DappRadar currently tracks dapp game Blocklords across 4 protocols – ETH, NEO, LOOM & TRON. The game has also been the recipient of two dapp development awards. One from NEO.GAME and one from the TRON Accelerator. Blocklords was released on NEO and TRON in early 2019 and has now expanded to the Ethereum and LOOM networks.
Blocklords is a grand strategy game set in medieval Europe that lets players create heroes, trade items, conquer cities, and earn taxes on sales made within their realm.
We spoke to the team behind Blocklords about their future plans and their expectations for dapps in 2020.
What motivated you to create Blocklords
Most of our team had worked together on several strategy games for a few years, mainly on mobile and browser platforms. So when we decided to start our own studio we knew we would keep developing within that genre.
When I started becoming involved with blockchain projects as an enthusiast and became more familiar with the concept of smart contracts, I soon began envisioning a game where players would not only trade their assets for cryptocurrency but could also earn taxes on those same trades if they were powerful enough to own cities.
This was the beginning of our Blocklords journey. Once I had convinced my partners about the value of this initial idea, we began developing the game in full. This was now nearly 2 years ago and we are still working on making the game better and better with each version.
What protocol are you using?
We made the decision early on that we would not lock ourselves into one protocol. But would rather develop on as many as possible to see what would work best for us and our users. So far we have launched versions of the game or NFT assets on TRON, NEO, Ethereum, and LOOM.
This has given us a lot of know-how when it comes to shipping products on different chains and has also exposed a lot of flaws in many of the available protocols when it comes to speed, fees, overall scalability, and most importantly, user-friendliness. We still feel like a lot of improvements need to be made from the protocol side before mass adoption can be reached.
Newsletter How are you planning to support Blocklords over the next 12 months?
Currently, we are developing Blocklords 2.0 on the LOOM network, which is in closed beta at the moment. This version will be free to play and won’t require a wallet from new users (we’ll create one for them on the backend).
Based on our lessons from previous launches, we are putting a lot of work into improving the new user experience. As well as adding more gameplay features to keep old users engaged. The launch is planned for early 2020 and we can’t wait to share more details about the new features with our community.
Following the 2.0 launch, we have plans for client and mobile versions. Large-scale PvP battles between teams, as well as a host of new in-game DeFi features. Which will add innovative economic systems to the game, something no other game has done before.
Is 2020 the year of mass adoption?
I think we will keep seeing a trickle of steady user growth throughout the year, especially as games with easier onboarding and more gameplay are being launched, but true mass adoption is still a couple of years away in my opinion.
A lot of work needs to be done to make it more approachable to users who are not interested in the blockchain part. Many passionate teams are working on this issue though, so we should start seeing some results later this year!
Any advice for dapp developers trying to break into the ecosystem?
Developing in a bear market is always tough, and a lot of projects are giving up. A focus on the long term is needed for any team that wants to make it in this space. My advice would be to stay true to your vision, don’t be married to all your design ideas, don’t commit to any protocol unless it suits your game perfectly, and ship products!
User feedback is the most important part of the development process and I feel like many of the most hyped projects of 2018-2019 still haven’t delivered a single thing (and probably never will). Get your game out there, fix what is broken, and drive blockchain gaming forward.
Interested in learning more about Blocklords? Watch our video review and first play walkthrough and get started today!
