Ever wanted to live out your dream of being the real-life Tony Montana out of Scarface? To climb to the very top of the gangster food chain where greed, money and power are the only things that matter anymore? Well, here is the perfect opportunity to live out that fantasy in the guise of DrugWars, a new strategy management game where real crypto currency can be earned whilst building a digital empire as an underground crime boss.
The rules are simple: Maximize on drug production levels within your stronghold as well as acquiring a powerful army to defend against rival gangs looking to sabotage your operations. All of this controlled via an intuitive menu-driven GUI. In addition, the bold, brash artwork featured throughout recreates an old school cartoonish retro feel which only further adds to the mobster-style look of the game. So with that backdrop firmly in mind, let's take a closer look under the hood and delve into the mechanics of the game in a little more detail.
Getting Up and Running on the Steem Blockchain
Before you even think of entering the treacherous world of DrugWars, an account on the STEEM blockchain is a mandatory requirement. Registration on the "Steemit" website is totally free but can take up to a week to be verified. However there are other options available to create an instant account from as little as $2-$3, such as Steem.ninja that accepts credit card payments or "AnonSteem" where crypto-based methods are also catered for. Once that is out of the way, the real fun can begin!
Overview of the Game
The main game starts you off with only a headquarters building and three different collectable resources. These come in the form of drugs, weapons and alcohol, being displayed along the top of the screen and are constantly replenished on a continuous basis. They can be spent just as any normal in-game currency and are used to purchase / upgrade buildings, train up army recruits and ultimately battle other factions.
Buildings
There are four distinct groups of buildings available to you, which are categorized as office, drugs, weapons and alcohol. Each produced building can be upgraded further to increase production supply. This can be done by spending from your valuable stash of resources, however the completion of any building's upgrade can take up to several hours. Hence it should be noted that there is an option to purchase or upgrade items directly with STEEM, in which case any wait times are then nullified. It is advisable to try and fully upgrade your headquarters first as all the other buildings in the game are linked to its status.
Bootcamp
There is an arsenal of brutes at your disposal to not only protect your main stronghold from unwanted hit jobs but also for you to go on a full-on assault and infiltrate enemy bases. As with buildings, they will cost some of the player's resources to train up recruits or the option is always available to buy them directly using STEEM. Each recruit comes with their own array of stats which are: damage, defence, speed, melee or ranged, as well as the amount they can carry. The higher the skill level, the better stats they possess and therefore, the higher the cost to train them.
Battles
When you have obtained a muscle bound army of considerable strength, it is time to go on the offensive! This is possibly the most exciting element of the game as it offers you the chance to steal resources from an enemy of your choosing. This is done by simply clicking on the Battles side tab and type in the name of another player you wish to target. Select your recruits for the job, click on Attack and hope you come away with the win. Alternatively, you can seek out someone to attack from a list of players who are of a similar drugs production level to yourself. A player can take a peek at their opponent's current resources as well as their defence capabilities, which is always a good idea prior to engaging. Be aware, as other players can steal your personal drug stash too, especially if defense measures weren't properly implemented.
Earn Real Crypto Rewards For Playing Drugwars
Finally, there is a separate reward pool that is distributed amongst all players at the end of each day. This pool is split into two halves. The first is classified as daily which is based upon the level of drug production a player has achieved. The second is called a heist, where you can invest a proportion of your drug stash into the bank job. You'll earn a corresponding sum of STEEM according to how much you invested which will then be sent straight to your STEEM wallet.
Let the War Commence!
In order to become one of the elite ranked players of DrugWars, it is absolutely essential to streamline resource production. This requires a good balance of training recruits as well as making shrewd investment decisions in upgrades and heists. A player can take either the "free-to-play" approach to attaining this goal or spend STEEM to fast track themselves there.
Add in the fact that DrugWars hit the number one spot not too long ago, on the State of the DApps rankings list, and you can clearly see how additive this title is proving to be. The gamification of the STEEM blockchain seems to be a winning formula with Drugwars being a standout example of this.
So will you prevail as the most feared mob boss ever to set foot this side of town?
