Splinterlands

Let me not take more than two sentences to tell you, what an awesome game Splinterlands is, and that is reason enough for you’ll to head to the Hive blockchain and play the game. And the link that you will need to join is provided below.

Now, let’s get to this article. I have never had this experience where the rules applied to the game seem to be off. Of course, at the first go, it all seems fine, but when you have a closer look, that’s when the mistake is apparent. This is my assessment, but let’s see what you’ll have to say.

Okay, okay, before we jump to the gameplay, I will talk about the game for a minute. How else will you know what game and which part of it, I am talking about? Here we go.

What Game is Splinterlands?

Splinterlands is a digital card game that allows you to collect, trade, battle, rent, and even earn from the cards. The game gives Play to Earn a whole different meaning. By now, you would know that the governance token (SPS) airdrop made millionaires out of the early adopters. It still keeps giving and remains a fun and engaging game.

To give you an idea of how lucky you can get in Splinterlands, read my story of getting cards worth $500 from buying only a few packs worth $20.

Got Cards Worth $500 from $20 Packs

And this is just a tiny number. I have witnessed people getting uber-expensive cards in their pack and selling it for as high as $6500. In fact, there is a whole Splinterlands marketplace on the Hive blockchain and now on Wax too.

Any reason not to try it out? To join, scroll down quickly. 😊

So, What Happened? | Where it All Started 😊

I can do the traditional way of explaining what my game is, the monsters I chose, what they do, etc. But that will only keep you away from the point I want to highlight. The rules were the ones that I chose all my monsters for, and obviously, that’s what I want to highlight.

The game had two rules in play – the earthquake and the poison rule. I had chosen the monsters considering the rules. My issue was the application of the rules.

Let’s head to the battle to take a look.

The Battle | My Observations

Open the gates and get ready for battle.

The Face-Off Screen

Here are the opponent’s and my monsters.

My team is at the top while the opponent’s team is at the bottom. Because both earthquake and poison were in play, I chose Brighton Bloom as the summoner. Bloom would ensure that all my monsters become flying and hence unaffected by the earthquake rule. Only the poison rule will apply to me and I had also chosen Cornealus which would self-heal after each poison application.

This was my simple logic for the choice of summoner and monsters.

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Fast Forward

These were the stats after the application of the earthquake and poison rule during round 2.

It Is evident that the opponent’s monsters are in dire straits and would not survive the next round. My Cornealus should see me through.

And then something puzzling happened.

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Watch Closely

This is at the beginning of round 3 and the earthquake rule is applied.

The opponent’s team is totaled by this time and my team is impervious to the earthquake attack. But now starts the confusion.

The opponent's team was already gone and therefore the poison could not be applied to them. Since that was the case, I should have won. However, the game went ahead and applied poison to my monsters too. See the decrease in health stats? That’s because of the poison application.

This is what is wrong.

Chances Are You May Argue Otherwise | But Still There is Something Wrong

You may want to argue that the game ensured the completion of applying the rules to both teams. Only on the application of both rules and one team standing can we identify a winner. Because there is a chance that both teams might succumb and therefore it could be a draw.

Well, it sounds fine, but on closer analysis, it seems incorrect. Why? When the first rule – earthquake – was applied one team completely perished. So, it was not there to take the brunt of the poison rule. If that was the case, then the game should stop there and not apply the rule to the other team. If it does then there is an unequal application of rule. Only one team goes through both rules while one team does not.

This is what I feel was incorrect. Anyway, I still won but thought I should highlight this issue.

So Then? | Nothing | Just Enjoy The Game

Although the rule surprised me, it only intrigues me more, and hence I will try out the game more. You can never know what would surprise you and what would entertain you. I think that’s the spirit of this blockchain game.

I will continue playing and I hope you enjoy it too. Have fun!