A new game mode for Splinterlands called Regions of Praetoria

I am proposing a new game format for Splinterlands called Regions of Praetoria. But there is a broader purpose here.

There are 3 purposes here:

The 1st purpose is to replace the sword banging thing that appears during the Splinterlands maintenance window every 2 weeks with a puzzle game. The idea is to give the community puzzle game options and vote on it by game play during the maintenance window.

The 2nd purpose is to give third party developers a large window/chance to develop a game by using that short time when maintenance is being done for the community to play their puzzle game while the main game is temporarily shut down. Having 2 weeks to take feedback and make improvements in between gameplay gives a long slow runway.

The 3rd purpose here is to try to capture the wider worldwide puzzle community and steer it towards Splinterlands. I would argue that Splinterlands is a type of puzzle game - "My algebra equation versus yours."

Regions of Praetoria: This is a Mahjong game using the Splinterlands cards. You travel the map of Praetoria from regions 1 to 150 as levels - each level you play is numbered corresponding to the region numbers of Praetoria just like other mobile puzzle games. The background changes for each region. The avatar of the owner of the castle for that region would appear somewhere in the game and you could possibly have a bonus round called "beat the castle" where the castle owner is the villain and keeps adding cards to the deck reversing your progress.

The developer making this game would have to go study the online competitive puzzle community like pogo.com including the online casinos and maybe real world casinos to see how they keep Mahjong fresh and interesting and not repetitive and figure out how to incorporate Splinterlands elements into a Mahjong game. I would argue that the worldwide puzzle community is very large and crosses many genres and game types.

Expansions: Nate has talked about an extensive tunnel system underneath Praetoria and also there is IP showing the various realms of the Splinterlands universe.

Play to earn: There are many options here but during the trial phase, all of the games competing for attention on the Splinterlands maintenance window page would be earning only glint if they get out of the "newcomer" stage and move on to the "promising" stage. For this Mahjong game you would earn glint if it advances into the "promising" stage and you would buy rewards cards with it. Maybe you could have a rewards card that is ranged or magic shoot the castle owner at the bonus stage.

Maintenance page: The maintenance page would require a small amount of work by the Splinterlands development team. The puzzle games listed there would be in tiers. Newcomers, a second tier called "promising" and a final stage of eligible for community vote and advancement.

So for these puzzle games:

Newcomers - cannot earn glint
Promising - can earn glint
Eligible for community vote - If upvoted by the community can earn glint plus other land game resources or interaction tied to the land owner community but that has to be a separate proposal and approved by the community

Examples of possibilities: Lets say one puzzle game rises to the top. Everyone likes it and the community is eagerly awaiting a proposal on how they will incorporate it into the land part of Splinterlands.

There are lots of options here.

Example 1: We could vote that the uncaptured land resource taxes go into a pool and that can be randomly scattered/distributed throughout the regions for players to earn in there adventure in the winning puzzle game of Praetoria.

Example 2: We could let players of this puzzle game earn Desalinization crystals and contribute them to the region they just defeated before they leave it.

Example 3: You can have a "no spellbook" and "spellbook" dichotomy where spell book owners can earn land resource rewards but those who do not can't.

I can't think of everything: I am not a game designer. I am just throwing an idea out there.

#splinterlands