Kryptoria is an empire-building game developed on the Ethereum blockchain. The game features three types of ownable assets: Alpha Citizens, Land, and Weapons, with 10,000 of each available in different rarities. Players can choose to be part of two factions: the Kryptorians and the Degens.
Kryptoria has created a TV series to share the game's backstory with its audience. The series begins by introducing a soldier who fought in wars for his government. One day, the soldier discovers the Kryptorians, a community that believes the existing system is flawed and that the blockchain can build trust through transparency. After joining the Kryptorians, they organize a rally which quickly escalates into a full-blown civil war between the Kryptorians and the Fed.
Gameplay
To start playing, players need to stake their Citizen, Weapon, and Land on the Kryptoria website, allowing them to earn resources from their land. There are five main resources in the game: Krypto Ore, Bio Synth, Meta Spice, Binary Code, and Uni Shards, which are used in building, trading, fighting, and upgrading.
Each resource in Kryptoria is associated with a specific type of land. Krypto Ore can be mined from Mountain land, Bio Synth is obtained from the ocean, Binary Code from Grassland, Meta Spice from the Desert, and Uni Shards from the Forest. The amount of resources yielded by each land varies between 50 to 100 depending on the land's rarity, with epic lands yielding around 81 per day.
Players who own lands adjacent to each other receive an adjacency bonus, while players who own a village, town, city, or capital property on their land receive an urban bonus. Bio Synth is mainly used for supporting the player's army during battles through Compound M, which boosts the combat stats of their Alpha Citizens. Bio Synth is also used to initiate an attack, with 25 Meta Spice and 35 Bio Synth required for each attack. Additionally, Bio Synth can be used to purchase Hair, which upgrades the defensive or attack stats of Alpha Citizens.
Meta Spice is mainly used for upgrading equipment, changing the NFT appearance, as well as defensive and attacking stats. It is also necessary for using Compound M and initiating battles. Krypto Ore is a crucial resource for building and upgrading Titan Sentry Guns and Mech Warriors, which are needed for both defense and attack. Krypto Ore is also used to purchase armor and helmet pieces, which can boost the defensive stats of Alpha Citizens.
Binary code is used for defenses and attacks based on mineral gathering and retention. ADS can be built for defense, protecting against Sentinels that increase mineral collection upon attack. To purchase Sentinels, players need 100 Binary Code. Uni Shards are required to build Titan Sentry Guns and Mech Warriors along with Krypto Ore. Titan Sentry Guns improve defensive stats, while Mech Warriors enhance attacking stats.
Players can observe lands being attacked by seeing the land on fire on the virtual map, which is similar to the Civilization game. They can explore the vast world of Kryptoria by moving around the map using Q and E on the keyboard or their mouse.
Review
When exploring the lore and whitepaper of Kryptoria, it appears to be a promising RTS game with its sights set on greats like Age of Empires and Starcraft. However, delving deeper into the game reveals that there is no way to upgrade land as one would in Civilization or Age of Empires, but rather only add simple strategic and defensive mechanisms. The current investment needed to play the game, including gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain, is around $70-$85, which may alienate some players. Kryptoria plans to solve the earning part through their Ellerium token, which will be released later in 2023.
Regarding the combat mechanics, Kryptoria's battles are automated and randomized, with players having no control after deciding to send reinforcements or not. Additionally, players initially only have enough resources for one battle, so losing it or losing a land on a resource can leave them unable to battle again until they acquire more resources. This can be frustrating for players as trades take time to yield resources.
On the other hand, Kryptoria has impressive audio design that matches the game's different areas, from making trades to interacting with various parts of the game. If Kryptoria can maintain this level of audio design as they continue to develop the game, it could help the game compete with other great RTS games in the genre.
The main factors contributing to this rating are the limited possibilities for new players until they have built up resources, and the lack of depth in gameplay beyond daily attacks and resource gathering. Players may also be disappointed by the lack of options for upgrading land, which is not clearly communicated at the start of the game. Additionally, the initial investment required to play can be a barrier for some players. However, there is potential for Kryptoria to improve on these aspects and build a stronger RTS game in the future.
