A couple of days ago, I was involved in a discussion on discord about splinterlands and whether it is actually worth playing this game from a financial point of view.
considering the time and money investment, is it worth to play Splinterlands?
When I was having this discussion, my problem was that I didn't have the relevant data to answer the question. This changed yesterday while I was reading a post by @khazrakh about his previous season. The details of the stats impressed me. From card usage, win rates to the detail of the income, everything was present. I then realised that he was using a tool that is actually available to everybody!
Get your own Season Report Card
It took me only a couple of minutes to check out my own stats.
Season 43 was a very bad season for me. I can't remember when was the last time that I didn't reach champions league at the end of a season. Anyways, this will be the season that we will analyze.
How to calculate a return for my Splinterlands activity
To evaluate whether it's worth to play this game, I need to define several points. I only play the daily quests and at the season, I might do some additional games to reach my targets.
How long do I spend on the game?
I'm playing with 4 different accounts and I play them all at the same time. I normally play between 15 and 40 minutes per day to reach the daily quest. Of course the duration can fluctuate quite a lot also regarding the splinter that I get for the quests. During a season, I often miss a day or two.
A season lasts 14 days. Let's say that I play 13 days per season and 30 minutes per day. This means I invest about 6.5 hours per season into the game.
How much do I earn?
Since I play with 4 different accounts, I need to add together what I earn with all of them:
- account 1 (Diamond I): 18'359 DEC
- account 2 (Diamond II): 14'076 DEC
- account 3 (Diamond II): 13'679 DEC
- account 4 (Silver II): 3'725 DEC
Total earnings: 49'839 DEC -> 117 Hive -> 35 $ (with prices valid 17.2.2021)
Value of my investment in the game
According to sm-voters_hut in splinterlands discord:
- account 1: 2158.5 $
- account 2: 1210.28 $
- account 3: 975.75 $
- account 4:169.45 $
Total value of my accounts 4513.98$
Return for playing Splinterlands
(35/14*365) / 4513.98 *100 = 20.21% APR
How to interpret these numbers
First of all, it's important to realize that all these numbers are valid only for accounts of my size. If you have bigger accounts, you will earn more. If you have smaller accounts, you will earn less. When I look at the number in relation to the league that is achieved per season, I think that accounts reaching the same league, earn roughly the same amounts of rewards.
If I look at the time factor, I earn about 5.4 $ per hour playing the game. This seems not much for people living in the first world but for people living in countries where averages salaries are much lower, this doesn't seem too bad.
I believe that if I played longer every day, the earning rate would rather go down because a big part of the earnings are composed by the daily quests.
If I look at these numbers from an investment point of view, the return on investment seems to be about 20.2% APR. This is certainly not a bad number. What we have to take into consideration is that I effectively invested about 500 $ into the game. The remaining value comes from keeping the rewards and reinvesting them into the game.
If I calculate the return on my initial investment, I would be now at a return of 182.5% APR!
So is it worth to play Splinterlands?
Since you need time and money to play the game to actually earn, it's difficult to evaluate which factor, return on investment or return on time, is more important in evaluating the game.
In a way it's up to each of us to answer this question. If I can earn some money while having fun playing a game, I don't say no. The fact that the value of my accounts are growing over time is another indicator that seems to answer this question in a positive way.
What do you think? Is it worth playing Splinterlands for you?
Let's connect ! You can find me on these platforms:
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Imo this game has been much more profitable before BUT and is a big but, keeps having an interesting return of the investment and it's an enjoyable game, at least for me, I know that some people considerates it boring.
In the development aspect will gain much with the lands update and has still a good chance of go mainstream someday, so may be also a very good investment in middle-long term.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I agree that it was easier to earn money with the game in the past. But still it's nice to play a game and get paid for it :-). I'm looking forward to seeing how the land update will change the game.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.It really is a great game for making money. I like the tournaments as well but with everything included, it is so time-consuming. I think an initial investment into cards on top of the spell book is required if you don't want to struggle. With just the starting card, you will have a tough time winning fights.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I totally agree with you here. It's definitely necessary to invest a bit. It's almost impossible to grow organically out of novice league because you get so little rewards there. If you are in silver or gold, it's much easier to grow with the rewards only.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.I'm just happy that I have found some games I can play online that pay me. I would probably play some games regardless, but it was a no brainer to switch from ones that don't pay me to ones that do. Besides, these games also give me content to post so that I can earn even more. It's a win-win-win.
