What is DeFi Kingdoms?

June 09, 2023 - 8 min read

Explore a pixelated GameFi multiverse featuring in-game DEXs, liquidity pools, and bustling marketplaces of utility-based NFTs.

Introduction

First off, DeFi Kingdoms is a fantasy game of heroes and magic, employing a sort of nostalgic, handheld-game pixel art. According to their roadmap, the project has plans to evolve into a full MMORPG with multiplayer combat, something akin to Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft in their depth and expansiveness. If you ever played Ogre Battle, the aesthetics should ring some bells for you.

The game is composed of a multiverse topography in that Crystalvale is hosted on an Avalanche subnet called DFK Chain, and Serendale is hosted on Klaytn blockchain. JEWEL, CRYSTAL, and JADE are the three main tokens used for rewarding players and which have utility both within the game and for the functionality of their respective blockchains.

Heroes and their Pets are dynamic NFTs. Hero characteristics matter more than just their appearances. Like other RPGs, these impact their performance in different professions and determine their style and effectiveness in combat. By completing a variety of quests, Heroes will gain experience accordingly and level up to unlock even more powerful capabilities.

You might be wondering what the game is all about and how it works, so we’re going to provide a summary for you here. It all begins with the canonical “lore” of the gaming ecosystem itself, which is to say the background story and eccentrics of the world, some of the special items, and how heroes might orient themselves within the broader story. So without further ado, let’s get right into it.

DeFi Kingdoms Lore

DeFi Kingdoms takes place within the world of Gaia, which used to be a single continent before being split apart. History tells that it was a harmonious society which shared resources and information freely with each other. They lived in a naive utopian state for generations without industrializing, had a deep respect for Gaia, and lived in unison with the natural world.

Brought upon by an era of technological advancement, the titans of industry began to systematically destroy the world around them for the sake of progress and personal gain. Proud of their technological supremacy, the people declared themselves to be living in the Age of Progression. A small number of the people held true to Gaia and continued to worship her as a god, and were thus invited to a magical place called the Inner Grove.

The outraged God of Renewal, Irae, split Gaia into decentralized continents in order to slow their path of destruction. After millennia, societies have begun to reunite with their roots, rallying around their appreciation for Gaia’s gifts.

The map of Serendale has quite a few place for Heroes and their Pets to explore.

Kingdoms, previously isolated, now connect through their shared reverence for the land and JEWELs, a key resource cultivated in gardens and which have come to power their economies. Now, these kingdoms are leveraging magical energy derived from JEWELs to summon ancient Heroes from the Inner Grove itself. The summoned Heroes help defend their kingdoms from the marauding beasts which roam the margins of civilization.

By combining their powers, two Heroes can infuse summoning crystals to create portals to the Inner Grove. Using these crystals, they can summon an even more powerful Hero from the Inner Grove. Summoning such a powerful Hero destroys the summoning crystal in the process.

The creation of summoning crystals requires a magical element called Gaia’s Tears, which are crystals formed from Gaia’s grief when Irae shattered the world’s unified continent. Additionally, ancient runes written with Irae’s ashes enable Heroes to level-up their skill trees via a combination of magic and meditation.

Hero NFTs, Pets, and Skill Trees

Hero NFTs have RPG-style skill trees and limited but refillable resources like HP, Mana, and Stamina. The dynamic nature of the NFT characteristics are one of the most crucial elements of the game, since players can upgrade their digital assets over time via gameplay.

Summoning is part art and part science, but with elements of chance as well. Heroes are summoned via dimensional portals by combining the powers of two existing Heroes, and sacrificing rare elements. The two Heroes first imbue their energy into Gaia’s Tears and the Power Token of their realm (Serendale or Crystalvale), which are combined to activate a Summoning Crystal.

As for characteristics, Heroes have two strains of genetics: one for their looks and one for their playable skills. Newly summoned Heroes take on genetic attributes from both of the two source Heroes needed to perform the summoning. Consequently, Heroes at higher levels should be able to summon stronger Heroes. Genetic mutations may also occur during summoning, leading to rare and unexpected traits!

Recall that the combination of two higher-level Heroes allows for the summoning of more powerful Heroes from the Inner Grove.

