic attacks are designated by the lightning icon with a purple cloud. Magic attacks bypass Armor and deal damage that can affect the Health. - Armor
The armor of a card protects the Monsters from Melee and Range attacks, designated by a Shield image. The Armor varies based on the card levels. Many cards do not have any armor unless it is gained through another card’s ability, for instance, through an ability like Protect.
- Abilities
According to this Splinterlands Abilities guide, there are several Abilities specific to certain cards, representing unique characteristics that can affect the entire team. Abilities can also reduce statistics of the enemy monster’s Health, also known as debuffs. - Splinter
Splinter refers to one of the 6 continents formed during the division of the land by the Splintering years ago. Each splinter focuses on one of the following elements – the Earth splinter, the Fire splinter, the Water splinter, the Life splinter, the Death splinter, and the Dragon splinter. - Mana Cost
Before the Splinterlands battle starts, the players get a Mana cap, the maximum number of points that can be used to create teams. Every monsters and summoners card has a Mana cost. Teams are successfully submitted for a battle only when the total Mana cost of all the cards is at least the Mana cap for that battle.
Booster Packs
- Purchasing Booster Packs
Players can purchase booster packs in two ways – using Splinterlands Credits or Dark Energy Crystals. Credits can be bought with cryptocurrencies or via PayPal, while Dark Energy Crystal can be earned by winning battles or acquired from any crypto exchange that supports DEC Splinterlands tokens.
- Opening Booster Packs
Players can have a seamless experience by playing Splinterlands and open booster packs representing the cards’ collection. After opening the booster pack, the cards immediately appear on the left-hand side of the collection. - Tokenizing Booster Packs
Players can transfer tokenized packs from external wallets such as WAX, Steem-Engine, and Hive-Engine. Select any of the wallets, specify the number of booster packs and select Tokenize or Deposit to move out or into the game. - Booster Pack Potions
2 different Potion types may affect a card’s drop rates available in the Booster Package – Alchemy(used to double the chance of a card being Gold Foil) and Legendary(Used to double the chance of a card being Legendary).
Sets/Editions
- Alpha
Alpha as a booster pack has become extremely rare, but they are still available in secondary markets such as Atomic Hub and Hive Blockchain engine. In total, there are 300,000 Alpha booster packs available. - Beta
Beta packs are quite rare and available on secondary markets, and players can earn a 5% DEC bonus for every Beta card used in battles. In total, there are 900,000 Beta booster packs available. - Untamed
The untamed cards boast several new abilities previously unavailable on Alpha or Beta card sets. However, feral packs currently sold out can be purchased from the card market or other third-party markets. In total, there are 1.5 million feral booster packs available. - Essence Orb & Promo Cards
Essence Orb and Promo Cards are playable in Wild Ranked Battles, but only the Promo Codes with Chaos Legion or Untamed style frames are playable in Modern Ranked Battles.
- ΛZMΛRÉ Dice
The ΛZMΛRÉ cards consist of 20 cards with additional 5 cards released using the AirDrop method like Untamed. Players with more ΛZMΛRÉ Dice packs will have a higher chance of getting AirDrop cards. - Chaos Legion
The third major expansion of cards is the Chaos Legion card set, with more than 100 new cards bursting with strategy-changing abilities and mind-boggling artwork. In total, there are 15000000 Chaos Legend booster packs available. - Reward Edition Cards
Reward cards, available only in the Loot Chests, can be earned from the Ranked gameplay. There are 33 Reward cards – 4 Dragon cards, 5 from each Splinter element, and 4 neutral cards.
