What is Pancake Protectors?

• Pancake Protectors is a Free-to-Play Tower Defense game that integrates the utilisation of PancakeSwap’s CAKE tokens.

• Players have to strategically place their stationary heroes on maps, and decide when and which directions to use their power up attacks.

• Players will need to recruit a good team of heroes to defend the Base Camp from the enemies.

• Pancake Protectors operates on 14 days Season Settlement, refreshing the leaderboards each season.

• Spending CAKE tokens on enhancements and purchasing NFTs would give players added advantages. 

The twist that makes ‘Pancake Protectors’ a Web3 game is its integration of PancakeSwap’s native token, CAKE, to purchase and earn rewards while playing the game. 

Source: CoinGecko

Pancake Protectors follows a 14 day season settlement system; in each season the Hero Leaderboard and Arena Leaderboards are settled and rewards are distributed according to the season’s ranking. Season 1 started on 29 May 2023 and will close on 12 June 2023. Season 2 will start at 04:00 UTC on 12 June 2023 and last for 14 days.

The premise of the game is that Pancake Main City is surrounded by enemies, and they need you, the Commander, to summon heroes from the four factions: Sun, Storm, Star, and Light to protect the residents of Pancake Main City. Players receive three free recruitment everyday, and can recruit more heroes by earning recruitment cards from the Daily Quests, or Stores. Alternatively, players can use CAKE to purchase Gold to recruit heroes. Currently, Players can have a maximum of 200 heroes. Players can trade also heroes to get heroes better suited to their team. 

What Prizes Can I Win By Playing Pancake Protectors?

PancakeSwap promises ‘fantastic extra prizes’ for players who top either the Arena (Competitive Ranking Board) or the Hero Chart (Consumption Ranking Board), and has allocated 10,000 CAKE for the top players for Season 1. CAKE distributed according to ranking to the top 1,000 players in the Leaderboards. 

Source: https://blog.pancakeswap.finance/articles/pancake-protectors-is-here-discover-the-power-of-cake-and-perks-for-pancake-squads-and-bunnies 

General Thoughts about Pancake Protectors

At first when I heard about Pancake Protectors, I was expecting all the heroes to be cute rabbits and various other animals – to keep in the theme of PancakeSwap. I was temporarily disappointed to see that the heroes were cool humanoid characters, but I got over it quickly – the tower defence graphics were well done – with 3D cartoonish visuals and also gave a vast array of landscapes keeping the game fresh and entertaining.

How to Play Pancake Protectors

To get started with Pancake Protectors, just login by connecting your wallet of choice.

Once logged in, players get to navigate around the Pancake Main City map to organise their resources and gameplay.

There are a lot of things to do. Players can go straight to Chapter to access the main Tower Defense Level progression gameplay, as well as work on earning daily rewards.

Selecting Battles opens up a few options, such as adventure in Expedition Road to earn stars, Peak Arena, Epic Battles, or Relics Exploration to strategize navigating a maze) to earn more rewards.

You can also choose to spend CAKE at the Store; or

Trade heroes on the Hero Marketplace; or

Join or create your own Legion (at Level 10). 

Main Gameplay – Battle

In the main gameplay under ‘Chapter’ each battle, players have only one goal, to defend the base camp at one end of the battle’s map. Enemies will continuously come in droves moving towards the base camp, requiring players to strategically place their selected heroes on each battle map to allow the heroes to attack the onslaught of advancing enemies, killing off the enemies before they can successfully make it to the Base Camp. The Base Camp loses its lives with each enemy that makes it to the Base Camp; once its lives goes to 0, the player loses the battle. 

Players get to advance from chapters, to get to stages with higher difficulties and tougher bosses.

Players can wait for their heroes to fully power up to have special stronger attacks on the enemies. 

Players can also turn-on auto challenge mode, so the heroes will utilize their power ups without needing players clicking to activate and use them – admittedly, sometimes this mode is not the most strategic use of the powerup, but allows for a more ‘idle’ gameplay.

Naturally, as players advance through each battle and level, they are awarded with GOLD, money, EXP points to level up their heroes, recruitment cards, weapons, heroes and more.

Players can also choose to equip their heroes with the newly gained weapons for added power. 

Earning Rewards

Players can also earn rewards via the Daily AFK Rewards, Quick AFK, Quests and Challenges.

Or click on the ‘Make a Wish’ and spend CAKE to earn a reward. 

Join a Legion

Joining a Legion and helping upgrade your Legion. Joining a legion would benefit players where members can help each other upgrade ‘Legion Wish’, team up and battle together in the Legion Trial and collectively earn rewards by completing tasks. 

Use of CAKE Tokens In Game

Players can utilize their CAKE tokens:

• To boost recharge rate, allowing players to progress faster cutting down recharge wait times – useful when there is an onslaught of strong enemies;

• Claim CAKE heroes, allowing players to get heroes with superior attributes;

• Unlock Level Fund, Battle Pass and Privilege Card. Players can purchase Gold to progress faster through the tiers and levels. The Battles Pass provides rewards, such as in-game currencies, cosmetics, items, power-ups etc. The Privilege Card is exclusive to only those who purchased it using CAKE, privileges include increased experience points, enhanced drop rates for rare items, access to exclusive features etc. 

• Purchase Gift Packs; and 

• Stake CAKE to earn resources, such as Gold, HERO EXP, Notes etc.. 

Source: https://twitter.com/PancakeSwap/status/1665224687532773376/photo/1 

Purchasing NFTs

Players can also enhance their gameplay by purchasing Pancake Protectors’ NFTs on PancakeSwap’s NFT Marketplace – there are currently only 65 items available, which will enhance the heroes capabilities in the game.

Source: https://pancakeswap.finance/nfts/collections/0x9F0A9654F84141B02a759Bea02B7Df49AB0CE0a0/37 

Players can choose to buy Normal NFTs or Exclusive NFTs; naturally, Exclusive NFTs would have ‘better enhancement’ benefits. 

Source: https://blog.pancakeswap.finance/articles/pancake-protectors-is-here-discover-the-power-of-cake-and-perks-for-pancake-squads-and-bunnies 

Participating in the Seasonal Lottery

Pancake Protectors also has a Seasonal Lottery, which players can unlock through gameplay. Lottery ticket winners for Season 1 get to win: 

Source: https://blog.pancakeswap.finance/articles/pancake-protectors-is-here-discover-the-power-of-cake-and-perks-for-pancake-squads-and-bunnies 

Is This The Right Game For Me?

If you’re trying to decide if Pancake Protectors is the right game for you, here’s a summary of what we liked about the game:

Pros

• Very good beginning of game tutorial which explains gameplay.

• Has a free-to-play version, teaches you how to upgrade your heroes.

• Non-laggy, with varied landscapes and entertaining graphics.

• To speed up progression and to climb up the ranks, you can spend CAKE to buy enhancements or acquire NFTs for an edge over your competitors.

Cons

• Spending CAKE to buy enhancements and/or purchasing NFTs can be costly. For example, a Body Armor NFT can set you back approx. USD 1,087.

• Without enhancements and NFTs, players require more time to gain EXP for progression and to claim a space on the leader board.