In-depth interpretation of the new gameplay of the Fi+ Metaverse platform project BovineVerse

Author: Games Apocalypse

At the beginning of 2022, the GameFi concept became popular and experienced explosive growth, with weekly trading volume once exceeding 200 million USD. It is like a hidden treasure, whose exceptional value has been discovered, and its ecosystem continues to expand. Although the GameFi sector is currently facing a period of undervaluation and accelerated industry reshuffling, the number of active users in GameFi has been steadily increasing, with several "dark horses" emerging. Notably, the Launchpad game project STEPN, launched by Binance, has ignited the market!

STEPN is a Move to Earn NFT game installed on mobile devices, where players earn rewards by wearing "NFT sneakers" and exercising outdoors. According to data from Magic Eden, the floor price of NFT sneakers in STEPN has surged by up to 5 times, with daily active users (DAU) exceeding 30,000, earning it the reputation of the next "Axie Infinity" in the market.

In a sluggish market, how can STEPN stand out? What are its highlights?

Unlike the P2E games of the GameFi 1.0 era, and drawing from the experience of the Web 2.0 application "Qubee," which devolved into a referral race, STEPN successfully connects the on-chain and real world through its "NFT sneakers." It has designed a more comprehensive dual-token economic model and added multiple application scenarios to awaken users' original intention to exercise. Additionally, the low entry barrier and simple gameplay have attracted many traditional players, which is key to STEPN's future user growth.

Historically, blockchain games have struggled to balance playability and profitability, but STEPN has achieved a good balance, allowing enjoyment and profit to coexist.

However, players in the Web3 era often consider various factors of a project comprehensively. The current GameFi environment lacks genuinely interesting game mechanics that enable effective P2E. Recently, a chain game called BovineVerse, which emphasizes the Fi+ concept and conducted an IGO on Galaxy, has precisely filled this gap, with a highly narrative game background that may lead a new paradigm in GameFi and become a new favorite in the blockchain game market.
BovineVerse is a new Fi+ metaverse platform under Web 3.0. In the multiple parallel universes of BovineVerse, three creatively playable chain games will be launched: Legendary Ranch, Interstellar Sandbox, and Interstellar Expedition. BovineVerse features a diverse and complex gaming ecosystem, where nurturing cattle in Legendary Ranch is one of the ways for players to achieve Play to Earn. Upon entering the world of BovineVerse, players can purchase planets, create guilds, engage in interstellar plundering, or choose their affiliated planets: Home Planet, Federal Planet, or Pioneer Planet. Each type of planet has its own tax system, and players can instantly transform into silicon-based life forms—Interstellar Cattle, obtaining three valuable items: cattle, BVG, and BVT through breeding, milking, or battling.

Game Economic Circulation

BovineVerse has also designed a comprehensive dual-token economic model, including two tokens: BVG (game token) and BVT (native governance token). BVG is the reward token for the entire game system, which players can earn for free through activities like PVE tasks; BVT is the project's native governance token, which can be obtained by staking adult female cattle or winning battles with adult male cattle.

In the dual-token economic model, the two tokens and cattle circulate through battles and breeding within the economic system, forming a closed loop.

Tokens also empower many NFT assets in BovineVerse, linking the acquisition of NFTs and tokens to in-game competition, enhancing the game's incentives, increasing user stickiness through economic benefits, and reducing player churn.

Game Mechanics

Planet Types and Tax System
BovineVerse's game is rich in narrative. In the interstellar ranch of BovineVerse, the Home Planet is the original planet, followed by the Federal Planet and the Pioneer Planet. Each planet's establishment has its significance, and each type of planet has its own tax system. Before players can open the door to the cattle universe, they must first join one of the planets. Once a player enters any planet, they cannot change their affiliated planet at will. If they wish to leave, they can establish a Federal Planet or a Pioneer Planet. The establishment of this planetary system grants players the autonomy to choose while encouraging active exploration in the interstellar realm.
Home Planet

The Home Planet, as the name suggests, is the most primitive planet. Compared to the other two planets, its environmental attributes are more unique. The initial supply of the Home Planet is only 100, with a population capacity of 10,000. The ruler of the Home Planet can tax all members participating in economic activities within their federation and can set their own comprehensive tax rate (between 10%-20%). Its unique environment will empower and enhance the cattle skill system.

Federal Planet

As the population of the Home Planet reaches its capacity, a colonial planet attached to the Home Planet—the Federal Planet—will be born. Members within the Home Planet can destroy a certain amount of BVT to establish a Federal Planet, following the tax rate system of the Home Planet. 80% of the tax revenue can be distributed by the ruler of the Federal Planet, while 20% goes to the Home Planet's ruler. Newly established planets cannot inherit the functions, levels, and attributes of the original planet and must be newly developed.

Pioneer Planet

The Pioneer Planet is an independent planetary system established by adventurous pioneers. The Pioneer Planet has the same functions and rights as the Home Planet and can operate its own colonial Federal Planet. By destroying a certain amount of BVT and collecting a specified number of Bovine Heroes, players can establish their own Pioneer Planet.

Ranch Economy

The BovineVerse ranch economy is diverse, allowing players' economic activities to upgrade the capacity of their cattle pens, increase the number of adult cattle bred, and enhance technological equipment. The higher the ranch level, the greater the production efficiency. The ranch is designed to lower the entry barrier for nurturing, simplifying and popularizing the game, focusing on light gaming. This is because, in the later stages, whether users join voluntarily or through guild roadshows, they will incur lower time and learning costs.

