The DeFi Kingdoms game, available so far on the Harmony network, has just been extended to Avalanche (AVAX). To do so, the famous play-to-earn uses an Avalanche subnet. Today, we’re going to explore together how to take advantage of the crazy farming rewards offered during the first few days of Crystalvale, this new DeFi Kingdoms universe… and find out what the game might have in store for you in the coming weeks!
Back on the funny game defi kingdoms
Let’s first remind ourselves what we are talking about: indeed, DeFi Kingdoms, what is it? For those who would have missed an episode, let’s quickly clarify the history of this play-to-earn like no other: after several conclusive beta test phases, DeFi Kingdoms (DFK) was released on August 23, 2021 on the blockchain Harmony. This ” play to earn ” is distinguished by its ” pixel-art ” neat and deeply inspired nature of the RPGs that rocked the adolescence of many video game fans.
Defi Kingdoms is a game that runs on your web browser, to which you can connect your Ethereum wallet, interact with the Harmony blockchain where the game is initially deployed, and in which you will be able to find in the same place:
- An DEX integrated to make all the transactions necessary to participate in the game,
- The portal of ” mint ” to ” invoke ” a new hero (NFT allowing access to quests and other gaming features),
- quests and professions to practice with your heroes to collect experience as well as items with value a merchant or utility,
- A secondary market to buy/sell the NFT,
- farming pools with high returns,
- A ” bank ” allowing you to stake your JEWEL while getting paid through a portion of the fees from each transaction made in the game.
But now the team of developers just finalized the launch last week of a new world for their game Crystalvale. Developed on Avalanche, this new dimension offers (or will eventually offer) the same features, but with a new cryptocurrency paid out in rewards to explorers of the cryptosphere: the CRYSTAL.
Crystalvale, an Avalanche (AVAX) subnet: what is it?
In contrast to traditional smart contract platforms, Avalanche consists of a network of blockchains. Each of these can be public or private, and includes its share of validating nodes. Like Ethereum, Avalanche has a virtual machine, capable of interpreting smart contract instructions. But unlike its competitor, the dApps are deployed on independent blockchains. In this case, it is with the help of this subnets mechanism that a port from DeFi Kingdoms to Avalanche was possible.
On Avalanche, each subnet corresponds to a subnet of validators connected to the Avalanche backbone. A subnet is then fully customizable with its own characteristics.
So that’s how you can enjoy Crystalvale today, with just a few clicks. Ready to get started? Let’s get started!
To get started, head over to the official DeFi Kingdoms website, dedicated to the Crystalvale universe. Just click ” Start playing “ to dive into the (cold) deep end.
Then choose to connect your wallet MetaMask to be able to play… or hurry up to install it by following our full tutorial!
bridging Avalanche (AVAX) and DeFi Kingdoms (DFK Chain)
During your initial login, the game will prompt you to configure your wallet to be able to interact with the Avalanche universe of DFK.
First, make sure you’ve configured your MetaMask to allow you to send and receive cryptocurrencies on the Avalanche main network (the AVAX C-Chain). To do this, go to your MetaMask settings, then to the networks tab, and add (for example) the following network:
- Network name: Avalanche
- New RPC URL: https://rpc.symbiosis.finance/43114
- Channel ID: 43114
- Currency symbol: AVAX
- Block Explorer URL: https://snowtrace.io
Click on the Ellia wizard to open the Avalanche Outpost menu: from there, you’ll be able to transfer cryptocurrencies from the Harmony (for the JEWEL token) and Avalanche (for the AVAX token) blockchains to the DeFi Kingdomssubnet. You will also be able to buy AVAX directly using a fiat crypto ramp, if you prefer.
So in my case, I decided to bring AVAX to DFK. So first I transferred some AVAX from my FTX account to my MetaMask receiving address.
Be careful when withdrawing AVAX from an exchange to your MetaMask address configured for Avalanche: you are moving on Avalanche’s C-Chain, so only withdraw AVAX this way if your exchange is actually C-Chain compatible, otherwise you will lose your funds! Instead, make a small withdrawal of a negligible amount to test, before dumping the cash on your MetaMask.
Once you have some AVAX on your MetaMask, click ” Move AVAX to Get Started “, or go directly to the Synapse Bridge. This is the tool that allows you to transfer your assets from one blockchain to another, and is the main bridge connecting Avalanche and the DFK Chain at the moment. Connect your wallet, then choose abridge from Avalanche to the DFK Chain.
Choose the number of AVAX you want to bridge to Wrapped AVAX on the DFK Chain, approve and validate the necessary transactions. You will also receive some JEWEL on the DFK Chain, equivalent to Ethereum’s gas, and which you will need to pay the transaction fee on the DFK Chain.
