Pixel art gameplay enters a whole new level. Voxies’ Voxie Tactics is a game that blends nostalgic mechanics with blockchain made by an ‘all-star development team’.
Game Overview
Voxie Tactics is a free-to-play and play-and-earn tactics RPG game that is part of the Voxies metaverse. As a tactics game, the title has turn-based battles as its main mechanic but with the influence of terrain and character direction. The game uses a mix of blocky and retro visual aesthetic, nearly similar to games like Roblox and Minecraft. Voxie Tactics includes 2 main gameplay modes, PVE for casual players, and PVP for the more competitive gamer. The game is in development by AlwaysGeekGames, a new indie game studio founded by game industry veterans and runs on the Polygon blockchain.
Mechanics
Voxie Tactics gameplay is divided into 2 main categories, Exploration and PVP battles. Exploration of PVE is the story driven experience that will allow players to freely explore the world. Players will be traversing multiple locations and play through questlines to explore diverse biomes, monsters and NPCs. For enemies, they will be up against AI, and winning battles will earn them in-game tokens and NFTs as rewards. The world of Voxie Tactics will include different biomes like:
- Grassy Hills
- Snowy Tundra
- Desert
- Swamps
- Volcanic Mountains
- Cybernetic Realm
- Underground Caverns
PVP battles all take place in the Arena. The PVP battles will include 2 modes, the Draft Mode and the Extreme Arena mode.
Draft Mode:
- Teams can only use free to play or stock Voxie characters
- All battles will be 3 versus 3
- Each team will have 3 lives, losing a battle removes 1 life and players whose lives reach 0 gets eliminated
Extreme Arena Mode will follow the same rules as the draft mode, except that players can use their own NFT Voxies to participate. Both modes also include a leaderboard and a rank-based rewards system.
As previously mentioned, Voxie Tactics battle system is primarily turn-based. These battle mechanics is rules similar to old-school turn-based RPG games like Final Fantasy Tactics and, Arc The Lad. Each battle starts with a turn phase, during this phase players can:
- Move – move their Voxies to traverse the map and position themselves strategically to allow for better combat advantages.
- Action – use of attack, spells or special abilities.
- Equip – allows Voxies to switch equipment like armor and weapons in the middle of battle.
The game also has a Direction mechanic which adds another layer to the gameplay. Voxies can face in one of four cardinal directions: north, east, south, or west. The direction that a Voxie is facing can affect various aspects of the battle. Certain benefits such as melee attacks have an increased chance of hitting when attacking from behind, compared to attacking from the front and from the sides.
Together with physical attacks, Voxies can also use magic during battle. Magic damage is divided into 5 categories
- Fire
- Ice
- Lightning
- Poison
- Holy
Various status effects are also available providing buffs and debuffs during battle
- Haste – Makes Voxies have their turn phase quicker.
- Stop – Stops Voxies from moving and taking actions for a certain number of turns.
- Stone – Petrifies a character and turn them to stone.
- Regen – Applies a beneficial buff that heals periodically.
- Frozen – Encases a target in pure ice, stopping them from acting; any damage shatters the ice.
- Confusion – Causes a target to randomly move and attack.
- Sleep – Puts a target to sleep until they are awoken to fight again.
Attacks can also be charged meaning that a player can set up an attack and charge it for a few more turns before the actual attack takes place. The terrain or the battlefield also provides various effects and attribute bonuses. Elevation is also a factor, Voxies on the high-ground have a a better chance against Voxies on the lower ground.
Classes, Pets and Other Stats
Players can choose from a variety of classes for their NFT characters of Voxies in Voxie Tactics. These classes include:
- Magic Users
- Black Mage
- White Mage
- Priest
- Necromancer
- Front-line Fighters
- Squire
- Knight
- Warrior
- Ninja
- Utility Characters
- Ranger
- Monk
- Bard
- Druid
- Thief
- Other and special classes
- Robots
- Monsters
- Time Mage
- Samurai
- Chemist
- Pirate
- Hawknight
Players are not limited to just one class for the whole game though as they can swap classes after hitting certain levels. Throughout the game players can level up their Voxies to increase their stats and power. Leveling up characters requires use of experience gained by defeating enemies.
Voxies have 4 key stats, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Luck. Voxie classes receive benefits based on their key stats. The key stats for the different Voxie classes are slightly higher at level 0 or at base level compared to their other stats. Players and their Voxies can also equip companions that provide additional benefits and buffs. A total of 20 companion pets are available in Voxie tactics and can be acquired by either purchasing it together with the Voxie NFT or by exploring the world.
Tokenomics
Voxie Tactics main token is called VOXEL. VOXEL is an ERC-20 based token with utility that includes Marketplace transactions, crafting and entry fees for PVP arenas. A total of 300 Million VOXEL Tokens will be made available with an unlock period of up until 2027. Of this total amount, the team allocated 50% or 150 Million for play-and-earn rewards. As of this moment, there is no info yet if Voxie Tactics or Voxies will include governance tokens in its ecosystem. Governance tokens allow for more user or community participation and as well as additional earning opportunities via staking.
NFTs
Voxies are NFT characters that players can use in Voxie Tactics. A total of 10,000 Voxies or Voxie characters are currently available. These are divided into 20 different classes, from 10 different races. Some of the Voxies will also have 1 of the 20 different companion types already attached during mint. Players who opt to use Voxies in Voxie Tactics will have benefits that include:
- Higher rate of in-game rewards
- Access to certain weapons and items included in the Voxie NFTs
- Rarer Voxie classes and Races
- Creation of new generation of Voxie NFTs or breeding
The Team
AlwaysGeekyGames is the new indie studio that is behind the development of Voxies and Voxie Tactics. The company is composed of people with gaming industry backgrounds.. Some of its listed notable team members include:
- Steven Ball, CEO and Co-founder – Former Team Lead for Technology Group and Senion Online Programmer at Ubisoft. Also worked at Electronic Arts (EA) as a Software Engineer.
- Ashley Kurn, CCO and Co-founder. – Worked as a QA Tester for Warner Bros. Montreal
- Ryan Sterling, CFO – Former Corporate Account Manager at Related Companies, also Senior Financial Analyst for Pembroke
Project Partners
Voxie Tactics partners include:
- NonceBlox
- Accelbyte
- Kevuru Games
- Get Good LLC
- Falcon Rappaport and Berkman LLC
Roadmap
Voxie Tactics is now available for download and play for free for the Windows PC. Just recently, the team has completed incorporating VOXEL earning mechanics and as well as other utilities and services. NFT partnerships are also being forged meaning that NFT avatars from other projects might be useable within the game’s ecosystem. Over the next quarter, updates that will allow for more maps, item trading, and NFT renting and loaning services will be deployed. Together with this Voxie Tactics will also aim to start the pre-season of their PVP mode.