Good Afternoon fellow crypto enthusiasts and gamers.
I haven't written about GALA for a number of months due to my time being occupied elsewhere, so I thought I would give my favourite gaming platform some TLC.
As a refresher and for those who don't know, GALA games are working towards an epic feat of fusing blockchain, decentralisation and gaming together.
Let's talk about the games
When I purchased my GALA node back in February 21, the platform was very much in its' infancy (and argubaly still is today), with only one live game on their platform - the good old "Townstar". Fast forward to present day, and it is safe to say GALA has been very busy with the official list of games standing at 5:
1. Townstar - developed by Gala Games
Build your own city from planning the roads, building stores and factories through to farming and forestry. Compete with others around the world for prizes and cash rewards for the most productive Town.
2. Mirandus - In development by Gala Games
Mirandus is an epic fantasy RPG set in a massive world ruled by five player-monarchs. In game, players have absolute freedom of choice: they can set out into the wilderness alone to try their fortunes against the monsters of the deep woods and dungeons, join with one of the monarchs to serve as a knight in their court, or set up shop in one of the five great cities of the realm. Player ownership of in-game assets is a central mechanic, with players being able to hold land deeds which allow them to claim parts of the wilderness and set up holdfasts ranging from small farms to massive cities. In Mirandus, you decide who you will be and choose your own quest in the epic fight against evil.
3. Fortifed - In development still TBA
Fortified is an epic PvP Tower Defense game set in a fantastical medieval world. In game, players will be able to compete with one another to build the best tower defense strategies, utilizing everything from basic arrows and archery to the arcane arts. Compete with players on your own terms on your own land, or meet on neutral territory to battle it out to see who will take home the prize. Player ownership of assets is an important part of each part of the game, but those without land or NFTs will still be able to join and compete, potentially earning part of the prize pool! In Fortified, you set the terms of your engagement, build out your tower network, and train your NFT-based troops to attack!
4. Echoes of Empire - In development by ION Games
Echoes of Empire is an epic sci-fi strategy game set within a galaxy at war. In game, players will be able to build, upgrade, and own a fleet of epic spaceships used to control their sector of the galaxy. Players will decide to go solo or join up in massive guilds to wage combat over the scarce resources circulating the system. Once they obtain enough resources they will need to muster and master the economic centers of their Command Station where they can upgrade warships, craft new weapons, and repair their fleet. Player ownership of in-game assets is a central mechanic, and players will have the ability to own major sectors of the galactic system.
5. Spider Tank project - In development by Gamedia
The Spidertank Project (name TBD) is a Brawler/MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), which allows players to pick and choose between a number of “Spider Tanks” and armaments before battling it out on a series of maps. As a free-to-play game with play-to-earn mechanics centering around skill-based competition, resource collection, and a player-driven upgrade cycle, The Spidertank Project will redefine gaming.
NOTE - Only Townstar is the only playable game right now with the other 4 games set to launch in 2021/2022.
Moving onto blockchain
All of the games developed on the GALA platform will be blockchain compatible. Lets break that down and explain what that actually means.
1. Blockchain technology is most simply defined as a decentralized, distributed ledger that records the provenance of a digital asset. By inherent design, the data on a blockchain is unable to be modified.
2. Relative to GALA, this means the data and history for every game will be immutable, viewable by anyone, and most of all - transparent.
3. All of the games will be powered by NFTs (non fungible tokens) such as land, buildings, avatars, machines, weapons and much much more! These NFTS will be held on a blockchain, thus verifying their origin, number of owners, previous owners and current owners.
And now - decentralisation
The GALA gaming platform will be powered, controlled and owned by the 50,000 node holders that are responsible for providing power and storage to the network (and eventually processing the transactions on the GALA blockchain). What's more, node holders vote on key decisions, for example, which games can be built on the platform. Nodes can be run by anyone around the globe and this is how decentralisation is achieved.
If I haven't already bored you with the above, let's talk about the nodes
Out of the 50,000 nodes available for purchase, approximately 29,000 have been sold to date. The current price of a node is $12,000 and will increase by $100 for every 100 nodes sold. Based on this pricing structure, the final node will be sold for a whopping $33,000.
Anyone with a computer can purchase and set up a node with the computational power requirements being minimal right now. Having said this, further CPU and ram capacity will be needed as more games pile onto the platform.
In return for their services, node holders will receive daily GALA (a form of cryptocurrency) and a chance to be airdropped NFTs for their upcoming games.
Currently, node holders are receiving around 800 GALA per day providing their node is online for 6 hours within a 24 hour period. GALA is trading on a number of exchanges such as Bitrue and Bitmart with the price oscillating between $0.025 and $0.035. If we do some quick maths, that equates to a daily income of $20 - $ 28 per day, or $600 - $840 per month.
Node holders may also choose to hold their GALA in anticipation of price appreciation, or even use their GALA to purchase in game items. I am a big fan of the upcoming game Mirandus and recently used my GALA to acquire a weapons store and an armory store.
On top of the daily GALA rewards, node holders are eligible for in game NFT drops. These are completely random, but in the past 6 months, I have received around 6 NFTS with an Alpha executioner (epic) for the Spidertank game being my most valuable NFT drop.
The epic Alpha executioner that was airdropped to my node. Yes, whilst it looks like an angry random chicken, there are only 250 of these bad ass birds in existence which were selling on the GALA store for over $1,200 recently. Whoever thought chickens could be so expensive eh???
What's more, once the entire 50,000 nodes have been sold, the nodes will be converted into NFT's allowing them to be sold on a secondary market. What will they be worth - well your guess is as good as mine - but ultimately their value will be intrinsically linked to the success of GALA.
I want to get involved in the GALA ecosystem, but $12,000 for a node is hella expensive
I can't argue that the current price of a node is nothing short of a small fortune, and they are only going to go up! Fortunately I was able to purchase my node back in February for a modest $4k. Having said that, if you are a gaming enthusiast like me, and believe in GALA's vision of creating a global decentralised gaming platform that will be host to a plethora of games, then I can only urge you to check out the GALA games site here. Their site is full of information on their games, their vision, the nodes and much more. Also, their CMO and CEO often do lot's of AMA (ask me anything) so a quick search on Youtube will also help broaden your knowledge. Oh - their discord chat is also a gem for info too.
If you are interested in purchasing a node, I am shamelessly providing my referral link here. If you do decide to acquire a node under my link, I will happily give you 50% of the one time referral fee (at today's rate this is worth around $100). Kindly message me on twitter (handle chris_crypto1) or comment below with evidence that you have acquired a node licence under my referral code, and I will send you your share of the referral fee. But please, please, please, make sure you fully understand what you are purchasing and understand that your capital is at risk. Whilst this is a rather unique opportunity, please do not think this will be a "get rich quick" scheme - it is not and your capital is at risk.
FYI - Node holders have an 8 day grace period from the date they acquire their node. So if you decide the node is not for you during this time, then you simply obtain a full refund.
Disclaimer
None of the above should be taken as financial advice. I do own a GALA node and the cryptocurrency GALA. I am a chartered accountant but also a geeky gamer. :)