So remember even later to always keep some JEWEL to operate on the DFK Chain. Once the transaction is validated, you will have to wait a few minutes, while the bridge is effective and complete. Your AVAXes will then leave your MetaMask wallet connected to the AVAX blockchain…
Join the world of DeFi Kingdoms: Crystalvale
Go to the Avalanche Outpost tab again, and click on ” Travel to Crystalvale ” and then ” Take me to Crystalvale! “.
A Metamask notification will pop up, offering to automatically add and then join the DFK network and leave the simple Avalanche network.
Exploring the world of Crystalvale
You are now ready to explore DeFi Kingdoms:Crystalvale, for real! You’re looking at a map of the world that’s available to you. Each place has its own interest, and we’ll visit them together in this article to make the most of them.
Let’s start by heading to the marketplace of this weird universe, where we can trade some crypto-currencies for others… to arm ourselves for some crazy farming!
The marketplace (marketplace) of Crystalvale
Click on ” Marketplace “ on the map or directly from the drop-down menu on the right side of your screen. You’ll land in the village square, where three PNJs are at your disposal. To start, we’ll chat with the Trader: he’ll allow us to trade our AVAX for other cryptos.
And, let’s not lie, it will come in handy.
The-trader: exchange your cryptocurrencies on Crystalvale
Click on the Trader, and see what he has to offer.
The trader will allow you to swap the cryptos of your choice with each other. After first swapping my AVAX for USDC to hold some form of stable value in this new world to discover, I’m going to buy CRYSTAL, the local currency of Crystalvale.
I will need to agree to some transaction fees to approve the trades and complete my swap between USDC and CRYSTAL.
Think about buying JEWEL to start with, to keep a small stockpile of usable crypto to pay for your transaction fees without having to think about it too much. Note that the fees are quite minimal and ridiculous in Crystalvale.
The-druid: buy liquidity tokens to replenish high-yield pools
Then let the Trader do his trader thing, and chat with the Druid. He is the one who will allow you to trade your crypto-currencies for liquidity tokens. Recall for those who may have missed an episode that DeFi projects seek to attract liquidity by rewarding those who provide them with new money. To do this, projects issue tokens which they offer to cash lenders. So, if you provide cash in farming pools, you will often be doubly compensated:
- First with the rewards from the exchange fees generated by the abounding pool,
- Then with the rewards in new tokens from the project wishing to incentivize you to lend your crypto-coins.
Liquidity tokens correspond to a debt acknowledgement from liquidity pools, attesting that you have placed in escrow cryptocurrencies to lend to farming pools.
So the druid allows you to buy seeds (called seeds). These seeds are liquidity tokens, which you will plant in Crystalvale’s gardens (gardens) a little later to try to harvest yields (harvest).
Note that returns dwindle with the gradual influx of cash. Indeed, in these situations, remember two things:
- The fat of the crazy extra allowance (the yield) is often what makes the reward so good: it won’t last, though,
- The total rewards distributed by a pool are in proportion to your contribution in liquidity to the rest of the pool: so your return will decrease as more liquidity contributors join the party.
Finally, keep in mind that the Crystalvale distribution mechanism is very specific. Indeed, yourrewards will not be directly redeemable since more than 90% of the rewards are locked for one year. Also, your deposited funds will need to remain in escrow for a few weeks, otherwise you will be charged penalty rates upon withdrawal. In short, rewards are distributed to all, but 95% are locked and will only be accessed linearly from the end of Crystalvale’s Epoch 51, where each epoch is scheduled to last a week. With each passing week, an additional reward percentage will be unlocked on future rewards. So keep in mind not to deposit your entire crypto stack on a whim: Crystalvale is played more like a very risky, long-term bet.
If this mechanism doesn’t scare you, then you can go ahead and buy liquidity tokens at Druid:
For example, I chose to bring liquidity to the CRYSTAL-AVAX pool. To do this, I click on the ” Add CRYSTAL-AVAX Liquidity “ button.
I choose how much CRYSTAL and how much AVAX to delegate to the liquidity pool:
Then I approve and validate the addition by clicking the ” Supply “ button.
Validate the repository by clicking ” Confirm Supply “.
A transaction will be submitted to the DFK network, and you can also click ” Add CRYSTAL-LP to Metamask “ to add tracking of these liquidity tokens to your MetaMask wallet.
Now, head to the gardens of Crystalvale to plant your liquidity seeds and try to recapture some (big) returns.