Rewards
- Ranked Battle Rewards
For every ranked battle won, players earn rewards, including Dark Energy Crystals and Ranking Points. This system of Ranked Rewards allows players across every league to earn more rewards for participating regularly and sustainably, whether they play with their own or rented cards. - Reward Shares (R-Shares)
Reward shares or R-Shares can be earned from Wild/Modern ranked battle wins. The R-Shares determine the season and daily rewards, in addition to DEC rewards. - Daily Focus Rewards
Players can complete daily focus rewards every 24 hours based on specific Splinter elements or cards with specific abilities. - Seasonal Rewards
The Reward Shares earned from Modern/Wild ranked battles during a specific season contribute to the Season Reward Points (SP) of a player for that particular season. Players with more SP will get to enjoy more Loot Chests once the particular season ends. - Loot Chests
In a particular season, players can earn up to 150 Loot Chests and get the opportunity to open a massive number of Loot Chests every season by earning them. - Leaderboard Rewards
There are two separate leaderboards where top players compete. Each leaderboard is rewarded with a sum of 3,622,000 dark energy crystals for the reward pools every season.
Guilds
Buildings
- Guild Hall
According to the Splinterlands Guild guide, the Guild Hall decides the key limitations of a player’s Guild. The Guild Halls level also determines the maximum level of other buildings in a player’s Guild. Players with higher Guild levels will need DEC contributions that will allow their Guild to have more members. - Quest Lodge
Players can enjoy two benefits based on the level of their Guild Quest Lodge – DEC bonus and shop discount. DEC bonus is offered to every Guild member for earning DEC tokens. Shop discount is offered to Guild members on certain items like Skins and Potions that can be purchased with the DEC tokens. - Arena
Guild Arenas are built to host massive battles called Brawls. The size of the Brawls depends on the Arena levels. The Arena level of the Guild determines the Brawl level that players can play and the number of players and rewards that can be earned. - Barracks
Coming to the Barracks, players with a higher Barrack level can use more tactics at once in Brawl battles. Barracks offer Tactic Buffs to Guild members that increase the opportunity to emerge victorious in Brawls. - Guild Store
Players with higher Guild Store levels can enjoy greater bonuses for the merits achieved from participating in Brawl battles.
Crowns
Every participant in Brawls gets awarded with the Crowns. More crowns are awarded to those who participate in higher Arena levels and Player participation.
Merits
Players can earn two kinds of Brawl rewards – the Guild members themselves can win Crowns while the individuals within that Guild can win Merits. Merits are non-transferable and can be used to purchase items from the Guild Store.
Brawls
Brawls include tournaments of a large scale where Guild members fight against each other to earn Crowns and raise to level up their Arenas.
Gladiator Cards
Gladiator cards are powerful and more special than standard cards. They are intended to function as the team captains and lead the Monsters into the battleground.
Dark Energy Crystals (DEC)
- Earning DEC
Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) are a type of play-to-earn game reward that can be obtained from Wild and Modern Ranked Battles on Splinterlands. Battle Mages with upgraded accounts are eligible to earn DEC tokens for each Ranked Battle won in Bronze III up to Champion I Leagues. - Energy Capture Rate (ECR)
ECR or Energy Capture Rate is a player statistic that fluctuates and limits the quantity of DEC tokens earned for a particular Ranked Battle. When the ECR of a player is complete, it is at full potential (100%) and gradually diminishes every time the players play Splinterlands Ranked Battle.
- DEC Supply
The primary reason for distributing DEC tokens is to allow new players to enjoy play-to-earn rewards. DEC tokens can be earned every time the players win ranked battles. The supply of DEC is based on several factors like – cards used, league of play, guild bonuses, win streak, number of players playing, and DEC capture rate. - Burning Cards for DEC
The burning value of DEC depends on many factors like rarity, set, number of BCX tokens, foil, and card level. The DEC burn value equals its value of Collection Power. If players do not own a particular card, they can use the community-made chart presented below to decide the burning values of DEC. - DEC Markets
DEC tokens can be traded for other digital assets from the following external markets – Hive Engine, Steem Engine, UniSwap, TribalDEX, CubDefi, and TronTrade. - Providing Liquidity (DEC)
Players at Splinterlands are rewarded for supporting the health of the platform’s tokenomics. Players who stake digital funds within the reserves of Splinterlands qualify to claim the ongoing distributions of DEC and SPS Splinterlands tokens.
