While we generally prefer to write reviews of individual games, it’s beginning to look like we’re going to have to review overall impressions of gaming platforms, as many games are already looking like expanding beyond single titles or titular games that made them famous in the first place.
Gala Games is an example of this. A web3 gaming company that uses NFT technology and their own crypto, Gala coin, Gala Games actually has a focus on building high-quality games, whether or not it actually uses blockchain technology. So goes their claim, anyway.
Now into their fourth year, Gala Games made waves because of their CEO, Eric Schiermeyer, who already has a track record by co-founding Zynga games. He built a team with similar experience in game developments so people knew what they were getting already. Of course, at the same time, if you associate Zynga with casual gaming and not high quality, then you might also not look on them favourably.
That said, with over 200 employees (at least mid-last year), there’s no reason to think they won’t churn out the titles they’ve promised.
But that’s a question of taste, and we’ll review the game for its own merits within its niche as casual gaming.
TownStar
If you’re looking for something that’s typically play-to-earn (P2E) but doesn’t have the upfront cost barrier of say, Axie Infinity, then this flagship title for Gala Games is a great place to start.
For a long time, the only fully functional game from Gala, and still undergoing continuous development with new releases every now and then, TownStar will remind you immediately what Zynga is all about. Remember Farmville on Facebook, anyone?
Curiously, the game is still listed as Beta, but should be playable normally and is a pretty stable software to run.
Gameplay
So if you’re in a state of nostalgia and don’t mind repetitive tasks to earn coins and then build up stuff, while waiting for your farm’s various plants to be ready for harvest, then TownStar is right up your alley.
The concept itself doesn’t seem to have lost its appeal with this game proving to be highly popular, with the added ability to earn in-game tokens called TOWN via many different abilities.
New to the concept is NFTs, which you can use TOWN to pay for, that you can then swap out for GALA (the native cryptocurrency of Gala Games) or even for regular fiat like USD and Euro.
Right off the bat, any gamer should be able to play, since TownStar is available for desktop and mobile (both Android and IOS).
How to earn in TownStar
Weekly competitions should be the go-to method to earn anything of worth. You play and earn Star points as you progress, with weekly rewards given out in GALA. Only the top 100 players win, so if you’re only playing for 5 hours a day, don’t expect to come close.
Daily challenges can also be a quicker way to earn points… but the catch is you do need to own NFTs to access them. Only once you’ve bought and deployed your NFTs can you do challenges, and the number you can do depends on the NFTs you own.
There appear to be limits on what you can earn, but it’s unclear as to what that is.
Naturally, people are buying these NFTs to earn points, but also hoping that there are others wanting to earn them. But as the game gets tedious, there isn’t really a big market for them.
Spider Tanks
The only other available game on Gala is Spider Tanks, which is available only for desktop computers (sorry, mobile users!).
This is also free to play, so you can get in right away with a free tank. However, you’ll need to cough up money to buy better NFTs (the tanks) if you want to load up this game.
If it looks nothing like Town Star, it’s because Gala didn’t actually develop this in house. That credit goes instead to Dutch gaming studio Gamedia.
Gameplay
Like any other NFT P2E game, the whole point is to buy yourself a tank, jump in and drown yourself in PvP battles, looking for opponents online to play different kinds of modes. Billed as the “first Web3 esport”, this game does seem to be for the high octane.
You can also currently play team PvPs with 5-a-side battles on different maps.
You don’t have to pay, of course, but expect to lose the battles when matched up with another player who paid for a tank.
With each battle won, you gain points and other items that you can use to customize your tank. Want a tougher body? Maybe a more powerful gun? Larger clips so you don’t need to reload so often? That’s all customizable. In total, there are 8 abilities to upgrade, so that’ll keep you busy for a while.
How to earn in Spider Tanks
The main ways to earn in Spider Tanks are to be expected: compete in competitions and win bigger rewards for higher positions on the leaderboard, or collect resources with playing more battles.
There is something else here, though, which they’re calling “player-driven upgrade cycle”. In practice, this means that the team constantly adjusts rewards for all the players and different rarity items, in an active attempt to maintain sustainability.
So for the player who finds a particular activity or rare tank highly rewarding, expect to be underpowered very soon! Spider Tanks also has its own currency, called SILK, which you can use to buy items in their store.
Player Growth and Popularity
Gala Games has not escaped the general P2E slowdown. It’s biggest game, Town Star, saw less than 2,000 users in the last 30 days (DappRadar, 16 February 2023), down 25% from the previous month.
Spider Tanks doesn’t seem to be doing much better either – not many transactions on its Ethereum contract.
That said, there are many players perhaps simply playing and collecting resources, hoping for the day their NFTs and GALA coins become valuable in the next bull run.
Summary:
Gala Games has a lot of promise, particularly for casual gamers who will look back with fondness on Facebook games from Zynga that shears years off your life for a whole load of stacked up buildings and pretty coins. At least, this time, you might be able to turn around a few bucks from all your time spent.
On the other hand, until the multiple game titles are developed, it’s hard to tell if the games will be of any good, and if they’ll bring a hint of originality and depth that we’d rather see on Web3 gaming.
GALA is also remarkably not in a price slump, currently just below $0.04 (06/03/2023), and with an all-time high around $0.7 It could certainly be seen as a coin with potential – once they get their other titles out!
Definitely give it a hit if you’re looking to kill time and have a few coins jingling in your pocket for your efforts. Definitely give it a miss, for now, if you’re looking for a game that’ll excite your insides.
