Town Star dubbed two days ago as the first game in Gala Network, a blockchain-based infrastructure founded by Eric Schiermeyer, cofounder and former analytics expert at Zynga.
Blockchain Game Partners in Utah are building a platform where developers can host their games and take advantage of the blockchain technology as well as the interoperability between games and assets.
Gala is in the making for over 18 months with some talented developers on board. The first game which is developed by Sandbox Games, Town Star, is a free to play farming simulation with low-poly cartoonish graphics where players start by growing farm plots and eventually develop a small town. Blockchain technology illustrates how trading resources can be done in a transparent, secure, and efficient way.
Right now, about 25 people are working for the Gala Network, where 10 of them focus on the games and the rest 15 on Gala.
Town Star Game
As expected, Town Star takes a similar path to Farmville with the difference that players own the items they buy or create. Once you start the game, you will be provided with free money to expand your small farm into a profitable business and trade with the rest of the players. Right now, and while still in alpha access, there are hundreds of players already on the map playing and expanding their farms.
The in-game currency is going to be tokenized, including some items in the form of non-fungible tokens at a limited supply. Players transact with each other through the in-game marketplace, providing security against potentials frauds, which is a thing in secondary markets outside the scope of blockchain.
While still in alpha and some things aren’t precisely clear in Town Star, the goal is to build structures, raise and harvest crops, mix them with other ingredients and eventually sell them to develop your farm further.
Town Star is trying to focus on deep gameplay and keep the players engaged, something that Farmville failed to provide.
I reached out to the Discord channel of Gala and the folks where pretty helpful, they explained a few things to me in numerous questions I had.
To produce gasoline which is essential to trade items using your truck, you will need a refinery, an oil pump, and an energy source. If you find your items destroyed before they reach your base, it means that you are out of inventory slots.
Whatever the case is, due to no instructions once the game begins, you might find your self in a situation of restarting the game. To do so, visit the world map, find your farm and click delete. The progress will start from the beginning with all the starting resources.
Mining Bonuses
The first impressions of Town Star are somewhat good, it’s free to play, and within the first 30 minutes, i managed to raise a few crops, build some buildings, and sell resources to other players. Regardless of being an early adopter or not, the basic gameplay will probably remain the same. Get some cash to develop your farm and trade assets.
Early adopting the Gala platform comes with the benefit of mining. The game has 1,000 farm bots that can mine a token. To get one of those miners, you have to either buy loot boxes and assemble the part, or but a preassembled miner at an increased price. The price for one bot is $100,000.00.
Eric Schiermeyer says this is a way to compensate the early adopters by getting more than people who are last to play it, implying that there is a good reason to jump in first.