Splinterlands Credits
As per several Splinterlands reviews and our research, credits at Splinterlands can be used to make purchases of different items and for Blockchain gaming with the platform. Players can purchase credits using either PayPal or different cryptocurrencies supported by the platform and play Blockchain games or crypto games.
Splintershards (SPS)
Splintershards or SPS is the governance token introduced by Splinterlands that can be staked to earn additional rewards and benefits by the token holders. Once the SPS tokens are staked, they are subject to 4 weeks of unstaking period.
Every player’s part of staking rewards depends on the quantity staked by them as well as the total amount of SPS tokens staked by all the players taken together.
Land
Splinterlands features Land, which is a massive upcoming expansion to the Blockchain-based game features that will offer owners the power to craft their spells and items to be used in the battle. Land ownership can be smoothly transferred between players through Other Inventory, available on the Cards page.
Tips on How to Win on Splinterlands
- The key to playing Splinterlands and winning is based on creating the best card lineup.
- The first important decision that every player needs to make is to choose a Summoner with a particular element, according to the Splinterlands Summoner guide.
- The most frequent Summoners used by an enemy monster can be viewed on the preview screen of a particular match. Players must take this perfect opportunity to counter the enemy and take advantage.
- Next, players need to choose cards associated with Fire. Players can choose a Melee fighter or range characters. Once they have adequate protection with them, it is time to focus on the cards that have high damage output.
- The mana counter on the left indicates the manner that has been spent. Every time the player adds a card to the team, it raises the total mana being used.
Roadmap
4th Quarter – 2022
Land – Tech Modernization Phase 1 (90%)
- App Bar – Done
- Main Menu and Settings – Done
- Buy Credits, DEC & SPS – Done
- DEC & SPS Management
- QA Testing
Splinterfest (82%)
- Main Event Page – Done
- Ticket Sale Page – Done
- “The Gambler” & “High Roller” Titles – Done
- Lux Vega Shop Page
- QA Testing
SPS Validators Privatenet (97%)
- Development – Done
- Deploy Bridge – Done
- Additional Token Support
- QA Testing
SPS Validators Testnet (50%)
- Development
- Licensed Nodes
Land Non-Card Market (85%)
- Back-end Code – Done
- Front-end Code
- UX & UI Design – Done
- Artwork – Done
- QA Testing
Runi (75%)
- Card Design and Art – Done
- Whitelist – Done
- Mint – Done
- Usable in Game
- QA Testing
Land Phase 1 (43%)
- Convert Land Claims to Land Deeds Back-end Code – Done
- Survey Land Deed NFTs & Reveal its Properties
- Buy, Sell & Land NFTs
- UX/UI
- Art Assets
- QA Testing
1st Quarter – 2023
Tower Defense (33%)
- Game Design
- UI & Artwork Concept
- Prototype
- Tokenomics & Economy
- Platform Integration
- Beta Test
- QA Testing
Future
Rebellion (5%)
- Card Design & Art
- Character Art
- Shop Page
- QA Testing
SPS Validators Mainnet (0%)
- Development
- QA Testing
Land Phase 2 (2%)
- Implement Game Mechanics
Splinterlands Review: Play Splinterlands Games Today!
To summarize this Splinterlands review, the platform is comparatively cheaper for beginners to start their gaming experience in the NFT world. Although Splinterlands falls in the free-to-play game category, players need to invest a minimum of $10 before they can earn from the gameplay.
Leveling up cards at Splinterlands is an interesting feature that combines multiple copies of the same card. Nevertheless, players are highly recommended to go through the review of Splinterlands game and the Splinterlands Summoner Level guide to get a better idea of the platform and also carry out their own research before investing money in it.