What Is Splinterlands & How Do You Play?

Top NFT Games (Updated for 2022)

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of [Splinterlands](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-splinterlands-how-do-you-play).

## What Is Splintershards (SPS)?

[Splinterlands](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/splinterlands/) is a digital, collectible card game based on blockchain technology and inspired by games like Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone, where players build a collection of cards with different attributes and battle other players in skills-based matches. It is a game where players can buy, sell and trade their digital assets just as they would with physical trading cards games such as Magic the Gathering, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Splinterlands was created as players lost the ability to truly own their assets (or trading cards) once games went digital. With blockchain technology, it allows players to own and trade their digital assets freely once again. It also allows the game to have true scarcity and transparency, which means all cards on Splinterlands have a verifiable supply and historical record. 

Players battle other players by choosing ranked or practice battles. With ranked battles, players can increase their rating. There is no downside to playing ranked battles as a beginner since players with a rating below 100 do not lose ranking points. Battles take place between players of similar strength. When matched up with an opponent, both players choose a set of six monster cards and one summoner card for the battle to destroy all their opponent’s monster cards and win the battle.

Although the game is free-to-play, players need to purchase the summoner’s spellbook for $10 if they want to unlock the game in full. With the summoner’s spellbook, players get access to their account keys and unlock the ability to earn Dark Energy Crystals, which can be redeemed for real currency. 

Splinterlands started in May 2018 and launched Splintershards (SPS) – its [governance token](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/governance-token) for the SPS [decentralized autonomous organization](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-autonomous-organizations-dao) (DAO) at the end of July 2021. It concluded a $3.6M private token sale for 6.6% of the SPS token supply. After reaching 100,000 players in its first three years, it added another 50,000 in just over a month from June 2021. Splinterland plans to build out its game in the latter half of 2021, with oracle integration planned for Q1 2022.


## Who Are the Founders of Splinterland?

Jesse Reich and Matthew Rosen, who go under “aggroed” and “yabapmatt” on the Splinterlands Discord server are the two founders. Both are from the Pennsylvania area. While Reich is a former scientist and chemistry professor without any professional gaming experience prior to Splinterlands, Rosen worked as a developer for RockYou and Ryzing, both gaming projects, albeit not blockchain-based.

In total, the Splinterlands team consists of 12 employees as per their LinkedIn page.


## What Makes Splinterland Unique?

Splinterland aims to capitalize on the growing demand for blockchain-based games that offer the possibility to own unique digital assets. At the end of July 2021, it closed a private round for $3.6 million in exchange for only 6.6% of the entire token supply. 

Splinterlands runs on the [Hive blockchain](https://docs.splinterlands.com/hiveblockchain), meaning all actions in the game are recorded on the blockchain. That means anyone can join the game by creating a Hive blockchain address, making the game permissionless. It also provides Splinterlands with a transparent record of all actions in the game, including battle results, which ensures fairness and transparency. 

Players have a base set of cards and can purchase booster packs or specific cards from other players. These cards can be leveled up and used in battle against other players. In these ranked battles, players compete for Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), the in-game currency of Splinterlands. Players can also obtain DEC by converting unused cards in their collection. DEC can be used to buy in-game items or trading cards from other players on the Splinterland market. DEC are also tradable among players and on third-party exchanges. The utility of DEC will continue to increase as more features are added to the game.

The Splintershards (SPS) token will work as a DAO on the [Binance Smart Chain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-binance-smart-chain) platform. The SPS token is a governance token that will be integrated into the Splinterland game, giving players the option to influence decisions about the game and the ecosystem. Players may also propose their own changes, such as changing the tournament schedule, modifying the battle settings, or a change to the DEC inflation pools.


#### **Related Pages:**

Check out [Axie Infinity (AXS)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/axie-infinity/) — a pet-oriented trading game incorporating NFTs.

Check out [AnRKey X (ANRX)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/anrkey-x/) — another highly popular NFT game.

Learn how NFTs work in our [guide to Non-Fungible Tokens](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-a-non-fungible-token-nft).

Get the latest crypto news and latest trading insights with the [CoinMarketCap blog](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/categories/blog).


## How Many Splinterlands (SPS) Coins Are There in Circulation?

The maximum total supply will be 3 billion SPS tokens. As per their [token distribution schedule](https://sps.splinterlands.com/distribution), Splinterlands plans to airdrop 400 million, or 13.33% of their tokens, over a year to players holding Splinterlands assets. This is to encourage players to accumulate and hold Splinterlands assets for longer. Players can earn airdrop points for different assets, which will be used to determine how many SPS they receive.

200 million SPS, or 6.66%, were allocated in the private sale in July 2021 for $3.6 million. Investors include crypto-native funds such as Animoca Brands, Blockchain Founders Fund, Enjin, Polygon, Yield Guild Games, and more. They will be unlocked over 10 months. 

The remaining token supply is allocated as follows: 10% will be controlled by the DAO, which is planned for Q1 2022; 9% will be held by the team and unlocked over 65 months, with 50 million unlocked on day one; 1% reserved for advisors, to be unlocked over 24 months; 60% reserved for staking and oracle rewards, as well as for play to earn rewards for players, to be released over a 65-month schedule.


## How Is the Splinterlands Network Secured?

Splinterlands’ SPS token will be set up on the [Binance Smart Chain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-binance-smart-chain) (BSC) blockchain. The team decided against Ethereum because gas fees on Ethereum became prohibitively high, limiting the number of people who can participate. BSC has fast transaction times and low transaction fees, as well as the function to port smart contracts to Ethereum, making a future move possible.

BSC is secured through the [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) [consensus mechanism](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/consensus-mechanism). 21 validators are elected every 24 hours to validate transactions and maintain blockchain security. These validators have to stake a certain amount of BNB coins with Binance to be eligible to do so. Holders of SPS tokens will be able to stake their SPS in smart contracts to participate in governance voting.

While the SPS token lives on BSC, the game itself is on the Hive blockchain. Interactions between the two will be handled by oracles, who will be users or entities elected by SPS holders that are tasked with relaying relevant information from the game to the Binance Smart Chain. This is the technically optimal solution to minimize transaction fees while optimizing the gaming experience. In-game-related actions stay on Hive, but conversions to SPS tokens will be relayed by oracles.


## When Will Splinterlands (SPS) Trading Begin?

After its private round in July 2021, Splinterlands plans to begin its airdrop and liquidity incentives in Q3 2021.


## Can Splinterlands Hit $1?

[Splinterlands](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/splinterlands/) is trading around $0.40 as of August 2021, so reaching $1 would be a little more than double the price. Given that Splinterlands managed to raise $3.6M in its recent private sale, it shows strong interest and backing from investors. With its new features and number of users growing considerably, it will be one to watch. Furthermore, considering that other popular NFT games accomplished 10X of their initial trading value and more, $1 might not be far.


## Where Can You Buy Splinterlands (SPS)?

As of August 2021, you can buy SPS on [Pancakeswap (V2)](https://coinmarketcap.com/en/exchanges/pancakeswap-v2/), [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/en/exchanges/gate-io/), [BKEX](https://coinmarketcap.com/en/exchanges/bkex/) and [Bilaxy](https://coinmarketcap.com/en/exchanges/bilaxy/). 

If you want to learn more about how you can start buying cryptocurrencies, you can read more in our guide [here](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/).

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