Ever skateboard at a park and come home with broken bones and bruises? Well you’re not alone. In middle school I thought skateboarding was easy but I once fell out of balance and kissed the ground so hard that my nose began to bleed. That’s why I don’t do tricks anymore but being drawn to the graceful swag of skateboarding never burned out.  Good thing I can play skateboard games in the comfort of my room without taking home broken bones. Let’s see if SkateX can provide the same thrill skateboarding is known for.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

SkateX is a massively multiplayer online skating game that uses NFTs to produce decks, attire, and other digital assets that players can own and use anyway they like. This game is the first title of the team known as Block Tackle which is made up of game industry veterans who have built hits for companies like EA, Kabam, Lucasfilm, and Roblox.

This project is also backed by leading web3 investors like Animoca Brands. SkateX is to be built in Solana and currently, the first NFT collection of SkateX has already gone live and was sold out in minutes. The playable version of the game is to be introduced by Q3 2022.  

GAMEPLAY SUMMARY

SkateX is going to be a skill-based skateboarding game set in an open-world metaverse where players will build their own avatar and drop in the lobby to skate, join a crew and socialize with friends. Whether it’s solo or with the crew, players will compete in challenges, master tricks, enter tournaments and build a fanbase to unlock sponsorships, token prizes and other rewards.

Other Metaverse activities include: Avatar customization, social lobbies, marketplace and other user generated content. Although SkateX has NFTs and earning possibilities, it’s still free-to-play for gamers that don't own their own NFTs.

TOKENS AND NFTs

The NFTs in this game are in the form of skateboards, streetwear and more to come. The ownership of skateboards isn’t just something for the players to show off but it is also used in the game as well. The same goes with the streetwear NFTs where the digital self of the player can be reflected on its style. However, it’s disappointing after knowing that there is no information in their litepaper about the benefit of being a holder of these NFTs other than the fact that the player owns it to use, trade or sell.

There is also not much explanation for the tokenomics of this project. The only information I got from the litepaper is that for every staked NFT there is a guaranteed reward of GRIND Tokens. The GRIND tokens will unlock the ultimate SkateX utilities including NFT mints and other functionalities to be announced.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I like how SkateX’s website looks because of its colorful real-life street graffiti design that can grab anyone's attention. An online presence that a website brings, regardless of industry, can have a massive impact on its success. The same goes with play-to-earn projects that are yet to be launched. It’s important to realize that a majority of people will visit their website first before participating or purchasing any of their NFTs. I give SkateX credit for that since it’s fun navigating around their website. At least until I had a hard time looking for the project’s litepaper and had to search for it on Google. I like the website but, in my opinion, the litepaper should be easily accessible.

Upon reading the litepaper, I honestly think that the developers should work more on it because there is information I am looking for that is not available on there like the tokenomics, utility of the token and an in depth explanation of the effect of owning an NFT in the game. The core gameplay explanation is also kind of vague so it’s hard to imagine how everything will play out.

On the brighter side, the website is not the only thing that is colorful in SkateX. It’s also the skateboard designs. A lot will probably agree that the board designs are guaranteed to catch any eye. I really like how players can choose from a variety of skateboard designs in SkateX. From foreground and background to griptape color and wheel design. It’s like the perfect canvas to express the art of any skate enthusiast.

Overall, I think the skateboarding genre in the P2E sphere is a fresh approach in the blockchain. I’m looking forward to how this product will develop and have mainstream applicability so it will be digestible for the general population.