How to play and win: helix

Blockchain gaming will enter a new phase in 2023, led by titles like HELIX. The MMORPG joins a long list of games that will drop next year, looking to deliver on the AAA gaming promises the industry has spoken about for so long. The early signs show HELIX is already setting new expectations for what’s possible in Web3 gaming. Get ready for cutting-edge graphics and compelling storylines alongside secured ownership and real rewards.

• What is HELIX?
• How to play the game
  • Role Playing
  • Gameplay Modes
• What makes HELIX innovative?
  • Digital Items
  • Land
• What’s in the HELIX roadmap?
• Useful Links

HELIX has grabbed headlines this week as the value of their Founder Passes have spiked on secondary marketplaces. There are 5,000 Founder Pass NFTs that give their owners three months of early access to HELIX.

Founder Pass holders are also entitled to exclusive airdrops, free land, exclusive designer clothes, supercars and more.

What is HELIX?

HELIX stands for Hyper Expansive Lifelike Interoperable eXperience. It’s a high-fidelity virtual world platform based on a 1:1 scale recreation of New York City. It’s a further addition to the burgeoning metaverse and it looks amazing.

Users can roam through the open-world Parallel City and engage in various activities to earn status, assets and power. There are various game modes which will suit the traditional gamers who want to complete missions and challenges. But there’s also a social aspect to the game, where people can hang out, network and make friends.

HELIX is developed by Hypersonic Laboratories, a startup based in Los Angele. The game is built on Unreal Engine 5, the gold standard for gaming graphics, and the Ethereum blockchain.

How to play the game

There are various game modes to play within the HELIX ecosystem. But before we get to these, you’ll need a Web3 wallet to connect with the dapp. If you’re not sure how to set up one of these, read DappRadar’s guide to find out.

Once you’ve done this, you can enter Parallel City with your avatar that you create. Each player begins the game with the same amount of virtual money. From here, it’s up to every individual how they want to progress in the game.

There are two main routes that players can take to move forward in HELIX:

Role Playing (RP)

HELIX allows players to create and host servers, and their own customized scripts to develop an unlimited number of scenarios in Parallel City. The Genesis RP Server will be available when the game launches and will be exclusive to whitelisted players and streamers. 

As the game moves on, HELIX will gradually open up more jobs to more users so that everyone can play the game in this way. Here’s the current list of native RP jobs:

• Police Officer
• Ambulance/EMS
• Car Dealer/Car Shop Owner
• Lawyer
• Taxi Driver

Gameplay Modes

As well as being able to freely explore Parallel City and create your own niche industry inside the world, players can also enjoy a more traditional style of game. Users can compete against each other and earn rewards.

More and more game modes will be added as HELIX moves forward with its roadmap. Here are the current modes that people can play:

• Shooter (Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, etc.)
• Battle Royale
• Survival (DayZ/Rust)
• Imposter (Among Us)

Players can choose to roam or choose to follow a storyline. Whichever one they choose, they will have the chance to accumulate rewards and items, and build up their own base of power within the ecosystem. All of what they acquire will be theirs to own and will be secured on the blockchain to do with as they please.

What makes HELIX innovative?

Digital Items

• Wearables: items of clothing and shoes to help players express themselves. You can buy and sell wearables to keep yourself looking fresh.

• Vehicles: own and customize your in-game transport. They’re the best way of getting round Parallel City and every player has access to a garage to store their vehicle.

• Properties: owning property is a huge part of HELIX gameplay. Property comes in sub-categories: Land, Apartments, Mansions and Garages.

• Collectibles: these can be artworks, sculptures or toys. They don’t have loads of utility, but rare collectibles will almost certainly become a status symbol as the game grows.

• : these are player animations and enable users to show emotions through their avatars.

Land

Land serves as a player’s home base. It is tied to a specific address with Parallel City, much like in the real world. There are also tiered levels of land. So a player could have a Tier 2 property situated at 420 69th St.

Around 25,000 land NFTs will be available for mint. No date or price has been announced yet, but holding a Founder Pass will give the owner access to free land and exclusive opportunities.

Lounges in HELIX act as meeting places, locations for shifty deals or central points for entertainment and education. They can be indoor or outdoor, and they’re situated throughout Parallel City.

As in real cities, these meeting places come in various forms: cafes, bars, restaurants or nightclubs. Lounges are also a central pillar of the ethos that takes HELIX beyond traditional gaming. They provide a place for users to truly socialize and mean that you don’t need to play the narrative storylines to enjoy being a part of this ecosystem.

HELIX is an open-world portion of the new blockchain-based metaverse. As such, users can enter into it, create their own content and monetize it. Lounges are 3D rendering of the old-school forums. Whoever dominates the culture inside a Lounge may come to control significant parts of Parallel City.

What’s in the HELIX roadmap?

There is no public roadmap for HELIX so details on what’s coming up aren’t readily available. By looking around social media and talking to the right people, here’s what we’ve found out is in the pipeline:

• Alpha launch – this month, November, HELIX will open its servers to Founder Pass holders. They will have early access to collect exclusive items that will never be released to the public.
• Airdrops – the team has already carried out two airdops for holders, both of which contained items to be used in-game.
• Cross-compatibility – HELIX will be a Web3 game. But this doesn’t mean the Web2 community won’t be welcome. The team plans to build in-game structures for its Web2 partners.
• Land minting details – these will come soon after the alpha launch, so expect information about the land auction to arrive in December.

There are more upcoming milestones that don’t have a date attached yet. Fans of the game should pay attention for more announcements on the following: 

• Continuation of partnerships
• Secret IRL utility for Founder Pass holders
• Referral Program
• “Unforgettable” launch event

Useful Links

• HELIX Single Dapp Page
• Blockchain Games Rankings
• Learn about HELIX investors
• HELIX Main Site