NFT REVIEW Explore Lunacia in Axie Homeland’s New Avatar Mode

Blockchain-based game Axie Infinity will bring Avatar Mode with its expansion Homeland. Opened up to players on July 17, this means any one of the players—whoever owns an Axie NFT—can be the avatar that traverses this map, separated from the Homeland map, allowing for new possibilities of exploration and social behaviour.

This feature will not require or check whether the player is a landowner. Players will be able to queue across the Homeland map using their very own Avatar Axies, regardless of ownership.

Explore Lunacia with the Avatar Mode

In the immersive world of Lunacia, explore Lunacia with Avatar Mode, through which one can straddle across diverse landscapes and bustling villages at the leading front of their Axie NFTs. Players get to visit a host of plots—including neighbours’ plots—and four lively villages named Goldenwind, Evergreen, Winterblue, or Hazymoon.

This allows the player to travel anywhere, for visiting plots and other players and communicate with them in real-time. This is the most interactive mode and can talk to other Lunacians immediately with a chat- text with general, local, and world channels.

How to Navigate Avatar Mode

Entering and engaging will be an easy way to love Avatar Mode. Players can easily pick and deploy their favourite NFT Axie to have a say in the game. It will use the easy navigation of the character by either using the WASD or the point-and-click movement controls. In this mode, different areas can be explored by the players to do different kinds of things like visit neighbor’s plots, explore villages and portals.

Engaging Social Features

The new chat feature enhances the social experience in Avatar Mode. Players can communicate in several ways:

• General Chat: Converse with anyone in the Homeland, sharing tips and engaging in casual banter.
• Local Chat: Interact with players in your immediate vicinity, ideal for localized conversations.
• Global Chat: Broadcast messages to all players, useful for announcements and organizing meetups.
• Emojis: Add a personal touch to messages with a wide range of emojis.

Additionally, village meetup events will be organized to encourage social interaction and engagement.

Open Beta Test and Events

To ensure a smooth rollout, Axie Infinity is hosting an Open Beta Test from July 17th to 24th. During this period, players can explore Avatar Mode and help test the server’s capabilities.

To make the beta test more engaging, there will be four daily events where players can win collectibles, including 12 special Axies and 20 land items. Daily events are scheduled at 13.00 UTC.

Beta Test Schedule and Rewards

• July 17, 2024 – Winterblue Village: 3 Xmas Axies and 5 Icy Flowers.
• July 18, 2024 – Hazymoon Village: 3 Shiny Axies and 5 Phantom Altars.
• July 19, 2024 – Evergreen Village: 3 Japanese Axies and 5 Grass.
• July 20, 2024 – Goldenwind Village: 3 Summer Axies and 5 Big Ruin Shards.

Participants can enter the raffle by simply posting a screenshot of their favorite moment during the meet-up on Twitter, with the hashtag #HomelandAvatar. This step engages the community and gives players a chance to win unique in-game items. Join events with avatar axies and win.

Future of Avatar Mode

Still, this beta will give a first look at Avatar Mode, but that’s just the beginning.

Using their Axie NFT, players have the ability to go and explore this world, meander through the villages, look at neighboring plots. Real-time gameplay interaction with other in-game players is available through either in-game chat features or across a myriad of different channels.

Here is where the development team seems to add more features and improvements that have been suggested by players. The full launch is also planned for sometime towards the end of July or early August, pending results of the beta test.

Editor’s note: This article was written with the assistance of AI. Edited and fact-checked by Jason Newey.