Milking

Milking is an inherent attribute of adult female cattle. Staking adult female cattle can produce BVT (BVT is equivalent to milking here). Each adult female cattle counts as 1 computing power, and the milking amount and speed are determined by the cattle's inherent attributes. Players can also use items like feed and stamina packs, and the Home Planet's BUFF coefficient collectively determines the milking coefficient of the cattle.
Breeding

The breeding process is tied to the cattle ecosystem and must be completed by both adult male and female cattle. During breeding, both parties must be idle and cannot participate in any activities (such as battling or milking). Each has five breeding opportunities, and each breeding requires a certain amount of BVG and BVT. After breeding, players can obtain a calf blind box, which can be opened by themselves or sold in the market. The gender and attributes of the blind box are random, with a small probability of obtaining a Bovine Hero and eggshell fragments. All blind box embryos, juvenile cattle, and Genesis cattle can be freely traded on the platform's official website. Bovine Heroes are scarce, unique, and possess unlimited breeding opportunities and eternal life.

In addition, adult cattle can be freely listed for sale in the breeding room for breeding requests. Players requesting breeding must pay a 2% breeding fee to the breeding room and the breeding cost, and will receive a genetically inherited blind box embryo, which not only solves the supply and demand issue but also rewards players.

Combat Game Based on "Heroes"

The combat game section of BovineVerse features bulls as the main characters, possessing different combat attributes such as attack, defense, endurance, and spirit, which are determined by the bulls' genetic attributes.

Combat modes include: turn-based PVP, PVE mode, and team battle mode. The addition of battle gameplay increases playability, granting new value to cattle, shifting from user acquisition to user creation, thereby enhancing user stickiness.

PVP Mode

Bulls match in PVP mode in specific bullfighting arenas to produce BVT. The starting player can be determined randomly or by coin toss (the player who tosses heads goes first; only one player needs to toss, heads goes first, tails goes second). Each round, one side attacks while the other defends. At the beginning, the system randomly distributes 3 skill cards to both players, and subsequently, two cards are distributed each round, with an initial spirit value of 3 points. During the battle, players can choose skill cards for bonuses, and cattle also possess hidden skills. When health is below 20%, there is a 10% chance to trigger a death blow passive skill in that round; after consuming a total of 10 spirit points during the game rounds, there is a 10% chance to awaken divine power.

PVE Mode

Cattle will earn BVG through PVE monster-hunting levels. The BVG rewards are set at different amounts based on the difficulty of the monsters, and players must win at least 10 PVE matches daily to earn BVG, with a reward cap of 20 matches.

Team Battle Mode

Team battle mode will use Home Planet, Federal Planet, and Pioneer Planet as combat units. 30% of the weekly tax revenue from the Home Planet serves as the stakes for team battles. Every Friday night from 8 PM to 10 PM, the system will randomly match 1V1 based on the size of each Home Planet's stake pool (homes that do not participate or respond to battles will be directly judged as losers). Each Home Planet can select 50 players to participate, and each player can only choose one bull. Bulls serve as the attacking side, while cows can defend (heal). The winner can plunder all stakes from the losing side and distribute them within their guild (some tokens will be destroyed) and accumulate seasonal ranking points.

Seasonal Ranking Matches

The seasonal ranking match system will comprehensively rank planets based on milking mining, combat mining, breeding trading of cattle, ranking rewards, and federation victory rewards. The top federations will receive rewards that include points, rankings, and camps. Each season's top federation can earn an additional 25% seasonal token reward, and the top 50 Home Planets can receive seasonal rewards that can be freely disposed of.

Social Attributes

As a pioneer of the Fi+ concept, BovineVerse achieves Play to Earn in GameFi while also integrating SocialFi attributes, creating a new way of social financialization. By combining social networks and DeFi, it opens up new avenues for social interaction. Players can manage their virtual social networks in the game world, establishing close relationships such as couples, best friends, brothers, and sisters. Fighting alongside players with established relationships can increase intimacy; the higher the intimacy, the greater the coin production coefficient during joint battles. Meanwhile, players in the cattle universe will receive three free basic skins for their cattle, enhancing the SocialFi attributes of the cattle.

BovineVerse's SocialFi forms are diverse, including social mining with strong social attributes. Players can earn rewards and benefits through content mining by marking social influence, and users have ownership of their creative earnings on the platform, which will not be monopolized or exploited by the platform.

Guilds

In the early days, as blockchain games increased, participants' time and money were more likely to become decentralized. Initially, blockchain games would experience situations similar to those seen in DeFi, where funds would flow to whichever DeFi protocol offered higher returns. In this scenario, focusing on players became increasingly important.

BovineVerse forms a community culture through the creation of guilds, where players are not just investors in the project but also form interest binders through guilds, directing incentives to true contributors. At the same time, guilds create social networks that enhance user stickiness.
Overall, GameFi is currently in a cooling-off period. After market adjustments, some speculative games that are merely filling space will be eliminated, and the entire sector is seeking new growth points. The addition of guild DAOs injects more resources into this sector, re-planning the distribution of benefits. Regardless of the model, to attract more users to the game, it is essential to enhance the playability of the game itself, consider the design of the economic model, and lower the barriers to user participation while still allowing them to earn. This is the most fundamental difference between GameFi and traditional online games.

BovineVerse is still in the early stages of the project and requires more time for conception and development. However, what is exciting is that it will present a grander narrative and exquisite product feel, potentially leading to more new gameplay in GameFi, which is a direction that GameFi needs to continuously think about and research.