The Gardens (Gardens) of DeFi Kingdoms: Crystalvale
Click on ” Gardens ” to leisurely walk through the gardens of Crystalvale. Select the ” Seed Box “ to begin…
The Seed Box: depositing your liquidity tokens in Crystalvale pools
But what is the Seed Box for? Well simply to display the different liquidity pools available in the game: CRYSTAL-USDC, CRYSTAL-AVAX, CRYSTAL-JEWEL and xJEWEL-JEWEL.
So for this first test conducted a few days ago, I have liquidity tokens for the CRYSTAL-AVAX pool. I’m going to need to deposit them to hopefully recoup a wildly estimated return of 12650% APR.
Warning though: to repeat once again, remember that this reward is theoretical and fades away (very) rapidly. As an example, at the time of writing and publishing this article on Monday, April 4, the promised reward on the CRYSTAL-AVAX pool has ” fallen ” to 4824% APR. If again you are not discouraged, then click on ” Deposit CRYSTAL-LP tokens “.
Approve and validate the transaction.
Deposit your tokens by validating the second deposit transaction.
And here we go, your rewards start to fall, both unlocked and locked. For a tracker of abundant pools if you’ve made multiple deposits into the different pools, come back to the market to see the druid:
And now, let yourself be carried away and enjoy the crazy returns currently on offer!
To track your yields, from the Gardens, go to the ” Harvest “ area:
You will then be able to track all the CRYSTAL that is progressively allocated to you. You will be able to track how much is unlocked and would be usable outright, and how much would not be paid to you yet but would remain locked in your player menu until the end of the game year just started.
For finer tracking, you can also click on the Seed Box again to track rewards in dollar equivalent, pool by pool.
Let’s finally clarify, for the sake of completeness, that the risk of impermanent loss exists in theory whenever you allocate funds to pools of farming : if the value of a crypto-asset on one side of your pool fluctuates sharply up or down from your entry price into the pool, you can suffer a loss known as ” impermanent ” with the value of your collateral partially melting.so keep this risk in mind if you allocate funds to the CRYSTAL-USDC, CRYSTAL-AVAX and CRYSTAL-JEWEL pools. For the more risk-averse, therefore, prefer the xJEWEL-JEWEL pool: since the two pool assets are equivalent versions of each other (since xJEWEL corresponds to JEWEL in staking), their prices are supposed to remain broadly identical to each other, saving you the headache of impermanent loss.
The strange jeweler (Jeweler) who wants your CRYSTAL
Finally, you can go to the jeweler (jeweler). It is indeed possible to entrust him with your CRYSTALs: by doing so, you will eventually recover a portion of the transaction fees consumed on the platform, and you will especially eventually be eligible forfuture aidrops that will be offered on DFK.
Click on ” Deposit ” and drop your CRYSTAL, if you wish.
Approve and confirm transactions as needed, then let your xCRYSTAL scale live its life.
Navigate between the different dimensions of DeFi Kingdoms with the Docks
Then go to the Docks to navigate between the different dimensions: click on the Dockmaster to open a specific menu.
It will allow you to transfer crypto-assets between blockchains, access dedicated bridges to Harmony and Terra Bridge blockchains, and travel to Harmony’s DFK universe called Serendale.
You will also be able to test the new fiat-AVAX ramp offered by DFK with its partner Ramp.
One last space is currently available: the Cradle. For now, though, you won’t be doing much in it: this space will most likely evolve with the future arrival of the game’s Heroes NFTs, which can be used during quests or to obtain game or farming bonuses.
But for now, the monster that occupies it is still sleeping…
DeFi Kingdoms: Crystalvale, Future Features Predictable
For players who have already tested DFK on Harmony, the rest of the way is clear: expect to see quests and leaderboards land, with rewards to match.
On Harmony, virtual lands were also sold: it would be surprising not to see this now classic metaverse gaming feature incorporated into the new Crystalvale universe.
Other places will also be unlocked over time on the overall project map: there is, for example, a very curious alchemist at whose house it is possible to haggle on Harmony.
Finally, jobs are available for DFK players on Harmony. Indeed, modular in-game characters will eventually be available on the secondary market as they are now on Harmony: called Heroes, these RPG characters will take the form of NFT, and owning and using them will offer their owners performance bonuses, the ability to participate in quests, or even explore the world of DeFi Kingdoms differently.
Ready to become explorers of a fun metaverse… and one that aspires to pay off big? Then if you like the retro world of DeFi Kingdoms, the DeFi degen and its crazy returns and the prospect of a crypto game that develops over the long haul, waste no more time. Get started, and see you soon on Crystalvale!
