Unveiling The Beacon's Prototype - Settlement Launch
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Ethereum’s layer-2 chain Arbitrum had very few games playable in 2022. The Beacon was a game I’d been waiting for quite some time. On 25th November 2022, the dev team released their prototype called Settlement Launch.
The Settlement Launch
It was the first playable prototype of The Beacon that was open to the public.
The event allows everyone to test out the early gameplay loop and a sneak peek at the game’s features. Here are some of the things you can already try:
#1 Dungeon Expedition
Dungeon Expedition is the game’s prototype PvE combat system. Players can go on the Dungeon Expedition every day. They will need to clear a small dungeon of enemies in the limited amount of time given.
The current dungeons for the prototype are custom dungeons. It seems like the current ones may be designed by the Game developers only. No information yet on whether these dungeons may be procedurally generated or players may be able to design their dungeons.
The dungeon has three exits for players to choose from. The nearest exit has the lowest rewards rate. With these different reward rates, players will be motivated to try and push deeper into the dungeon for better rewards. A limitation was that each character can only complete a dungeon once daily.
On 29 November 2022, The Beacon had its first speed-run contest sponsored by TreasureDAO. Cool prizes were given:
- 1st place: 250 $MAGIC, 3x Epic NFT drops, WL spot
- 2nd place: 150 $MAGIC, 2x Epic NFT drops, WL spot
- 3rd place: 100 $MAGIC, 1x Epic NFT drop, WL spot
- WL spot for 17 random non-winning participants
Winners were announced on their twitter post:
With a total of 336 participants, The Beacon’s first Speedrun Contest comes to an end.
— The Beacon (Play the prototype starting Nov 25) (@The_Beacon_GG) November 30, 2022
Top 3 winners!
1. Entry #149: @SNAKJI_ - 00:58
2. Entry #297: @cmacs1287 - 00:59
3. Entry #36: @aSPY_Art - 01:02 pic.twitter.com/7K5r7YZhbE
#2 Tavern Quiz
An old man called Igor sits by the fireplace in the Tavern. Each day he asks questions to the players. This serves as a test of the player’s knowledge about the world of The Beacon.
A reward is given if the correct answer is provided. Different questions are asked each day and random rewards will be given. Players will need to ask the other guest in the tavern to find out the clues.
#3 House Customization
Rewards given for the Dungeon Expedition and Tavern Quiz are either house décor items or character items. Players can already use the house décor items to decorate their own house
#4 Mint Founding Characters
During the Settlement Launch, players will have the opportunity to purchase Founding Characters. There isn’t a limit to how many Founding Characters are purchased by players. There is only a limit of that after the Settlement Week ends, no more Founding Characters will be sold again.
Each Founding Character is sold at USD$40 (denominated in ETH). Owning these Founding characters will allow players to:
- acquire NFTs when opening chests,
- receive more raffle tickets towards the Settlement Week Raffles,
- be able to customize their Character with cosmetics, and
- most probably more advantages coming in the future.
Final Thoughts
The Beacon’s top-down pixel graphics gameplay is reminiscent of the olden days of SNES. It takes me back to the days when I played Soul Blazer or Terranigma. For fans of games like this, The Beacon will be something they need to try out.
Having one dungeon design a day was a good game design choice by the Game Devs. It felt like Spelunky’s Daily Dungeon. In this game mode, players compete on one dungeon design every day to get the fastest playthrough time or highest score on the leaderboards. It’s a great feature for a rogue-like enthusiast.
Overall, all I can say it’s a great game that everyone should try out. You can use my referral link below to try it out yourself!