Furthermore, Heroes can also work odd jobs to generate the currency they need and participate in quests, which we will cover in a bit more detail below. Eventually, players will enjoy a fleshed-out combat system (in development) to engage in the ultimate decentralized multiplayer competition.

Finally, Heroes may come across eggs in the wild which hatch into Pet NFTs. These Pets often grant the Hero special perks like increased stamina, speed, reduced recovery time, and more. Each hatched Pet has a different rarity score, with the rarest Pets offering the most powerful effects to their Hero companions. Of course, their powers won’t be conferred unless they’re fed regularly; just be careful not to overfeed them.

Hero Quests

Crystalvale and Serendale are full of quests to go on, useful items to collect, and valuable experience to be gained. DeFi Kingdom Heroes were born to go on Quests, which are divided into two categories at present: Profession Quests and Training Quests.

Profession Quests allow Heroes to gather in-game resources while developing crucial skills which carry over to leveling up, combat, and summoning more formidable Heroes. Heroes can choose from four different professions: Gardening, Mining, Fishing, and Foraging.

Each profession has a corresponding skill which has a chance to increase each time a Hero completes a Profession Quest. As these skills become more refined, your Hero’s ability to earn rewards from that profession increases accordingly.

Professions give Heroes the opportunity to accumulate resources and experience to make themselves more formidable on their quests.

Training Quests available to heroes, each corresponding to a variety of stats attributed to Heroes. Different Trainers specialize in specific disciplines. Once a Hero surpasses their trainer by leveling up, they will have to seek trainers with even higher levels of mastery at their desired skill.

Currently under development is a third category called Adventure Quests. These will involve venturing to distant lands with teams of Heroes, giving Heroes the opportunity to discover magical items, learn rare secrets, and earn glory on the battlefield, not to mention collect the spoils of war from their defeated foes.

Places of Interest

The Marketplace is the center of commerce in DeFi Kingdoms, where players trade their assets on the Klaytn blockchain. Players will need to visit here often to purchase JEWELs, seeds, and other items to aid them on their adventures and in their professions. Seeds represent a share in a liquidity pool, and are represented as LP tokens which can be planted in the Gardens to generate rewards.

Players can visit the Jeweler to stake or claim their JEWEL tokens, or manage locked Power Tokens and Hero Power-ups, which are granted to players holding the aforementioned LP tokens. Some examples of these Power-ups are Quick Study for gaining experience faster via questing, or Rapid Renewal which increases the rate of stamina recovery for the assigned Heroes.

Lastly, Heroes can be purchased or sold at the Tavern. As for NFT rentals, players can hire out their Heroes as well. Higher level Heroes are obviously in more demand since their higher level grants them the ability to summon more powerful Heroes during the rituals.

Combat Testing Grounds Pre-Alpha

As for combat, special events and tournaments will be held periodically with rewards for winning teams drawn from the Quest Fund. For now, there’s the soft launch of the pre-alpha Combat Testing Grounds.

Participating players will get to test out some of the in-progress combat features for the Archer, Knight, and Priest class characters and then provide feedback for devs. Access requires a Backstage Pass Power-Up, which can be purchased at either Jeweler for 50 c/sJEWEL.

Also, Heroes will be able to purchase and develop real estate for use by other players, and will also be able to find and craft rare items as dynamic NFTs. Note that land purchases, combat, and crafting features are still under development at the time of publication.

DeFi Kingdoms is already a game rich in content and attractive in terms of its art style. The development of the game is taking place quickly, with frequent updates and solid communications coming out of the marketing team.

This is a game which not only gives players the chance to own their in-game assets, but has actively sought the feedback from its community. The future’s looking bright for this project; better keep an eye on this one.

Resources

DeFi Kingdoms. (2023, 23 Mar.). Combat testing grounds (pre-alpha). DeFi Kingdoms: Medium.
DeFi Kingdoms. (2023, 9 Mar.). DeFi Kingdoms. Official DeFi Kingdoms Whitepaper.
Soares, X. (2022, 29 Dec.). DeFi Kingdoms guide: Everything you need to know. BeInCrypto.