Hello Splinterfans!

Today I'll be talking about a few items you can pick up on your Splinterlands journey.

Things that you may not have even known about!

Splinterlands is a fast growing game, and is has many ways to invest, collect and flex other than collecting cards. There are plenty of things you can collect over time other than cards and currency, and I'll be going over the big ones. I'll mainly focus on things you can buy directly with your DEC, SPS or SPT. Though, it's worth keeping in mind there are plenty of ways to invest into Liquidity Pools, Staking, or simply holding Tokens for Airdrop points! So the currency itself certainly has some uses, but I won't be covering that today.

Onto the content!

#1 Card Skins

First on our list, Card Skins, found in the official Splinterlands Shop!

Here, you'll find a collection of Skins, for older cards mainly. These do not apply to one specific card, so if you buy/sell a card the skin will stay with you regardless. They are cosmetic items, which also grant some small rewards. A fun way to change the look of your Alpha/Beta cards!

There's a few interesting and noteworthy aspects about these skins.

• Currently are only purchasable with DEC
• At this time, they are untradable, permanent "unlocks" for the account
• Give a decent amount of SPS Airdrop points
• Hints of future rewards and/or utility down the road

At this time, I myself only own 2 skins. Though I want to grab more while they are in stock. If you buy in bulk, they are much cheaper. (50% off!) These are an interesting way to make your current gameplay look cooler, while collecting exclusive and rewarding in-game items. If it is in your budget, I would definitely recommend grabbing at least 1!

#2 Splintertalk NFTs

Next we have a unique NFT collection exclusive to SplinterTalk!

Purchasable only with SPT, these NFTs come from both in-house artists and community artists alike. The featured ones you see in the screenshot above were all winners of the weekly Art Contest, for example. There have also been hints of further benefits for holding/buying these down the road, though without detail.

These are a great way to collect some awesome and interesting art, support artists in the community, and invest in the long term.
Ranging from the 2000's SPT price to 20,000+, they are all very limited in mint and cool items to collect. They can be found on Splintertalk, the Hiveblog front for Splinterlands. If you haven't already used it, here you can find exclusively Splinterlands content from hiveblog. While using something like PeakD or Ecency might be better for general blogging, Splintertalk is a great site for specifically when you want to check out Splinterlands content. Additionally, you can earn their native token, SPT, from curating and posting there!

A bit of an unknown variable in the Splinterlands world, and surely a longer-term investment. Not without benefits in itself, like supporting fellow players and collecting fun art for the game you love! Worth checking out if you're interested in collecting NFTs outside of cards.

#3 Land/Totems

Ah, the illusive and hope-inducing land expansion...

I'm sure most of us have at least heard of the upcoming Land expansion and fellow updates.
With many things to take in mind with these, they are definitely a future-focused and potential moonshot sort of investment. Land will produce Spell cards down the road, among other potential uses. Totems will play a part in this, and unlike land they have varying rarity similar to cards. (Common through Rare)
At this time, there's no reason to buy any of this, other than to collect SPS Airdrop points and as a future investment.

I myself have purchased a plot of land already, although they come at a hefty price. Several hundred USD at the time of writing. For most investors, myself included, you may be lucky to get the budget for 1, and maybe not even that. So what now?

Totems!
Totems, and Land as well, are both purchasable on Hive Engine. They already sold out in-game, however they can be found on outside markets. If you aren't interested in spending $400+ on land to invest in some future updates, you can opt for totems. Right now, a common totem is around $45 USD. Not too bad compared to Land considering it is all investing into the same update. Plus, for either Land or Totem you collect those precious SPS Airdrop points, while they last at least!

#4 Potions, Potions, Potions...

The beloved Potions! Here's an interesting place, because you can purchase the usual Legendary and Alchemy Potions with Credits here plus quest potions. Speaking of, Credits can be obtained through Quest rewards, purchasing through paypal, or even by converting DEC or SPS. Credits are basically a stablecoin just for buying certain items in Splinterlands, and can't be converted back into DEC/SPS after the fact. You can buy these Potions, as well as Card packs with Credits.

Onto the big one though, Quest Potions!
These cost a hefty 750 DEC a piece, and are automatically consumed whenever you claim a quest reward.
They increase the # of chests received from your Daily Quest by 5. I sometimes will purchase these in Gold, just for fun. I don't think they are really worth it unless you're in higher ranks, and even then it's hard to say that they are worth it. That being said, they are a fun way to spend DEC and could yield some big rewards if you are lucky!

Potions are a decently sized part of the game overall, so don't feel so bad when you get a few potions from your quest. You can use those the next time you receive a pack from rewards or buy one! It doesn't hurt to stock up on potions either.

#5 SPS use!

SPS, the big token to look out for this year?

If we're to understand the upcoming plans and updates, SPS is going to be a big part of Splinterlands in coming months/years.
Not only will it be used for various Staking, Governance, Liquidity, Conversion and Rewards use, but it will be used to purchase or unlock various things. We already see it now, with different tournaments requiring a certain amount of staked SPS. But what can the average player use this for?
Right now, the easiest choices are converting to Credits, Selling on Hive Engine, or Staking.
But wait, there's more?

Rifwatchers will be a smaller pack series similar to Dice or Promo Cards. 3M packs will be printed, that's 1/5 of Chaos Legion. On top of that, it will be purchasable only with SPS, giving you another reason to collect SPS. SPS has some rewarding use now, don't get me wrong, and selling it all isn't exactly a horrible choice either. But you'll probably want to collect some over the next several months as more venues for spending open up and more news is announced. Plus, it isn't long before the Airdrop ends and we all stop getting free SPS! If you want more info on future plans, you can check out the latest SPS Roadmap here.

Closing Thoughts:

Splinterlands grows fast but not always upfront. It can be hard to miss some of these interesting and fun chances to increase your collection. I myself have dipped my toes into all of the above, and look forward to the future of the game and to see where these assets go. While this isn't financial advice, this is gamer advice. 😆 Get yourself some of these limited skins while you have a chance, and take a look at some cool collectables while their around. Want to roll the dice today? Buy a Quest Potion. Not sure what coin to save up? Collect that SPS. Beyond these items, there's plenty of places to put your assets and money in this game. I mean I haven't even gone into the Cards themselves!

Have fun out there, best of luck on your Splinterlands journey! ❤️

Credits/Referrals:

Check out the Hive Engine where you can purchase Land and Totems, as well as other Hive assets.
Special thanks to @Splinterlands for this awesome game, and all the wonderful ways to get involved.
Thumbnail Art created by Myself.

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