Exactly, I mean I would be playing some kind of game anyways. Much better if it actually pays me ;-)
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.I know I wont be recouping my money from this game for a long time lol however it was more about playing it and having fun. I mean maybe I might via selling or renting out my cards. The big thing I'm looking into is the card renting I think they are revamping this soon.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I think they plan to make the rental system less complex and more user friendly. I'm also looking forward for that. At the moment, it's quite time consuming to put each card separatly on the rental market.
!ENGAGE 20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
ENGAGEtokens.Great analysis!
I make abour ~80$ from playing Splinterlands and renting my unused cards per month, that's pretty decent for a game I really enjoy playing :D
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I think that there is a kind of exponential growth of income the closer you get to the top 50. I usually finish between rank 200 and 300 and I make about 20$ with my main deck. Looking at it this way, it would make sense to put the decks together and get closer to the top to increase my earnings.
I believe it can't be better... Getting paid for having fun :-)
!ENGAGE 20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
ENGAGEtokens.While reading the post, Splinterlands is open on the other tab 😌
It's a great game that enables players to grow their decks while keep earning seasonal and daily rewards. I remember that I allocted my initial investment in 2 months only by playing 10-20 matches per day 😎
This is a great amount in crypto gaming :)
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I think that it's very difficult to grow without any investment at all. If however you put like 20$ into the game and buy a couple of nice cards, it gets quickly funny and you can recoup your investment quite fast.
I'm a Splinterlands addict :-)
!ENGAGE 20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
ENGAGEtokens.I've just started to play thanks to khazrakh ;)
Pretty decent return but it definitely request some commitment.
See you in Diamond league... wait for me I'm still in Bronze :D
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I've been lucky to start the game very early. At the beginning I was recieving tons of reward cards and this allowed me to grow without having to invest too much. I believe it's a bit more difficult now. The best investment is to get a developped summoner in one or two splinters like that you can get more wins and grow your account.
!ENGAGE 20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Currently on 1 splinter (fire) to start with and getting a grasp of the game. Put some money in and maybe more if I like it :)
!ENGAGE20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
ENGAGEtokens.ENGAGEtokens.Hello friend how are you, nice to greet you, woooo I'm going to try the tools that you comment right now hahaha greetings
Hello my friend! Happy to see you again on the blockchain :-)
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I discovered the tool myself today and checked out my stats.
To me, despite all the distractions that I had this recently ended season, it was a pretty good one. I almost reached CL I, but didn't in the end and didn't push for it either.
I don't know if it counts, but I focus on one account only. There was a time when I played two additional very small accounts (bronze level, just above novice) for the seasonal rewards, but the time spent wasn't worth it. So I stopped.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
When comparing the results I get and the results from @khazrakh which is close to the top 50, it would make sense to merge the accounts together to get closer to the top. It seems that the reward earning curve is rather exponential than linear.
!ENGAGE 20
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I was top 200 last season and I pretty much match your winnings from 4 accounts with my account.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
ENGAGEtokens.Firstly, thanks for an awesome tool! I didn't know for its existence at all!
Secondly, I play Splinterlands as I Like strategy games and this is one of them... Also, I do content connected with gaming, so that is a kind of "business" side of it... I like to share my discoveries, strategies, and share some of my cards with others... So, it's fun to engage with others... A social part of the game :)
My earning are slightly more than for your account 1, which means that I play more... lol.. As my cards aren't better... But, when we count "earnings" we have to count that we can't sell potions, and you will not sell your cards immediately for that price... But, still, it's a good tool for checking things...
Thanks for sharing!
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
It's really an interesting tool. I have to say that I really played badly in the last season and didn't reach champions league. I hope this was an exception :-).
It's true that potions and cards can't be considered as a full income since it's not possible to sell them at the moment.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtoday.Your current Rank (40) in the battle Arena of Holybread has granted you an Upvote of 50%
Congratulations @achim03! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
I want to start off by saying that I LOVE Splinterlands.
However, it is tough to start off at the moment, with no card packs in the shop, and voucher tickets are required for preseason sales. I think the initial investments are higher now than when it was 10 months ago.
Any veteran players have tips that they can provide?