We are encroaching (just passed by the time I finished writing this bloody thing!) upon the season finale which marks two weeks since embarking upon my journey into Splinterlands - and what a fortnight it has been! Coming at this as someone who only heard about Splinterlands and crypto gaming in general a short while ago, I thought I would share some of my key takeaways in this wee blog piece in the hope of helping others just getting started..

1. Splinterlands is free to try, not free to play

If you have played through a few battles and think there is something in Splinterlands you can vibe with, then you will need to purchase the Summoner's Spellbook. This will open up the wider experience for you and allow you to start partaking in the market and earning DEC for your wins. However, like any investment, you will need to pop some money in if you expect to make anything back.

And this is where we need to alter our thinking. If a pure game was asking me to pay in order to advance then I would not be interested. However, once you realise that this is a game, cryptocurrency which obey economic rules, and a thriving market where you can earn real money buying, selling and renting assets you earn through play, perhaps the "investment" will make a little more sense.

I was happy to chuck in £40 to get me going, purchase a few cards, and rent a few others. Am I a millionaire after 2 weeks? Of course not. But I am enjoying the experience and I rest easy knowing that I can make a little money for essentially playing a game I enjoy on my commute. I would easily pay £50 for a PS5 game, so why not pop something in to this too?

2. Leave your preconceptions behind

This is not a traditonal browser/mobile game. This is not a typical crypto investment scheme/marketplace. This is something different entirely - a cool amalgamation of the two which, if you're anything like me, is totally addictive and engrossing.

Coming from an economics and business background, one of the most intersting parts for me is the marketplace. I have been loving keeping track of cards, trying to get good deals renting in order to grow my card points and breach the higher league brackets, and renting out the cards I have not been using. I think I have probably spent more time on Peakmonsters than in the game itself. It is a brilliant resource and, once you figure it out, really intuitive to use.

As for the gameplay, the autobattle and unit selection element is simple but tactical enough to allow for genuine skill expression and strategy. It reminds me a lot of another game I love, Hearthstone Battlegrounds. You can find yourself on pretty good win streaks by learning the popular set ups and how to counter them. And this leads to my third point...

3. You will play against a lot of bots

Unfortunately, some of those "playing" Splinterlands in the lower leagues have taken the route of least resistance and have set up bots to farm DEC. This is a blessing and a curse. A curse because you will see the same lineups time after time. And a blessing because you will see the same lineups time after time!

One great thing about the bots is that they will likely be playing the same lineups again and again. After a few losses you should be able to figure them out and think of cards and lineups to counter them. This is great as it means you can find yourself boosted up the rankings really quickly!

4. Figure out your own strategy

You are not going to make money off of this over night without a massive helping of luck. Simply throwing money at card packs might work some of the time but, as with any other card game, you are likely to get less than you put in.

So you do need to use your head to figure out a strategy. For me this meant reading as much as possible, checking out blog posts, using splintercards (which is a fantastic resource) and trying to figure out how to maximise my time with the resources I invested.

So this season I purchased a few cards I thought looked good and rented the rest. I was way ahead on rating after 5 days or so, so decided to rent right up to Silver 3 yesterday. This cost some of my hard earned DEC (Bronze awards relatively little amounts of DEC per win) but opened the door for higher returns and the promise of more cards! And this is the best bit, by renting up to Silver 3 I increased the number of chests earned today from 9 to 12! And now for the money shot...

5. End of Season Rewards!!!

So here we go. After two weeks of daily quests getting next to nothing, and high hopes of picking up some good cards, I came to the end of the season firmly in Silver 3. And here is what I got...

And what was inside???

An epic, a rare, two commons, some more potions, and some DEC. Not life changing by any means, but I picked up a couple of decent cards here that might slip into some of my lineups or, if I have no use for them, can be rented out to earn me a little extra DEC - lovely stuff!

Now, onto next season!