Polemos game expert Mogglin has a crush on a simple little MOBA.
Tearing Spaces is a Cel-shaded, art-style 3v3 MOBA that mixes the progression levelling of dungeon crawler Ember Knights – including its frenzied hack-and-slash gameplay – with the game mode design of Destiny 2: Gambit.
I absolutely love this game.
It’s graphics and design remind me of Pokemon Go or Zelda: Majora’s Mask and the gameplay is a blast.
I have been on the lookout for games that don’t have AAA production values, but can still capture the hearts of the average gamer in the way Minecraft and Among Us did. Those games were both indie passion projects that became cult classics.
There is no guarantee this will happen to any game, but Tearing Spaces is one of the few web3 projects that has the potential to be that simple game that blows up.
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To play Tearing Spaces’ closed beta, you will need either two of the Genesis NFTs, the Celestials, or a Celestial Arsenal Pass. The pass was airdropped to anyone who was holding at least one Celestial.
There is an open demo anyone can play if you are interested in trying out an older, simpler version of the game.
There will eventually be a free-to-play option, but it will have weaker basic weapons. And it’s hard to tell if there is free-to-play progression in this version or if it’s more “free-to-try”.
Tearing Spaces pulls from so many different genres. One minute you are running through what feels like a time trial dungeon crawler, when actually you are in a split MOBA and end up fighting a boss at the same time as your PVP fight.
The idea of progressing through NPC mobs to be the first to face the boss and defeat it while the opposite team is doing the same, with portals connecting the two arenas, was most recently a thing in Destiny 2: Gambit mode – although the game’s core and graphics are vastly different.
The rush I got in Tearing Spaces catching up to a team that was ahead was great. I have play-tested a lot of games and most haven’t managed to give me that sort of buzz.
Tearing Spaces is also perfect for competitive tournaments where the full use of teamwork, tactics and skill is required. And the fact that comebacks are possible if you make the right use of all three makes this game one of the most enjoyable games (including web2 games) I’ve played in a while.
