From October 9 to 20, Immutable gave playtesters the opportunity to try out an early demo of their upcoming mobile game, Guild of Guardians. The game was first announced in 2021 and raised over $5.3 million for its development through the sale of its utility token, Guild of Guardians Gems (GOG). The game is being developed by Mineloader, the same company behind the Final Fantasy VII remake and Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, and will be published by Gods Unchained creator Immutable.
Guild of Guardians is expected to be released in open beta in the fourth quarter of 2023. It is a free-to-play and play-to-earn mobile game, meaning players can start earning nonfungible tokens (NFTs) or game tokens without making any purchases. To further finance the game’s development, Immutable will sell limited edition NFTs as “seasonal content” and charge a fee on secondary sales of certain in-game items.
The play-to-earn aspect of the game revolves around crafting equipment and summoning heroes. Players can earn crafting materials as they progress through dungeons, which they can then use to mint NFTs representing gear. They can also collect common heroes that can be combined into higher rarities and minted on the blockchain. Guild of Guardians NFTs are minted on the Immutable X network, while the GOG token is on Ethereum.
Immutable recently invited members of the media to playtest Guild of Guardians, giving them a firsthand experience of the game. The game is designed exclusively for mobile platforms and optimized for touch-screen controls. It follows a classic dungeon-crawling gameplay style where players progress through dungeons, fight monsters, and collect loot.
Battles in Guild of Guardians are mostly automated, with very little real-time control during fights. Players assemble a party of heroes with different abilities and strategically position them within the party’s formation before battles. The outcome of battles depends on the player’s pre-battle decisions and gear choices.
The demo version of Guild of Guardians showed promise, with engaging gameplay and challenging battles that required strategic thinking. It is not a typical play-to-earn game focused solely on cryptocurrency grinding, but rather offers a more immersive and thoughtful experience. Fans of turn-based RPGs may find Guild of Guardians appealing, while those seeking real-time action similar to Diablo may want to look elsewhere. Overall, the game seems to be on the right track in terms of development and offers an enjoyable experience for players.