It must be the most common question we’re asked. Especially from new players who aren’t used to the realm of blockchain, or who are just looking to game:
“What do I do now?” 🙋🏻
If you’ve reached this article and are wondering about the technicalities and mechanics of the game, then you should probably start with our Upland 101 article and our whitepaper. Otherwise, read on to discover the various modes of gameplay that are presently available to you (and get inspired to create your own!).
When we conceived the idea of Upland, we imagined a game based on an open economy — a digital representation of the real world 🌐. That’s also why your digital assets are minted on the blockchain. For an open economy to succeed, you need to enjoy the feeling that you really own those digital assets, and with blockchain, you do ⛓.
Upland is similar to Minecraft, when it first started out. Much like real life, our game asks you to define your own ideas of success, enjoyment and fun. It requires you to break out of the traditional mindset of games that tell you “this is how you win”. In this guide, we will try to help you do that.
A Social Game 🎮
It’s entirely possible to play Upland without communicating with another human being, but where’s the fun in that? Buying 📈, selling 📉, trading 🔂: speaking with the property owner isn’t required for all of those, but as you’ll discover, communication will be key to getting what you want. Not to mention finding out about new and exciting opportunities. There are no NPCs (non-playable characters) in Upland and it is, after all, a game between people. That’s why your first stop should be joining the Upland Community 🏠 on Telegram.
The Community group is where you’ll meet your fellow traders, cut deals, share insights and ask questions. It’s also where we happen to post much of our initial news about developments, fixes, features, sneak peeks and more.
And we didn’t even mention — it’s so much fun! We also meetup IRL, if you are truly hardcore.
Modes of Play
Your player personality will likely be one of two main types: Collector 🏺 or Businessperson 💸. If you’re the former, your gameplay will focus on building a portfolio of properties that is truly unique and which you may be content just having. If you’re the latter, your gameplay will focus on the action of cutting deals and flipping properties. You can absolutely be both. In either case, you will most likely share the quality of wanting to be the first to discover and mint a property that appeals to you.
Play to Complete 🖼
The easiest way to dip your foot in the water with Upland is by aiming to complete collections. Collections are sets of properties with specific criteria. For example, the first collection involves owning any one property in San Francisco. Completing a collection unlocks a one-time reward and also boosts the monthly earnings of the properties in that collection. At the moment there are 21 collections to complete in San Francisco and no matter how much you are willing to invest — it’s a challenge to complete them all. Some will involve being precise with where you send your block explorer or may require you to get to know the boundaries of a neighborhood like the back of your hand. Still others will necessitate trading with your fellow players.
In the future, when new cities are opened for play, each city will have its own set of collections.
Play to Own 🔖
If you’re a collector type, you will most likely yearn to build a portfolio of properties that have some significance or intrinsic value to you. For example, maybe you want to collect properties that are exceedingly rare. Or small. Maybe you’re only after properties owned by celebrities IRL, or specific businesses. Maybe you want to have the most properties in a specific neighborhood or on a specific street (not as easy as you think, certain neighborhoods like Haight-Ashbury are sold out and will require serious negotiations!).
Sometimes, you’ll have to prowl the map inch by inch to find the properties you want, after which you’ll send your Block Explorer there. Other times, the assets of your dream collection may already be owned by another player, in which case you’ll have to barter, bargain or make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Play to Earn 💯
This type of play is classic and does actually resemble other games. By playing to earn we mean measuring success by your results. And there are two proposed ways of doing that (maybe you can find more): total UPX and ROI.
Total UPX — straightforward, compete to have the most UPX. This will be easier to track when leaderboards are launched in-game.
ROI (Return on Investment) — you may say to yourself that anyone can just purchase UPX instead of earning it, and so climb the leaderboard. But when you compare the UPX you have to the UPX you invested, you are actually measuring ROI, which is more of a challenge. Will you succeed in making back the amount of UPX that you put in using your skillsets and knowledge of the Upland market?
Here are a few tips for playing to earn:
- Consider buying properties with strategic geographic locations that players may send their Explorers to. Each send of an explorer to your property grants you a send fee, right now locked in at 40 UPX but you’ll be able to decide how much it will be in the future. Don’t forget — sending your block explorer to your own properties is free, so spreading your territory will help you navigate.
- Try to acquire and hold properties of very limited collections. 🃏
- Look out for small margins when flipping: buying for 5,000 and selling for 6,500 is still a 30% return! 😱
- Check out the word on the street (chatter in the social channels) and get an understanding of what properties and/or areas are in demand. 📢
- Market your properties, portfolio and yourself in an appealing manner to the other players (shill!). One tool that can help you do that is the Upland Property Explorer — one of Upland Community first independent dapps!🎁
- When in doubt — HODL! 🔜
Future Developments
As new features come out, the dynamics of gameplay may change. Keeping up to speed requires staying in the center of the action. For example, with Mojito 🍹, our next big release right around the corner, you’ll get Treasure Hunts, Live Events and Reverse Collection Discovery. How do you imagine those may affect the economy and your own personal goals in the game? No better time to think about it than now!
For a full list of expected features this year, you can also read our 2020 roadmap. Links to both are available below.
Remember: there are no limits on how you define enjoyment.
Happy Uplanding! 🦙
Join the action, chat with players and ask questions in the Upland Community Telegram Group, or find us on:
