MOJO MELEE GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
This article provides an overview of Planet Mojo’s upcoming auto battler, Mojo Melee.
Disclaimer: Please note that game development is an iterative process. The concepts and ideas in this document are subject to alteration, modification, and removal at any time.
By drawing upon our collective experience in game development, Mystic Moose is building Mojo Melee to push the envelope in the auto battler genre.
Mojo Melee is the first game within the Planet Mojo metaverse — and our take on an autochess battler. Auto battlers are a type of strategy game where players go head-to-head in mini tournaments. Each match within a tournament involves a planning phase where a player can upgrade and deploy their team. When the combat phase begins, players sit back and watch their teams fight it out.
Mojo Melee’s Gameplay
Matches are made up of rounds. At the start of each round, players gain gold, which is a crucial resource.
There are three slots in a player’s reserves — the units that can be deployed. The reserves can be refreshed to draw three new units by spending gold.
During a match, players form and deploy their teams in the arena between rounds, spending gold to place Champions and Mojos from their reserves into the arena. Gold can also be spent on SpellStones that let Mojos channel magical abilities.
Champions and Mojos can be placed anywhere on a player’s own half of the arena. There are different types of SpellStones — some are attached to a player’s own units as boons, while others can be placed on the opponent’s side of the arena to damage opposing units.
If a Mojo, Champion, or SpellStone is already in the arena, using the same unit or SpellStone from the reserves will give it a power-up, boosting its stats and making its special ability more powerful.
Careful strategic deployment and powering up units and SpellStones will be key to winning matches.
During combat, units gain energy by attacking and taking damage. Each unit has a special ability that they will use once their energy is fully charged. Special abilities have a wide range of effects that can change the tide of battle.
A player wins a round by defeating their opponent’s team in battle. In Duel mode (more below), a player will need to win 3 out of 5 rounds to be victorious. In Brawl mode, you’ll have to win at least 4 out of 5 rounds against 7 other players to finish in 1st place.
At the start of each round, players gain gold and can continue building their teams in the arena. As the game continues, teams become more powerful — and the battles more intense.
Game Modes: Duel and Brawl
Mojo Melee will have two game modes — duel and brawl. The combat is identical in both modes, but the number of players and the conditions for victory are different.
In duel mode, a player goes up against a single opponent. The first one to win 3 rounds is the winner. As duelists engage each other, they can recognize patterns in each other’s strategies, adapting play styles to counter their opponent’s choices and gain an upper hand.
Brawl mode involves 8 players in a two-stage competition. Players first compete in a group phase, with the top 2 players of each group moving into semifinals, which is followed by the final round. In brawl mode, players compete with multiple opponents, adapting tactics to handle each new battle layout.
Teams
Players create teams for battles from their collection of Mojos, Champions, and SpellStones.
A team in Mojo Melee is made up of 1 Mojo unit, 4 Champion units, and 2 SpellStones. Like deck building games, player’s teams will shape strategies for winning and their capability to counter their opponents’ offenses.
Mojos
In Mojo Melee, Mojos battle against one another to hone their skills in preparation of the eventual battle against The Scourge.
At the start of each game, each team’s Mojo is deployed in the arena. As with Champions, duplicates will appear in the reserves to power up Mojos during combat. Mojos also have special abilities tied to their subclasses that determine the SpellStones that they can use.
Champions
Champions are warriors from the clans of Planet Mojo. They have been sent to discover the source of the Scourge and determine whether an age-old prophecy is unfolding. In Mojo Melee, most of a player’s team will consist of Champions that have banded together with their Mojo.
Champions come in various classes — more information will be released soon. The first 6 Champion classes are paladin, assassin, warrior, berserker, shaman, and cleric. More classes will be added over time.
Each champion has a special ability. Players can determine the combination of these special abilities that fit their play style and lead their team to victory.
SpellStones
Mojos use SpellStones to wield magic from the Aura of Planet Mojo. In Mojo Melee, SpellStones unleash a single powerful ability that is used at the start of combat. SpellStones are tied to Mojo subclasses and can only be used by the Mojos of that subclass. Each team can equip two SpellStones.
