I Finally Tried Splinterlands 🐉 And Here’s What Surprised Me

Welcome to another art post here in the community.

I had been following some posts and #Snaps from the game Splinterlands circulating around Hive and other #PlaytoEarn news outlets for a while. But I admit, even though I’m not much of a blockchain gaming enthusiast, I never really took the time to understand how it worked, let alone focus on it. Maybe out of laziness, maybe lack of time, or maybe an unconscious fear of getting addicted and ending up investing in unnecessary stuff. But that changed this week.

Before diving into this long introductory post about Splinterlands:

I’d like to recommend the author who helped me learn about the game thanks to @libertycrypto27 and their excellent posts.

It’s not a free-to-start game, or at least there’s no real way to earn without investing, so I grabbed exactly 40.821 HIVE tokens, which at the current rate is about 10 dollars, and did what needed to be done to get started I bought the famous Summoner’s Spellbook.

This Spellbook is basically the entry pass to the real game.

Before that, you can try out some battles, but without the book, you can’t earn real rewards. With it, however, the game truly begins and a cool detail is that it comes with 3,000 credits and a 30-day reward Battle Boost. I have to admit, I was surprised.

I already felt like the investment was worth it.

And to make my debut even better, I received five packs from the new card collection called Conclave Arcana, which is the most recent one in the game. There’s a special charm in opening these packs, something childish and nostalgic, like collecting stickers or playing Magic: The Gathering. The card art is flawless, animations are smooth, and the suspense at the reveal is exciting. I’m not sure if all openings have RNG or if the cards are pre-selected. So, no Epic or higher rarity cards this time.

But hey, it was free. So...

So now we have this:

Campaign Mode.

Seriously, this should be standard in every Web3 game. It’s a sequence of battles with mini-stories and challenges that function as a more in-depth tutorial. What I found amazing is that each completed stage rewards you with cards from the collection, meaning you learn while expanding your collection.

I read in some community comments and posts that the team plans to expand this Campaign mode beyond the tutorial, and if that truly happens, it could be a huge differentiator in the blockchain gaming scene. A well-built story mode especially with rewards is one of the best ways to retain players and give purpose to battles.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me was the game interface.

Much cleaner and more intuitive than I expected.

The visuals are beautiful, buttons are well-distributed, and even though the game has a lot of elements cards, mana, Splinters, abilities, battle types everything is introduced gradually, without overwhelming the player.

And here’s an important note:

The game seems to run better on mobile than on desktop.

I don’t know if it’s just my impression, but response time and visual feedback seem faster and smoother on mobile. The mobile interface is thoughtfully adapted; it doesn’t feel like something rushed or poorly optimized. It’s easy to navigate, build decks, view your collection, open packs everything works seamlessly.

Of course, the full experience might still be better on desktop, especially if you want to analyze stats, build complex decks, or engage with the community on PeakMonsters, which is a more advanced marketplace for Splinterlands players. But for daily casual play, mobile has won me over.

During my hours of fun, aside from playing, I also read a lot of what the Hive community has to say about Splinterlands. It’s a very active community, with daily posts, guides, tutorials, and heated discussions. And honestly, a lot of what I personally felt is confirmed by these folks.

The most standout positive points, in my humble opinion, are:

• Realistic reward system
• Even with a small investment, you can already earn daily rewards, cards, SPS, and other resources. Of course, big profits come with time and strategy, but the game is fair early on.
• Established Web3 ecosystem
• Splinterlands isn’t some random game that popped up yesterday. It’s been in development for years, has thousands of active users, integration with the Hive blockchain, and a solid economy.
• Cards with real value
• You can sell your cards. Even common ones can earn you a few cents. This completely changes your relationship with the game. Each card has weight, importance. It’s not like traditional games, where everything is lost when you uninstall.
• Strategic variety
• The Splinters system (elements like Fire, Water, Death, Life, etc.) combined with card abilities and different battle rules ensures no match is the same. You have to think, test, lose, adapt.

Of course, not everything is perfect.

And if I’m being honest about my experience, I also need to highlight some negative points.

• Pay-to-compete:

• Although the game is play-to-earn, to truly compete in higher leagues, you’ll need to invest in better cards. There’s no escaping that. Players who spend more inevitably have an advantage. But to me, this isn’t exactly a flaw it’s more a feature of the CCG (Collectible Card Game) style. Still, it can be intimidating for beginners.

• Unstable SPS economy:

• The Splintershards (SPS) token is the game’s native currency, used for governance and rewards. The more SPS you accumulate, the higher your ranked battle earnings. But its fluctuating value and inflation due to constant emissions make many people hesitant. I myself, for now, don’t plan to invest heavily in SPS.

Is collecting cards more important at this stage?

Having a well-built deck, with synergies and good power level, opens way more doors than just stacking SPS hoping for returns. That can come later. Now is the time to focus on building a solid card base, climbing the leagues, understanding mechanics, and finding your place. The Campaign mode helps a lot, but still, Splinterlands has many nuances from card types, abilities, to battle rules that change each match. If you’re not into this more technical and detailed style, it might get frustrating.

Possibly FITHE BLADESTONE is my favorite starting summoner. He grants shield and direct protection against magic attacks. And of course, his cost is just 4 points. The other summoners I received have higher costs.

To wrap things up, I only played a few hours today, so I don’t know yet if I’ll go all in and push for a high league. There are only four days left until the season ends. (And which season is it? No idea.)

_{Screenshots taken directly from Splinterlands}