Axie Infinity Shard AXS

Everything you need to know about Axie Infinity in one place

Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn game built on the Ethereum blockchain, has attracted interest from both gamers and crypto enthusiasts. Incorporating elements of traditional gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi), Axie Infinity enables players to earn digital assets through strategic battles involving collectible creatures called Axies. This comprehensive guide examines the various aspects of Axie Infinity, including gameplay, tokenomics, breeding, the marketplace, and the project's future direction, while considering its potential impact on the blockchain gaming sector.

Blockchain Gaming (GameFi)

Blockchain gaming combines decentralized technologies with traditional gaming elements, creating unique and immersive experiences for players. These games often incorporate non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and digital asset ownership, enabling players to generate value from their in-game activities.

Brief History of the Project

Axie Infinity was founded in 2018 by Trung Nguyen, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, and Jeffrey Zirlin within a Vietnam-based company Sky Mavis. Inspired by CryptoKitties, the team sought to create a more interactive blockchain-based game, resulting in a play-to-earn experience featuring unique digital creatures called Axies.

Initially focused on collecting, breeding, and trading Axies, the game later introduced a play-to-earn model with in-game tokens (Smooth Love Potions or SLP) and governance tokens (Axie Infinity Shards or AXS). This expansion attracted investments from venture capital firms and strategic partners, fueling the project's growth in regions like Southeast Asia and South America.

Axie Infinity continues to evolve with new features, such as land gameplay and the integration of the Ronin sidechain to improve scalability and reduce transaction fees.

Games from the Axie Universe

Axie Classic

The original Axie game. Axie Infinity's gameplay involves collecting, breeding, and battling unique axolotl-based digital creatures called Axies. Players acquire Axies from the marketplace or breed them to create powerful creatures with different abilities and traits. 

In order to start playing, players had to mint a minimum of 3 Axies, which amidst the bull run could cost up to several hundreds of dollars, plus the Ethereum gas fees.

Players participate in battles with each other using their Axies. The turn-based battles require strategic team composition and move selection to achieve victory.

By progressing in the game, players earn Smooth Love Potions (SLP), which can be used for breeding or traded for cryptocurrencies. Axie Infinity is also expanding its features with a land system for resource gathering and additional strategic elements.

Axie Infinity: Origins

The Origins was introduced as an alternative to the Classic game, offering changed game mechanics, new art, and storylines. But most importantly the Origins presents a more affordable option in contrast to the classic game. 

Axie Infinity: Homeland

Homeland is a strategic land-based adventure, where players build and develop their own villages populated by Axies. Pieces of land in the game are tokenized assets, which may be freely traded at different price levels.

The price of the land pieces is dependent on their level of development and location.

Axie Infinity: Raylights

Farming minigame available to the landowners within the Axie infinity ecosystem.

The gameplay of Raylights revolves around planting minerals beneath your land to cultivate various plants and unlock new recipes! As players progress and experiment with different mineral combinations, you'll uncover additional layers for planting minerals and discover new recipes and codes.

Axie Infinity Marketplace

The Axie Infinity Marketplace is a decentralized platform where players can buy, sell, and trade Axies, virtual land, and various in-game items. As an integral part of the Axie Infinity ecosystem, the marketplace allows users to monetize their in-game assets and participate in the game's economy.

The marketplace offers a range of filters and sorting options, enabling players to find specific Axies or items based on their preferences.

Native tokens

Axie Infinity Shard (AXS)

Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) is the native utility and governance token of the Axie Infinity ecosystem. It serves multiple functions and plays a crucial role in the game's decentralized economy. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, AXS is an ERC-20 token that facilitates various aspects of the game, including governance, staking, and earning rewards.

Utility

Governance: AXS token holders can participate in the decision-making process for the Axie Infinity platform. They can propose and vote on upgrades, changes, and other developments within the ecosystem.

Staking: Players can stake their AXS tokens to earn a portion of the revenue generated from the Axie Infinity Marketplace and other in-game activities.

Earning rewards: AXS tokens can be earned through various in-game activities, such as winning battles, completing quests, and participating in special events. These tokens can then be used for breeding Axies, purchasing in-game assets, or traded on cryptocurrency exchanges.

Smooth Love Potion (SLP)

The Smooth Love Potion (SLP) is an essential utility token within the Axie Infinity ecosystem. It serves as a primary resource for players, enabling them to breed Axies and participate in the game's play-to-earn model.

Breeding Axies: SLP is required for breeding new Axies, which involves combining two existing Axies to create a new one with a unique combination of traits and abilities. The number of SLP tokens needed for breeding depends on the parent Axies' breeding history, with the cost increasing with each subsequent breed.

Play-to-earn model: Players can earn SLP tokens by participating in various in-game activities, such as winning battles in the Adventure and Arena modes, as well as completing daily quests. This play-to-earn model incentivizes active participation in the game and allows players to monetize their efforts.

Ronin Sidechain

The Ronin sidechain, designed specifically for Axie Infinity, addresses scalability and transaction cost issues associated with Ethereum. As a layer-2 scaling solution, it enables faster, more efficient, and cost-effective transactions for players. 

Ronin increases transaction throughput, reduces gas fees, and offers seamless integration with Ethereum through a user-friendly bridge. It operates in a similar way to Polygon.

With a focus on security and decentralization, Ronin leverages a network of validators, including industry partners like Ubisoft, to ensure the chain's integrity while enhancing the overall gaming experience.