2022 Upland Review • Crypto & NFT Games

How Does Upland Work?

Upland is a metaverse with a virtual game where you own the land you build on. Players’ in-game assets have real-world value thanks to the digital economy it has built on the EOS blockchain. Properties can be sold for USD through a partnership with Tilia. The Upland creators focus on three main tenets of the game — play, earn, connect. It has recently added a community directory to the platform where like-minded players and new users can connect, grow and earn together.

Upland provides interesting insights into the world of virtual real estate at a time when the metaverse is heating up and the land within these new virtual worlds is becoming increasingly valuable. As a user, if you are keen to learn more about the world of virtual land sales in a fun way, Upland provides the platform to do just that. The game provides useful guides and an easy user experience to allow players to gain quick insights into the land development and property features.

Property Trading and City Building 

Players can buy and sell color-coded properties in the game. The properties are broken into two primary categories: minted and unminted. Minted properties are owned by other players, and unminted properties have never had an owner. To sell a property, an Uplander can choose to list the property on the secondary market for a fixed price, both in UPX and USD. 

Play: Become one of the first digital land owners in Upland’s OPEN BETA by purchasing a virtual property mapped to a real-world address. Receive special rewards by completing signature property collections, participating in daily treasure hunts and competing in live events.

Earn: Join a new, virtual economy where you have the opportunity to make money in the metaverse. You can start out by earning a return on your properties by collecting fees from visitors. 

Connect: Socialize with fellow Uplanders, learn game strategies and collaborate via Discord and Telegram. 

What is UPX?

UPX is the primary, in-game currency and fungible token on the EOS mainnet. UPX can be bought in the Upland store with fiat currency via third party providers.

Is UPX a Cryptocurrency?

UPX is a utility token used for in-game experiences and transactions in the Upland’s ecosystem.  It is built on the EOS blockchain, meaning roughly all actions within the game are real transactions which are then pushed to and recorded by the blockchain.

Earning UPX

All players start with a small amount of UPX to help them acquire their first properties. Each property in Upland generates UPX passively at a rate of approximately 17% of the base mint price. 

You can receive 6,000 UPX for free by using this sign-up link.

Acquiring NFTs with UPX

Even though UPX is a utility token, the NFTs are tradable assets in-game. Upland property NFTs are already fully tradable (for UPX or USD) within the Upland ecosystem and support for other NFT types will be extended in the near future.

How to Buy UPX

Players can purchase UPX in the Upland Store using a credit card, PayPal or cryptocurrencies (web-only) by clicking on the “Get UPX” button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Players can also earn UPX by trading their properties and NFTs on the open marketplace once they achieve Uplander Status. The Upland store is the online NFT marketplace where users can buy and sell UPX.

How to Use Upland

Buying property: You can choose from six types of properties to buy in Upland. To buy a property click on the property to either put in an offer or buy at the sellers price. If there is no price listed, you can still make an offer.

Selling property: To sell a property in Upland, users need to research the market conditions and understand what nearby properties are selling for. As an Uplander, the player is free to list their property on the secondary market in both UPX and USD. 

Completing collections: Much like collecting the same color of cards in Monopoly, Upland rewards users who collect all the properties within a collection. With the full collection you can earn one-off bonuses and boost your property earnings.

Earning USD: Upland players can list their properties in U.S. dollars via a partnership that Upland has with Tilia Pay. After you list a property, another player can purchase your property and the player will have USD deposited into your account instead of UPX. 

Treasure hunts: ‍Enjoy three types of treasure hunts in the metaverse: standard, limited and exclusive. 

Spark & property management: The Upland team encourages user-generated content within the metaverse. The ability to construct different buildings on top of a user’s property gives the user more choice in what they want to create. Spark is the currency that powers the development of any type of 3D object that lives on top of the user’s property.

Traveling between cities: Users can travel by train, air, bus, and Hyperloop in Upland depending on the route. For example, the flight between San Francisco and New York City costs 2,580 UPX, and the duration is approximately 42 minutes.

UNFT swapping: Players can leverage their portfolio of Upland NFTs (UNFTs) to initiate 1-for-1 trades between other players. 

Vanilla mode: Players can speculate on what properties might be included in collections prior to their release within the game using Vanilla mode. These NFTs for the metaverse are minted to the blockchain prior to the release.

In terms of customer service, a rating of 4 is apt for this metaverse. The team at Upland has developed a loyal following of over 100,000 on Twitter. It also has a community directory, a monitored support email address and a Discord channel to answer pressing concerns. The platform has a blog with new announcements and a roadmap of future developments.

The pricing is reasonably cheap for a newcomer who wants to get a taste of the game mechanics. There are 10 packages in terms of pricing, and the first starts at 5,000 UPX for $4.99 with the highest reaching 25 million UPX for $24,999.90

The mobile app is user friendly with an inviting interface and easy navigation. The design, layout and visuals within the mobile app are engaging. 

The play-to-earn mechanics within this metaverse are impressive and give the user a sense for the real-world applications of blockchain technology. The interface is easy to connect with and the team provides helpful guides and content across the platform. The pricing is also inclusive in that it offers attainable properties with low barriers to entry and cheap properties available to first-time players. 

The in-game currency also adds a layer of value for the user. Players can accrue UPX over time, swap properties and participate in treasure hunts to add more utility to the metaverse.

The sign-up experience is easy, and the platform itself is easy to navigate, although the design and branding may appear dated to some. Collecting properties and assessing market conditions is interesting, and users can return to see how the market conditions change within various districts. However, on first entry, the amount of districts and properties to search through is a little overwhelming. Players will need to spend some time doing their research.

Upland vs. Decentraland

Upland is powered by EOS whereas Decentraland is a platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain, meaning that the fees are higher in Decentraland. In both metaverses, users can buy and sell land. Upland overlays virtual assets on the real world, so you could own your house in the physical world and in the virtual world. In contrast, Decentraland is a world completely built by the creators with very few links or similarities in terms of visuals to the real world. Upland offers properties and the chance to assess market conditions within specific areas, whereas Upland players transact using the native in-game currency, UPX, to mint a variety of NFTs. Decentralands main token is MANA, which is used to take part in the events and buy NFTs within the metaverse. It has a second token LAND for its virtual real estate.

Upland is an interesting play-to-earn game that allows users to get a taste of the virtual real estate market while also providing entertainment. This high rating is reflective of the user experience, particularly in the mobile application that offers easy navigation and attractive visuals. Also, the ability to purchase the in-game currency UPX and use it to trade assets is enjoyable. 

Upland Tutorial

Vewers can learn more about the features of the Upland game on their YouTube channel.  These easy-to-follow tutorial shows viewers how to sign up for a new account, use the in-game tokens and research real estate market conditions.