Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity Classic takes players back to the game that sparked a Web3 gaming revolution. In this turn-based card battler, players collect, breed, and battle using adorable yet powerful creatures called Axies. Each Axie’s body parts determine its moveset, making breeding and theory-crafting essential to gameplay. Set in the colorful world of Lunacia, players go on a journey to defeat evil forces and restore peace, honoring the sacrifice of the god Atia.

The game has seen its highest highs and lowest lows, but here we are in 2205, witnessing Axie Classic’s resurgence. With its return, it’s time to dive in and see what this classic has to offer in our review.

Gameplay

Axie Classic has gone through many patches and is now in Season 8 of competitive play. The latest version brings fun new twists, competitive rewards, and a cuteness overload from the Axies we know and love. The core gameplay remains largely the same, with familiar modes like solo PvE and Arena (PvP). To play, you’ll need at least three Axies tied to your account. Back in the P2E era, Axie Infinity gained a massive player base by pioneering the "scholarship" system, allowing players who couldn't afford Axies to borrow them and share profits with owners

Each Axie belongs to a class and has unique stats like HP, speed, and more, which impact battles. But the most important aspect is their body parts, which determine the cards and moves they can use. Combat is a turn-based card battle system where Axies play cards based on an energy system (similar to mana in other card games) and mechanics like Last Stand and Bloodmoon Curse. The goal is to eliminate all enemy Axies before they take down yours.

If you've played Axie Classic before, you’re familiar with these mechanics, but the recent resurgence has introduced new game modes and an off-chain combat currency system for competitive players. One of the most exciting additions is Cursed Colosseum. Here, you select three Axies to fight through a gauntlet of up to 14 battles. The twist? Before each battle, one of your Axies gets "cursed," forcing you to swap two of its cards from a set of alternatives. These changes also impact the Axie's stats, like speed, so strategy and adaptability are key. By Round 6, your Axies will likely have completely different moves than when you started. The mode ends when you hit a win milestone or suffer two losses. Since all players face the same curse mechanics, it levels the playing field and pushes veteran players to adapt on the fly.

Another major addition is the Daily Mini Tournament. This mode lets you play up to 8 PvP matches (depending on your rank) and earn rewards like Gold Coins and AXS based on your wins. It’s essentially an upgraded Arena mode with higher stakes and better rewards.

These new modes tie into Guilds and Guild Rewards, another fresh feature in Axie Classic. Guilds function like competitive teams, earning Guild Points by consistently performing well in Mini Tournaments and the Cursed Colosseum. At the end of each season, massive rewards, like AXS, are distributed to the top guilds, reinforcing community-driven competition.

During Axie’s peak play-to-earn (P2E) era, its economy revolved around SLP (utility token) and AXS (governance and competitive rewards). While these tokens still exist, the game now features a more sustainable off-chain currency system. Gold, earned randomly from chests after matches, is used for tournament entry and other sinks. Gems, the premium currency, unlock the battle pass and other perks. This setup mirrors the soft/hard currency systems seen in Web2 games while keeping SLP and AXS as core rewards for top players.

With fresh mechanics, competitive incentives, and new ways to engage, Axie Classic is proving that it still has plenty to offer, whether you're a returning player or jumping in for the first time.

Review

Axie Infinity is basically a TCG with the added cuteness of those Axies we all know and love. It’s got the usual mana/energy system and card-building mechanics, but instead of just collecting cards, you're actually breeding Axies to get the moves you want. It’s a creative take on deck-building, but since Axies only have a limited number of parts, the game can eventually starts feeling stale, same meta builds, same cards, over and over. Unlike regular TCGs that can just drop new expansions, adding fresh moves to Axie Classic is way trickier as it is tied to the Axie's body part. The Cursed Colosseum mode does mix things up with its forced on-the-fly strategy, which I really like, but it still doesn’t fully solve the problem of keeping the meta fresh. Though that’s probably why Axie Origins exists, to introduce completely new mechanics. Visually, the game is polished, but nothing really stands out. The attack animations and sound effects have barely changed over the years, and while they’re fine, they don’t bring much excitement. That said, the gameplay itself still holds up.

Axie Infinity is all about strategy and creativity. You need to build a solid team of three Axies that complement each other, then master just about every move in the game to actually be competitive. Since damage depends on class advantages and disadvantages, knowing your cards inside out is a must at high ranks. The game falls into that "easy to learn, hard to master" category as you can climb pretty high just by using strong meta Axies, but once you're in the top ranks, it gets sweaty. At that level, players literally have damage values memorized for every card. As a TCG, Axie’s mechanics aren’t super complex—buffs, debuffs, and status effects are all pretty standard. RNG plays a role too, especially with critical hits, which hit harder on certain Axie classes like Beasts. It can be annoying, but it’s nowhere near as frustrating as RNG in other TCGs, so I don’t mind it too much.

The new guild system and rewards are a nice touch, making guilds feel more meaningful while giving players another reason to stay competitive. The new game modes also add some much-needed variety, making each match feel less repetitive. While Axie Classic still has its limits, it’s managed to stay fun, competitive and rewarding, especially for those who love strategizing and adapting to new challenges.