My Experience Playing Etheremon: Entering the Era of Game 3.0

In this article, I explain all the details you need to know about Etheremon and EMONT tokens. I also tell about my own experience playing this game and why this is a promising use case for blockchain and the future of Game 3.0. Introduction to Etheremon, EMONT Tokens, and Current User Adoption Etheremon is a game that, as the name suggests, runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Users can access the platform from both desktop and mobile devices. EMONT is the platform’s native ERC-20 token. It has a limited supply of 20 million. There are two main ways in which users can generate value from playing Etheremon. First, the more a user trains a monster (referred to as a Mon), the more value it will be worth. It’s possible to trade, lend, transfer, and release Mons within Etheremon. Similar to blockchain-based games like CryptoKitties, there is a degree of scarcity for each type of available Mon. Second, any users can easily mine EMONT tokens within a game. EMONT can be traded for Ether or used for buying Mons and other items on the platform. According to the project website, the plan is to make EMONT the ONLY in-game currency at some point in the future. Revive The Dead is a Halloween feature where users can catch previously-retired Mons and bring them back to life before the Hell Gate is closed.As of October 18, 2018, some stats on the project include 8,067 players, 40,417 Etheremons, 415,315 battles, and 14,204 explorations. These numbers will continue to increase and up-to-date stats can be found on the Etheremon homepage. It will be cool to see how these numbers change over time with the growth of the game. Current adoption of this game is quite good when compared to many other blockchain-based games and collectibles. In terms of numbers of users, this game consistently ranks as one of the top three dapp games. Sign Up Process Signing up for Etheremon is easy to do with a Metamask account. It’s also possible to sign up manually with MyEtherWallet, but I found this option to be less convenient. Once signed up, you’ll then be redirected to a dashboard where you can view all relevant info about your Etheremon account. Beginning to Use the Platform I decided to start out using a few of the free Mons first. Mintol, Omnom, and Kyari are all free options. If you’re looking to buy a Mon, the prices currently tend to fluctuate somewhat. When I started playing the game, I found the cheapest Mon to be .03114 ETH and .1737 ETH for the most expensive. For those wanting to try the game with lower initial costs, eggs are also available starting at 0.09 ETH. There are a few differences to note between buying an egg vs. buying a Mon. For instance, buying a Mon will likely only take a few minutes (or even seconds) depending on blockchain congestion. However, an egg needs to be hatched to become an Etheremon. One trainer can hatch one egg at a time. The time to hatch an egg is randomized, taking anywhere from a few hours to a few days. My egg became a Mon called Gremin. The time it takes for an egg to hatch is randomized. In my case, it took around 35 hours. Users can pay more ETH or EMONT to speed up hatch waiting times, though. Trying Various Playing Options By going to the “Battle” tab at the top of the Etheremon homepage, you’ll find various playing options that include Gym Mode, Ranked Mode, Adventure Mode, and Practice Mode. Trying out Ranked Mode, I realized that I would probably need more than the three free Mons available to get started. In Ranked Mode, you’ll probably need six Mons (three attackers and three supporters). However, I found that it’s possible to use three attackers without any supporters. Playing in Ranked ModeAnother thing to note is that using this game, particularly to make transactions on a regular basis, might require a bit more patience than traditional gaming. This is simply due to the fact that the game is blockchain-based and depends upon the speed of the Ethereum network. For those used to rapid-speed online games, Etheremon might take some time to adjust to. Next, I decided to try out Gym Mode. In order to train Mintol, I had to pay a fee of 0.001 ETH on Trainers’ Level 1. A Metamask wallet is the best option for this and any other payments on the platform. Using Metamask to submit a payment and train Mintol, my Mon. Here are the results from three rounds of training in Gym Mode.In Ranked Mode, I found that forming a team took a bit too much time. After waiting a few minutes, I decided to try out another mode instead. When I tried Practice Mode, once I selected an opponent, I was thrown an error “You need energy to attack”. I think that it would be nice for the game designers to include a way to add energy without having to leave this page. For someone who is not accustomed to playing Etheremon, this could lead to questions like… “does a user need to first win in another mode or somehow purchase energy to be able to compete in Practice Mode?” Still, the way to add energy is via the Battle homepage. At first, I waited several minutes to claim 10 free energy. I didn’t get any result, but then I realized that the Metamask extension must be maximized during this process. If it’s minimized, you won’t get any notification about verifying the transaction. Once you’ve maximized Metamask and submitted the transaction, you should be able to complete the transaction. Also, note you’ll still have to pay a small gas fee to buy energy. This also applies to other activities on Etheremon, i.e. claiming a free Mon. When trying out Practice Mode, you’ll first need to get energy. I was able to claim free energy on the ‘Battles’ tab. Remember to maximize the MetaMask extension! Playing in Practice ModeFinally, I tried out Adventure Mode, where you are able to select a Mon to randomly go to one of nineteen sites available. Each location is based on a famous, real-world location. The Mon can take a little while to come back. I sent my Mon, Mintol, on an adventure that took around two hours to complete. You can send a Mon to several locations in Adventure Mode. Etheremon’s Future Roadmap Similar to most blockchain-based games, Etheremon is dependent on the throughput and scalability of Ethereum. Even though technical factors do currently put some limitations on Etheremon’s usability, we are likely to see this change in the coming years. As Ethereum’s capabilities continue to improve, the overall user experience and possibilities of what Etheremon can offer to its users will only continue to get better. Here are some cool things to expect from Etheremon in the near future. Q4 2018: Etheremon will launch a player vs. player option with leagues and tournaments as well as a Quest and Achievement System. 2019: We can expect the first version of Etheremon VR to launch on Decentraland. Also, the project plans to release an SDK and bring new games to the EMONT alliance. Buy Some EMONT and Get Started! EMONT is a useful Ethereum-based token that is listed on Ethex.market. We only list useful tokens that have shipped to mainnet. We are happy to support Etheremon and other similar projects. If you have any suggestions for tokens you think should be listed, fill this form out.