SpellStones that give boons to a player’s units can be attached to their Champions or Mojo. A unit can have up to two SpellStones attached to it, so keep an eye out for fun buff combos.
SpellStones that damage enemy units are set on the opponent’s side of the arena. By doing so, a player needs to make a prediction about where their opponent’s units will be placed.
Game Types: Ranked and Unranked
There are two game types — ranked and unranked. Both include duel and brawl as game modes. Unranked games provide a more casual setting for players to try out new team formations or to learn the game’s mechanics, while ranked games offer greater rewards and more intense competition.
Unranked Games:
- Players can win XP from battles and Ore from Quests.
Ranked Games:
- Earn XP from battles.
- Gain Ore by winning matches or completing Quests and Challenges.
- Season-long event with rewards.
Quests
Quests are daily activities that involve unranked and ranked gameplay. Each Quest has a set of goals that players must complete to gain rewards.
Quest Rules:
- A player will have 3 daily Quests to complete per day.
- Completed Quests will be renewed daily.
- Players can refresh each Quest slot once per day to draw a new Quest.
Over time, we plan to expand and enhance the Quest system.
Collection Tiers
As you collect more Planet Mojo NFTs in your wallet, your Collection Tier will increase. Progressing to higher Collection Tiers grants players many benefits, including Challenge Points that are needed to take on Challenges that offer additional rewards.
Challenges
A player engaging in ranked gameplay can initiate a Challenge to earn additional rewards upon completion.
The player completes a Challenge by winning a number of ranked games without suffering too many losses.
There are two ways to start a Challenge:
- Spend Challenge Points, which are gained from Collection Tier rewards.
- Spend BattleStones, which are rewards from completing Activities and winning Tournaments.
Players will unlock more advanced Challenges as their rank goes higher. These Challenges have higher starting costs, but offer bigger rewards.
BattlePasses
Mojo Melee has two types of BattlePasses, a “Free BattlePass” and a “Premium BattlePass”.
BattlePasses reward players based on their play and give players extra perks based on which BattlePass they own.
The Free BattlePass is free as the name states and gameplay earns a player BattlePass progress leading to Ore and BattleStone rewards.
Players can upgrade to the Premium BattlePass through various means including using tokens, stable coins, or by having a high enough Collection Tier. By upgrading to the Premium BattlePass players will earn additional, unique rewards, access to special events and exclusive content.
Free Players & Leveling Up NFTs
Mojo Melee is available to players even if they do not yet own any Planet Mojo NFTs.
Mojos:
- 1 of 4 random Mojos will be assigned to a free-to-play player to use during matches.
- These Mojos cannot level up.
- These Mojos cannot be turned into NFTs.
- Players will have a chance to purchase or win new Moj-Seeds, which will sprout into Mojos.
Champions:
- A set of non-NFT Champions will be given to new players upon account creation.
- These Champions can be purchased as NFTs from our Marketplace.
- Free-to-play players using these Champions will be able to mint them as NFTs at a discounted price if their Champions gain enough experience.
- Owning Mojo and Champion NFTs has many benefits, from increasing your Collection Tier to special rewards, airdrops, and other exclusives.
SpellStones:
- SpellStones are non-NFT in-game assets sold through the Mojo Melee in-game store for Ore or fiat currency.
Store:
- Free-to-play, non-NFT Champions and SpellStones can be purchased using Ore or fiat currency.
- Champions that are up for sale may only be available for a limited time and never appear in the store again.
- Champions can be rented or bought from other players.
Conclusion
We hoped you enjoyed this comprehensive overview of the game design of Mojo Melee! As always, we remain extremely grateful and committed to our community and early adopters. Your passion and feedback is critical to our success, and we’re always ready to connect with you on Twitter, Discord, and Telegram. Thank you for being a part of the Planet Mojo journey!
About Planet Mojo
Planet Mojo is a magical Web3 gaming metaverse and platform being built by veterans of LucasArts, EA, Activision, ILM, and more. Players will compete with their customized teams in a suite of eSports, PvP, games set on a mysterious alien planet, with an evolving narrative. The long-term goal is to create a sustainable gaming project and platform for the next generation of gamers, where they own their in-game assets and have a say in the project’s future direction.
