The 2024 GAM3 Blockchain Game Awards Announced, “Off The Grid” Wins GOTY!
The international blockchain game media outlet “GAM3.GG” unveiled the 2024 GAM3 Game Awards at the end of last year, with over 70 professional judges from the traditional gaming and blockchain gaming sectors, including representatives from giants like Amazon, Google, Samsung, and Ubisoft, participating in the selection process.
The selection process consisted of 90% judge votes and 10% community votes, with the “Popular Choice” and “Best Content Creator” awards being solely determined by community voting.
In this year’s selection, “Off The Grid” swept four major awards with its outstanding performance, including the prestigious Game of the Year (GOTY) award, with “Parallel” closely following with three awards, while “Pixels” and “Pirate Nation” each claimed two honors.
Here is the complete list of award winners:
Best Fighting Game: Champions Ascension
Best Art Direction: Moonfrost
Best Web Game: Pirate Nation
Best Mobile Game: Fableborne
Best Role-Playing Game: Big Time
Best Strategy Game: Parallel
Best Action Game: Off the Grid
Best Casual Game: Pixels
Best Sports Game: Sparkball
Best Adventure Game: Ravenquest
Best Card Game: Parallel
Best Shooter Game: Off the Grid
Best Content Creator: YellowPanther
Best Blockchain Game: Pirate Nation
Best Ecosystem: Ronin
Game Developer’s Choice: Wildcard
Best Esports Game: Parallel
Best Multiplayer Game: Off the Grid
Players’ Choice: Pixels
Most Anticipated Game: MapleStory N
Game of the Year: Off the Grid
The winners of the 2024 GAM3 Blockchain Game Awards, featuring 21 awards
Introduction and Reviews of the Best Web3 Game Award Winners
The award-winning blockchain games mentioned above have been introduced and reviewed by “GAM3.GG.” Here is a summary of the games:
1. Best of the Year, Shooter, Action, and Multiplayer Game: “Off the Grid”
Directed by Neill Blomkamp of “District 9” and “Elysium,” “Off the Grid” is a chaotic battle royale game. Combining stunning visual effects with rich narrative content, the game seamlessly integrates tactical shooting, survival, and exploration elements.
“Off the Grid” has released an early access version with a 60-player battle mode where players can team up in groups of three. The game features an innovative “cybernetic” system that allows players to customize different leg and arm attachments, each with unique abilities.
Although currently in early access and with some optimization issues, the game’s overall performance and potential have garnered unanimous approval from the judges.
2. Most Anticipated Game: “MapleStory N”
Developed by NEXON subsidiary Nexpace, the MapleStory Universe game “MapleStory N” inherits the classic 2D art style and gameplay features of “MapleStory.”
The game retains core gameplay elements such as endless monster hunting, job systems, and guild social interactions while introducing an NFT system. Centered around the search for MapleStory heroes, players can choose different career development paths.
“MapleStory N” integrates an NFT forging system without gas fees and introduces an economy system with limited item releases and the elimination of cash shops, allowing players to fully immerse themselves in the game world. The game is expected to be released in the first half of 2025.
3. Best Strategy Esports and Card Game: “Parallel”
Developed by a team with experience in multiple AAA games, “Parallel” is an NFT trading card game (TCG).
Set in a world where humans have caused disasters due to overexploiting Earth’s resources, five civilizations return to Earth after ten thousand years, engaging in battles to reclaim their land.
“Parallel” has received praise for its exquisite card designs and deep strategic gameplay. Each card features voice acting and carefully crafted animation effects, with a well-balanced combat system providing players with rich strategic choices.
4. Best Casual Game, Players’ Choice: “Pixels”
“Pixels” is a pixel-style farm management game with over 900,000 players, adopting a free-to-play model where players can own their land and engage in farming activities. The game’s development team includes developers from renowned game companies like Gamehouse and Ubisoft.
The main gameplay involves resource collection, farming, and item crafting, allowing players to farm on other players’ lands through a sharing mechanism where landowners receive a share of the resources. While the pixel art style and sound effects are of a certain standard, there is room for improvement in the new player guidance system.
5. Best Web and Blockchain Game: “Pirate Nation”
“Pirate Nation” is a web-based game with a pirate theme, where players control an island and recruit pirate crew members. The game is entirely built on the blockchain, utilizing an innovative transaction system without gas fees, ensuring smooth and fast game interactions.
