Since launch, Mars Colony has done a great job of capturing the attention of the Harmony community as well as broader p2e game community – only, it’s not much of a game yet.
There are some compelling game elements that can be easily implemented . One thing that immediately comes to mind is: settlers/people. A space colony needs people (who’s building the buildings?!) – how can we do that? Well, Freyala, an OG project on Harmony, announced that they are adding NFT character staking onto their land plots (up to 3 slots).
This is a great chance to bring in various communities in the Harmony ecosystem. Devs just need to decide which ones to go with first, and which ones to add later – I think thematically, having the Harmonauts come first makes sense (already wearing spacesuits 
). Humanoids should be the first settlers of the mars colonies in my opinion → this means first potential integrations/partnerships would be with: Harmonauts, Harmony Punks, Pixel Pirates, The Frey, Cosmic WIzards, and Harmoonies to name a few. Even DFK heroes can work (this might be a very valuable growth mechanism).
Following the theme of colonization, Devs could add a collective MISSION to current plot owners → track the number of plots that have base stations and power generators. Set a number, ex. 70% lvl1 base stations built and 50% lvl1 power generators built) → hitting this milestone would create a new occurrence/building option: the “biodome generator”. This is important because having everyone work toward a common goal is a great way to strengthen the community and make the game feel more fun/engaging (when in reality it’s currently still mostly just gamified DeFi, point and click).
Really interesting opportunity for mechanics you can choose to add for funding of the “biodome generator”:
- It can be a pool that people stake into (i.e. like an IFO on PancakeSwap)
- Instead of burning the CLNY cost, it can either:
a) be locked and returned after allocating another token based on each person’s contribution (set a limit like 5 CLNY/wallet).
b) be like a lossless lottery where the amount is turned into LP and staked somewhere, then periodically (once a week or 2 weeks), the amount of interest accrued is (like PancakeBunny’s system) distributed to a couple random winners.
c) operate as a one-time lottery where after completion of the building, there are a few winners randomly selected (by the smart contract, using Harmony’s VRF -https://docs.harmony.one/home/developers/tools/harmony-vrf) and the CLNY accrued is sent out. This is just a fun outcome that will make people excited to contribute to the building of the biodome. - you could also make it a perpetual system by saying that the biodome has a “maintenance cost” of CLNY or a different non-CLNY resource (to continue fueling lotteries, etc. without the supply being burnt, since CLNY is also for governance).
If this works, it can be a model for future “collective-colonization buildings” - starport, warpgates, etc
After the biodome is built - now it can sustain life for all sorts of lifeforms → additional NFT projects can now be accepted, such as Harmony Whales, OneCan, Crypto Piggies, etc. People like to bring their pets. In terms of staking: they can either use the same missions system as humanoids, or they can have their own set of non-human missions. So, what are missions?
Well, it’s possible to add a few types of staking options:
First can be “inhabiting” (i.e. locked staking) → pick a period and your NFT stays there, in return for some benefit. Here I think new resource tokens should be created (no pre-mine, no liquidity, new tokenomics – things like Supplies which could be used to increase mission success; etc)
Second can be “missions” (i.e. short time-based staking) → similar to DFK but without stamina, just send your NFTs on missions that are randomly generated in terms of reward/time requirement (many non-web3 games have this kind of minigame - Crazy Defense Heroes has a great card based mission system that is timed and has % probability success).
Third can be “group missions” or “space excursions” → same as second type of staking, only the initial requirement would be multiple NFT characters and have different outcomes/rewards.
Whatever type of staking is implemented, the important thing is to keep in mind: 1) theme, 2) fun, and 3) balance.
I think implementing these systems would start truly building the metaverse vision, by first “connecting” various Harmony projects. Before the other worlds are ready (Stellaverse, Freyala, Ragnarok, Defira, etc), we can start first by connecting NFT communities. Once the other worlds come online, it may be possible to partner/integrate through building future buildings such as the starport or warpgate I mentioned above (as well as to new planets made by the Devs). Plots are indeed getting expensive, and there are only 21,000 of them. New planets should be a thing, but balance has to be taken into consideration (of existing player wants/needs and new player wants/needs). New planets should have a new token for building, and new pricing model. I think the key is - don’t increase supply too fast before the demand is there, but don’t price people out of joining once there is sufficient demand.
Games are more fun when they let people play/work together. Let’s do great things together!