Chapter 3: Bountyfall is now officially live in Pixels from October 30, kicking off the very first season with new features and collaborative mechanics to enjoy as you attempt to contribute the most to your side and help it come out on top to play to earn $PIXEL tokens across seasonal community-driven prize pools.

Whether this is your first time stumbling across this web3 game or are a returning player curious to see whether it’s time to start playing again, here’s everything you need to know about this latest new phase to see if this is the kind of game you’d enjoy playing to earn in.

What Is Pixels?

Pixels is a free to play social farming MMO built on the Ronin blockchain. The game combines classic farming sim elements with web3 features, allowing players to play and earn $PIXEL tokens and other on-chain assets through gameplay. Players can grow crops, craft goods, trade with others, and participate in seasonal events that introduce new challenges and rewards.

In addition to its core farming gameplay, Pixels has also been expanding as a broader web3 gaming ecosystem through the creation of a multi-game staking system where players can stake $PIXEL tokens to earn passive rewards or gain access to other connected titles. As of writing, this ecosystem includes games such as Sleepagotchi LITE, Pixel Dungeons, and Forgotten Runiverse, with more integrations expected in the future.

Pixels reached a milestone earlier this year with over 100 million $PIXEL tokens staked, demonstrating strong community engagement and an active interconnected economy. The flagship game is designed for both casual and blockchain gamers, offering full gameplay accessibility without requiring crypto wallets, while also providing on-chain functionality for those who want to own and trade in-game assets.

After spending what seems to have been over a year in Chapter 2, or almost a year in Chapter 2.5, the new era for browser-based title is now finally here. Let’s see how it works!

What’s New in Chapter 3: Bountyfall?

Chapter 3: Bountyfall is the newest major update in Pixels, introducing a competitive faction-based system centered around 3 Unions: Wildgroves, Seedwrights, and Reapers. Each Union represents a different philosophy on how to restore balance to Terra Villa. Players can align with one of these Unions, complete missions, and compete to claim the largest share of seasonal rewards.

Wildgroves is a Union devoted to nature’s untamed growth, with the belief that balance is achieved by letting the land heal on its own. Their symbol is the Verdant Yieldstone. Seedwrights is built on discipline and structure, believing in guiding and nurturing the land through careful cultivation. They carry Flint Yieldstones. Reapers embrace the balance between life and death, acknowledging that creation and destruction are part of the same cycle. Their key resource is the Hollow Yieldstone.

The season’s main activity takes place in a new building called Hearth Hall. Once inside, players get to choose their Union and can then strengthen their faction’s Hearth Health by collecting and depositing Yieldstones.

Each Union’s Hearth has its own progress bar. The first Union to reach 100% Hearth Health wins the season, and rewards are distributed as follows:

  • 1st place Union: 70% of the total rewards pool
  • 2nd place Union: 30% of the pool
  • 3rd place Union: Starter Yieldstones for the next season

Rewards are directly tied to participation, meaning the more Yieldstones placed, the larger the prize pool becomes. The maximum reward pool for the first Bountyfall season is 50k $PIXEL.

What Are Yieldstones in Pixels Chapter 3?

Yieldstones are the core resource of Chapter 3. There are 3 types, each linked to a specific Union:

  • Verdant Yieldstones (Wildgroves)
  • Flint Yieldstones (Seedwrights)
  • Hollow Yieldstones (Reapers)

Yieldstones come in 5 tiers, with higher tiers providing greater power. They are not tradable, and their purpose is to either strengthen your own Union’s Hearth or sabotage a rival Union’s Hearth.

When players place Yieldstones into their own Hearth, they boost their faction’s progress. If they deposit a Yieldstone into an opposing Hearth, it causes damage, reducing that Union’s Hearth Health.

Players can obtain Yieldstones in 2 primary ways: by completing tasks on the taskboard through the Infinifunnel at home, as part of normal gameplay, and by using the Yieldstone Press, a new building available to NFT landowners through the Hearth Hall Chamber Shop.

To craft Yieldstones at the Yieldstone Press, players must first create Yield Reactors in various industries such as Metalworking, Woodworking, Cooking, Business, and Exploration. These Reactors are made using new high-level materials, including:

  • Mirage Egg (from Coops, Level 40+ Animal Care)
  • Ashnut (from Trees, Level 40+ Trees)
  • Gloomshard (from Mines, Level 40+ Mines)
  • Sunbloom (from Crops, Level 40+ Crops)
  • PearlySwirl (from Ponds, Level 40+ Exploration)

The Yieldstone Press can return Yieldstones that match the assigned Union of the land. Each large land can hold up to 4 presses, while smaller lands are limited to 2. This new system also generates Discoverability Points and surplus resources.

Another one of Bountyfall’s key new features is inter-Union sabotage. Players can earn Yieldstones from rival Unions while completing daily tasks, which can then be placed into an enemy Hearth, reducing its health.

To counter sabotage, players can purchase Offerings from the Chamber Shop. Offerings are time-limited objectives that require collective Union effort. If players meet the Offering goal before the timer expires, their Hearth levels up. If they fail, the Offering is lost, and the Hearth either remains at its current level or drops one level lower. These Offerings come in 2 types: Power Offerings, which strengthen your own Hearth’s progress, and Defense Offerings, which Protect your Hearth against sabotage.

Players can also switch between Unions using a Harvest Union Changer item from the Chamber Shop. The first switch costs 50 $PIXEL and has a 48-hour cooldown between changes.

How to Play to Earn in Pixels Chapter 3: Bountyfall

The play to earn structure of Chapter 3 very much revolves around teamwork-based gameplay, Union participation, and Yieldstone collection.

The total rewards pool for Chapter 3 is community-driven and can reach up to 50k $PIXEL for the first season, depending on the number of Yieldstones placed into Hearths during the season. Active players who contribute to their Union’s progress will receive dynamic rewards based on their level of participation, and the prize pool will reset at the start of every new season.

At the end of the season, members of the highest-ranked Union share 70% of the prize pool, while players from the 2nd place Union share 30%, and the 3rd place Union receives starter Yieldstones for the next round.

Each Union has its own leaderboard, where players earn points for depositing Yieldstones, crafting Reactors, completing tasks, and performing sabotage. These contributions determine the player’s final rank and their portion of the prize pool. The best player of the season could win “something extra special,” with the exact reward(s) in question not revealed at the time of writing.

If you like the sound of this collaborative gameplay system, then now seems like a great time to jump back into Pixels and play to earn some $PIXEL tokens for your contributions. Get started by signing up on the game’s official website for free to begin playing on your web browser.