Featuring pixel art style, players can accept challenges through mission boards to earn rewards, build their own ships, and engage in maritime adventures. The game also includes world event systems like monster attacks, allowing players to cooperate against common threats.
6. Best Fighting Battle Game: “Champions Ascension”
Set in the Massina theme park metaverse, “Champions Ascension” features heroes from different worlds battling to conquer the Eternal Arena. The game, currently in the testing phase, provides a variety of mini-games and PvP arena combat systems.
The game includes various fun mini-games such as crab races and dice battles. The arena combat system is well-designed, with characters from different backgrounds having mutual restraint relationships, adding strategic depth to the battles.
7. Best RPG Game: “Big Time”
“Big Time” is a multiplayer cooperative RPG game that combines fast-paced action combat, NFT collection elements, and a cross-era adventure story. Emphasizing teaming up with friends to explore procedurally generated dungeons, the game offers a rich NFT looting experience.
Although the loot spawning process can feel repetitive, in terms of Web3 games, it has created a relatively complete multiplayer cooperative RPG experience.
8. Best Game Developer’s Choice Award: “Wildcard”
“Wildcard” is a 1v1 competitive game where players need to utilize card deck-building abilities and in-game skills to defeat opponents. Currently in the testing phase, the game offers two selectable heroes: the nature-themed Bolgar & Burr and the tech-themed Locke and his mechanical dog Wotchy.
The game’s visual effects and mechanics are outstanding, with each hero having unique skills and summon combinations. The development team has revealed plans to introduce a 2v2 mode and innovative features like audience interaction in the future.
9. Best Sports Game: “Sparkball”
Formerly known as Edenbrawl, “Sparkball” is a MOBA-style sports game that has completely redesigned its UI and art style, transforming the once dark world into a bright and lively arena. Played from a top-down perspective, the game features 5-player team confrontations where the main goal is to seize the ball and score in the opponent’s end zone.
Offering 8 unique hero characters, each with distinctive skills, the NFT system does not affect game balance but is mainly used for collecting and showcasing in the community.
10. Best Adventure Game: “Ravenquest”
“Ravenquest” is a highly customizable MMORPG with a unique job system where players can choose 3 combinations out of 8 archetypes, creating 56 different career pairings. The game provides 10 professional skills, including forging, woodworking, and weaving, forming a complete player-driven economy system.
Through the NFT system, players can own in-game assets such as estates, mounts, and ships.
11. Best Mobile Game: “Fableborne”
“Fableborne” is a mobile game that combines base-building and looting gameplay. Players strategically place defense towers and monsters to protect their islands while selecting three heroes for looting battles.
The game’s standout feature is that randomly generated island terrains affect defense difficulty, with rich upgrade options for tower defense and hero systems. Though there may be some balance issues at higher levels, the game provides mobile players with a deep strategic experience.
12. Best Art Design: “Moonfrost”
“Moonfrost” is a simulation game similar to “Harvest Moon” and “Stardew Valley,” where players care for farms and grow better crops, offering various customization features for decorating farms. Players who enjoy farming for in-game tokens can also indulge in the money-making aspect of the game.
“Moonfrost” excels in art design and sound performance, with intricate environmental details enhancing the overall gaming experience.
The GAM3 Blockchain Game Awards Ceremony Sets a New Record for Viewership
This year’s GAM3 Awards ceremony attracted 48,000 concurrent online viewers and exceeded 450,000 total views within the first 24 hours, setting a new record. The event also featured premiere trailers of several games, including “Golden Tides,” “Unfettered,” and “Elumia,” among other new blockchain games.
The GAM3 prize pool this year has increased to $5 million, with support from partners like AWS, XAI, and Thirdweb providing grants, product services, and marketing support. In terms of community voting, over 143,000 players participated, with a total of over 1 million votes cast, generating over 60 million exposures on social media.
“GAM3.GG” stated that the GAM3 Game Awards have been held for four consecutive years and have become the most influential annual event in the Web3 gaming industry, showcasing the vibrant prospects of the blockchain gaming industry. The awards are expected to be held again in November this year.
This article is authorized for reprint from: Crypto City