Book of Orbs Wallet Can Manage, Trade In-Game Digital Assets

Indiesquare and EverdreamSoft are releasing “Book of Orbs,” a mobile wallet they designed specifically to manage various in-game blockchain assets.

Also read: Spells of Genesis Game Resets for Further Development

Game Asset Trading and Information

The mobile app allows players to collect, view and trade items for games such as Spells of Genesis (SoG). They can also view information like each item’s rarity, and trade them with other players anywhere.

Popular Japanese trading card game Force of Will (FoW) will also soon have its assets digitized on the blockchain. At launch, SoG and FoW will be the two officially-supported games on Book of Orbs but the team hopes there will be many more in future.

The Orbs app is available for both Android and iOS platforms.

Items Can Switch Between Games

ORBs, an acronym for “Ownership Revolution on the Blockchain,” are tokens that stem from a joint venture between Counterparty asset wallet IndieSquare, and SoG producer EverdreamSoft.

The developers have designed ORBs to be interoperable between games and apps, and guaranteed scarcity with limited supply on the blockchain.

IndieSquare co-founder and “Project Orb” leader Koji Higashi said the mobile app is vital to broadening blockchain trading cards’ appeal.

“This can really bring more users to SoG and Book of Orbs and help us reach to the more mainstream users.”

“Having a mobile wallet is really the key. It was very difficult to create a social movement without it and that’s where I saw a lot of opportunities as well. Whether you use tokens as coupons, tickets or game items, it has be on mobile.”

Serious Game Business Needs a Secure Platform

While it sounds like fun on the surface, trading in-game assets is serious business. Players once traded the Satoshicard, one of the rarest SoG cards, for more than $3,000 USD in XCP. There are reports of other rare assets reaching $5,000 or more.

With stakes like that, players need to reduce fraud risk to know they’re getting the real asset. They also need a platform to handle trades reliably and securely.

Book of Orbs is also riding the “Rare Pepe assets” wave — sort-of. The app supports them unofficially as a “secret” feature. However, Higashi stressed it’s just a test at this stage, and the team still hasn’t decided whether to continue it.

Interoperability Between Apps Is Key in Book of Orbs

The Book of Orbs team designed the app for user-friendliness and interoperability. Its availability on mobile devices may see the first large-scale use of the Dex (decentralized exchange).

Already, Spells of Genesis assets can be traded on Bitcoin/Counterparty geocaching app Takara. Without even playing the game, users can use Takara to drop and collect SoG assets at specific locations.

The plan is that, as more games join the ORBs platform, the app will augment each one and create whole new interactions between games. Before blockchain technology and Counterparty assets, in-game tokens stayed locked inside the games that created them.

Game Asset Metaphor Shows Use, Value of Cryptocurrencies

Blockchain technology could also start a new renaissance for classic trading card games. Ability to trade assets with players around the world, outside the game itself, adds an interesting new dimension.

Combining digital assets with the trading card metaphor also helps people understand how cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets work. Games also demonstrate how these tokens can have real-world value despite being “backed by nothing.” Many economists will no doubt be studying this phenomenon in years to come.

Are you a trading card game player? Does Bitcoin and blockchain tech make you more likely to try one? Let us know in the comments.

Images via Book of Orbs

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