If you’ve been on the fence about paying to jump into the early version of blockchain sandbox MMORPG WorldShards, then you don’t want to miss out this new Trial event for a chance at getting full access to the web3 game for free, forever.

What Is the New WorldShards Trial Campaign?

Not to be confused with the recently-held $100k+ Trials event, this Trial campaign is a free 30-day period that lets you play this colorful fantasy title for free. If you play during the overhauled trial period for 25 days, you will get full access to the web3 game, with the developers stating that this access lasts forever. There’s no better time than now to start playing, and you don’t need to play 25 days in a row either to unlock full access to this engaging blockchain gaming experience. As long as you login for 25 days during this event, you should be guaranteed the full game without any entry fee.

How to Start Playing WorldShards for Free During Trial Period

This trial period was announced on December 11th, but it looks like your trial countdown begins when you login for the first time since the event kicked off. If you want to get started, you can head on over to the game’s official website or the Open Loot website to download the necessary launcher. Once you have the launcher installed, you can start downloading the MMO, after which you’ll want to sign up to start exploring, building, and fighting in the world of Murrlandia for free.

Are There Other Ways to Play WorldShards in Early Access?

While there are multiple ways to participate in the early access version of this play and earn title, the current event is the only way for you to gain full access on your own.

If you miss out on this trial play opportunity, which is available for an unspecified timeframe, you will have to choose one of these 4 different methods to start playing (unless something changes in due course):

  • Buying a Welcome Bundle
  • Purchasing a Tradable Access Key
  • Acquiring a Founder Island (Purchase or Rent)
  • Receiving a Gifted Welcome Bundle

So technically, there is still another way to get free access, and is that by having a friend gift you the Welcome Bundle. If you happen to know anyone who bought the Welcome Bundle or a Founder Island, then good news for you, as your friend is then able to invite you over at no additional cost by gifting you a free bundle. This gifting feature is available to buyers of Welcome Bundles only for now, with owners of Founder Islands also set to get 1 free bundle each within the next few weeks.

The Welcome Bundle costs $40 and includes a Personal Access Key and 3700 Gems (increased from 2500 Gems after the trial period started). The Personal Access Key is not tradable, while Gems are premium currency used for crafting items. Buying this bundle from the official purchase page on Open Loot is rewarded with a gift bundle upon using the Personal Access Key. There are 2988 Welcome Bundles available at the time of writing.

If you know anyone who has bought the Welcome Bundle and has used their key to access the game, they should have a gift bundle they can send to you by inputting your unique ID code through the game’s start screen. You will have to create an account and sign in to the game to see your ID, as your friend needs that code in order to send you the bundle, according to the official guide.

The game's start screen containing your unique ID your friend can use to send you a gift bundle!

Next to buying the Welcome Bundle (or having it gifted), you can also just purchase a Tradable Access Key, which has a floor price of $65 at the time of writing. This key can only be used during this early access phase, and while it is tradable, redeeming it to start playing will burn the NFT in the process.

The final way you can access the game now is by getting one of the many different Founder Islands, with $118 being the cheapest listing at the time of writing. An NFT rental system however was introduced back in October to provide everyone with cheaper but temporary access to islands while giving holders a chance to gain passive income. Each account can only use one Founder Island, which not only is another way to play early, but it’s also a path towards a variety of useful benefits, including increased island capacity, and access to one or multiple Artifact slots. Rarer islands come with higher capacity, which means you have more room to place workbenches, building objects, and more, according to the official wiki. Artifacts are one such type of building object which are needed to craft equipment NFTs, so if you have an available slot, you will be able to place it next to your workbench.

Whether you get access through the Trial event or via any of the other options or not, WorldShards will eventually exit Early Access and become a free to play title that will launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store. This official release is planned to take place at some point in 2025.