Mining is one of the top strategy-and-adventure-oriented simulation games. The majority of them typically revolve around you needing you to search for gold, ore, and coal. Minecraft is probably the most well-known example of a mining game on the planet. But if you ever get tired of Minecraft and  still want that jolt of excitement you feel from finding a motherlode, then let’s check out Mines of Delarnia – a full fledged mining simulator that gamified “crypto mining”.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Mines of Dalarnia is a free-to-play 2D action-adventure game developed by Workinman Interactive and Chromia Studios that runs on both the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. However, an early red flag I saw is that their website and whitepaper didn’t have their core team’s profile, making it hard to know the team behind this project. I also only saw The Sandbox, Binance, Chromia and Animoca Brands as their investors and partners. No information about gaming guild partnerships were posted.

Currently, Mines of Dalarnia has already been released to the public since April 26, 2022. This Q3 2022, they are planning to release the mobile app version of the game to make it more accessible to the general public.

GAMEPLAY SUMMARY

Mines of Dalarnia, at its most basic level, is a 2D platform mining game. You control a miner on a remote planet.  Needing to delve far into the planet's crust to collect rich materials. The more resources you unearth, the wealthier you become. But you should be wary of your oxygen levels since your character dies if it reaches 0. If your character does die, a percentage of resources mined during the session is lost. While mining, you can encounter battles with other monsters and sometimes you may also need to avoid various traps and destroy blocks of different qualities in order to find resources.

This game may be Play-to-Earn but it also offers a Free-to-Play version. The limitation of F2P is that you will not obtain essential minerals needed to upgrade your abilities and equipment beyond level 3. Moreover, you will not be able to mine in other worlds other than the basic one. Hence, you will miss out the opportunity to collect world-specific minerals that sell for much more. 

I. Resource

Resources that you mine can be used to upgrade equipment. Some of those resources are Falun Copper, Iron ore, Saganite Crystal, etc. Types of resources depend on the particular region or type of terrain you explore.

II.  Equipment

Equipment can have perks like score buffs or status buffs. You can improve your equipment by combining 2 of them or using resources. Some examples of equipment are the following:

• Pickaxe- Upgrading this means you can break blocks more with ease.
• Backpack- Upgrading this allows you to hold more items in.
• Boots- Upgrading this allows you to jump higher.
• Oxygen- Higher oxygen means you can mine for longer periods.

III. Crafting

Aside from upgrading, you can also craft equipment to use in your next expedition such as an Escape Teleport, Health Pills, among others.

EARNING POTENTIAL

Since Mines of Dalarnia is a play-to-earn game, there are various ways for you to collect $DAR tokens. Such as – completing in-game objectives, introducing friends to play, and winning competitions. In addition, landowners can make a fee by renting their properties to other players.

All in-game items, relics, and artifacts are represented by non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which can be sold on open markets. On the in-game market, players can trade or sell items they no longer require. Those who lack the patience to acquire certain resources can purchase or rent the things they need to advance in the game from the marketplace instead.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Mines of Dalarnia offers an addictive game that is easy to pick up with a bit of a learning curve. It takes some time to discover the most suitable strategies, and early game advancement is just challenging enough to keep you engaged. Players of this game have also reported that they’ve been hooked because of the constant feeling of chasing the best upgrades. Dalarnia may appear to be quite simple but once played, it can grab your time and attention especially when you unlock more places to mine.

On the other hand, some players said that there is not much of a challenge to the current game build since you can mine the “free-to-play” level as many times as you want. There is no meaningful penalty for death. Hence, I believe that there is still a need for balancing since easy achievements and lack of additional features may keep this project from lasting.

Mines of Dalarnia is far from those games that are good time-sinks but if you’re an adult busy with life that feels like MMORPG commitment is overwhelming, then this game may be for you. So, if you’re ready to start digging for riches, grab your pickaxe and let’s get started!