Written by: 0xbun, TechFlow

The Beacon is a pixel roguelike game based on Arbitrum, supported by Treasure DAO. At first, I just played it lightly with the idea of ​​interacting with Arbitrum, but before I knew it, I played it for several hours. If you have played Soul Knight, you will be familiar with The Beacon. Let's learn how this "simple" web game is addictive.

Single Player PvE

The Beacon has multiple game modes: single-player PvE, multiplayer PvE, and housing system.

In the current version, multiplayer PVE is not yet open.

As the name suggests, the single-player mode requires players to enter the dungeon alone and fight, trying not to die. After clearing the dungeon, they will receive NFT/non-NFT as a reward.

Thanks to the characteristics of Roguelite games: permanent death and procedurally generated levels, The Beacon has a certain degree of difficulty. On my first day of playing the game, I was stuck on the third level for 3 or 4 hours. The design of the game dungeon is not the kind of game that can be cleared by killing monsters without thinking, so you may need to search for guides online (small tip: you don’t have to kill all the monsters in some levels). This challenge will bring a sense of personal accomplishment after clearing the level, and the game will also reward a treasure chest. The material and spiritual feedback form an addictive flywheel, which is rarely seen in previous GameFi.

House System

The house system is actually a "house decoration system" where players can collect various house decorations to customize their houses. When you first create a character, the system will automatically give you an empty house. You need to continue playing games (or charging money) to get house decorations, and finally you can show and share your little house with friends.

Is it a bit like the Obi Island or Seer? Yes, this is one of the reasons for their success - effective social interaction. By taking advantage of players' collecting habits and their desire to compete with each other, players can be effectively included in a social circle. Players will complete in-game trials and tasks for a certain decoration. In this way, the game can better retain players.

Easter Egg: Pub Quiz

Players can visit Igor, a drunkard sitting by the fire, in the tavern every day to win rewards. Each day, Igor will ask a question to test the player's knowledge of The Beacon. Players should also pay attention to clues from other NPCs, as they may have different stories and experiences to share every day.

Players who correctly answer Igor's questions will receive a treasure chest reward. The project team also hid a clue that the first player to answer the question every day will be whitelisted for the pet Mint event.

Free to Play (F2P)

F2P is commonplace for traditional gamers, but it is not so common in GameFi 1.0. In order to allow the general public of Web3 to participate, players can play all basic modes of the game without casting paid characters. Players can experience the gameplay, participate in dungeon challenges, and obtain non-NFT character decorations and house decorations after passing the levels. In addition, active players will be eligible for a portion of token incentives.

After you have experienced the game and think it is suitable for you, you can spend 0.0321e (about 40 dollars) to mint a character of your own. Paid characters will come with a set of initial character skins, house decorations and some small benefits. Throughout the game, paying players can obtain NFT character skins and house decorations, which is different from free players. Paying players will also have a special leaderboard, and they will be eligible for all rewards after being on the list.

In order to prevent excessive speculation, The Beacon characters generally have no rarity, and the number is unlimited, there is no additional value-added, players can only decorate to change the appearance of paid characters. However, there are exceptions. Officials said that early characters purchased in the pre-release version may contain special attributes, but it only shows that they are early supporters of the game.

Blessed Character (WL)

Players who own a Blessed character will get everything that paying players have. By forging a Generation 0 pet in the upcoming Pet Mint event, you can bless your character. Blessed characters will have the opportunity to experience the new version of The Beacon first.

Unlike paid characters, blessed characters are limited in number. Players can only obtain blessing quotas by casting 0th generation pets. There are 4096 0th generation pets in total. Each pet has a different appearance and a different rarity. Currently, you can get the opportunity to mint 0th generation pets by playing the game (WL).

In the past, most blockchain games did not have new players because of the high entry threshold and the lack of understanding of the game experience. Most of the people attracted by Earn were not players, but speculators. They entered the market not to play games, but to treat games as a kind of "mining machine". Under this vicious cycle of mining, withdrawing and selling, it is difficult for the game ecosystem to continue. The Beacon has changed this. You can play first and then decide whether to pay based on the experience. This is also the transformation of blockchain games - from simple Earn to focusing on the game experience.

The Beacon is not a AAA-level GameFi that has been built up with a lot of capital. It is just a "simple" web game. You don't need to download the client, you can play it directly on the web page by connecting to the wallet. While making games, The Beacon has actually completed a social experiment belonging to Web3. If The Beacon can be successful, does it also indicate that the future development direction of GameFi 2.0 will not be limited to AAA games?