Kiverse Games is one of our biggest partners, back in 2022, together we developed the original Cyber Fighters, a beat em up style mobile play-to-earn game. Now, in 2024, we are once again working together on it to add multiplayer to the game as well as developing their flagship game Elders of Ki.
Designing a Beat 'em up game
"Gaming has evolved from a niche pastime to a global cultural phenomenon, influencing how we spend our leisure time"
— Kiverse Games' blog article How Prevalent is Gaming?
When we initially started talking, the idea for Cyber Fighters was to make a smaller first game that would use the Cyber Rogues NFT collection as well as the Pika Crypto coin as an integral part of the gameplay. We talked about several different ideas and landed on the beat 'em up genre as a way to generate an interesting gameplay loop that we could later on fill with different meta-layers.
The combat is simple but captivating, players can slash using their swords, shoot their pistols and dash to avoid damage. By defeating enemies, players earn a charge for their ultimate abilities. Once used, these can be powerful enough to wipe out every enemy on-screen.
The enemies themselves appear in 3 different forms: a brawler, a granadier and a gunner. On higher difficulties, they may appear buffed, with increased health and damage, this can been by a small burning effect around them. In order to avoid the player becoming overwhelmed during combat, enemies wait their turn before attacking, and only a handful of them get up close with the player.
Adding Depth through Meta Layers
While the gameplay might be fun in itself, it can become old news rather quickly, that's why we worked on several additional mechanics that can keep the novelty going for longer.
A variety of gamemodes are offered accross all levels including wave survival, clearance levels and payload. All of the different maps generate a sense of progression and novelty throughout the experience.
The leaderboard which is split into monthly and a weekly ones, are another engagement driver that keeps players competing for the number 1 spot.
Missions reset every hour offering new rewards for players which are updated through push notifications.
Play to Earn
At the heart of the project, this is a play to earn game and the way this is handled is not only through purchase and sale of NFTs but also through matches. By playing and winning missions, players are rewarded with a digital currency called Karrots. These can be exchanged on the oficial website for blockchain related rewards.
While still in development, there will be pools that players get to enter through a fee that distributes rewards to the best players of the pool. This keeps the game's economy well and alive.
Adding Multiplayer to Cyber Fighters
We've all wanted multiplayer since the start but first we needed to build a solid foundation. Development has begun and will soon offer mutliplayer PvPvE matches between players who will fight to be the one who earns the biggest amount of points in a match.
Multiplayer will not only significantly enhance the overall experience but also generate a more secure gameplay as we'll be using an authorative server to accomplish that.
If you would like to try out this game, check it out on Android or on IOS. And if you would like to develop a game for your own company, get in contact with Yellow Panda Games.
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