In this complete tutorial, we will talk about Upland, a complex game full of details that need to be taken into account when setting up a strategy. That's why we don't have a “cake recipe”, but we will present a detailed explanation of all the important points of the game and, from there, you will be able to assemble your own strategy, from scratch to advanced.
In this article, you will see everything you need to know to start Upland and to evolve in the game. We will talk about topics such as the UPX currency, used throughout the game's economy, and the Spark token, aimed at building construction. We'll also give you great tips on how to choose land in Upland for you to make good purchases, explaining how to analyze the in-game market to know how to price land. You'll also learn to hunt for treasure, complete collections, build your house, and much more. Finally, I will show you what is yet to come in the game, with many doors to open and, with that, make the game even more interesting and profitable.
WHAT IS UPLAND
Upland is a play to earn game in which the main goal is to buy and sell NFT land, which is in a metaverse that maps to the real world. This means you buy NFT properties that simulate real estate. Upland is one of the fastest growing games in the world, having been featured even in Forbes magazine. It recently signed a deal with the NFL, the billionaire football league, to have tournament NFTs within the game's metaverse. Hyperloop is also a real company that has already entered this metaverse and put its bullet trains to travel through it. More companies are coming and more doors will open in this fantastic game. Link to access the game and get started with 50% currency bonus on your first purchase.
LAND
Lands are NFTs that, when purchased, are registered on the blockchain by the EOS network and associated with your Upland user. All of them can be bought and sold either with in-game currency, UPX, or with Dollars or by PayPal (or credit card in case of purchase). Land automatically generates coins in the form of monthly income, which is paid to you proportionally every 3 hours. Just like in the real world, there are terrains and terrains, and it's up to you to analyze what's good for your investment and your style of play. Below, we'll bring you some more explanation about important details of the terrains in Upland.
FSA LAND
It's a special type of terrain that was introduced to the game so that newbie players would be more likely to buy good properties, without players with higher purchasing power buying all of them first. Only Visitor and Uplander level players can buy FSAs, other levels can't buy them anymore (see more about the levels in the topics below). FSAs are generally cheaper, but they have a downside: you can only sell 2 of them a week, which slows down your economy a bit.
TERRAIN COLORS
Gray: free game land to be bought (mined) at cost price (mint price). If it's grey, you (your in-game "dummy", called a block explorer) aren't close enough to it to buy it.
Light green: land near you that can already be purchased.
Dark Green: Land owned by another player that is being advertised for sale. In this case you don't need to be close to buy it, you can even buy land in another city without having to take your "puppet" there, just browse the screen, click on the land and buy (or make a counter-offer).
Blue: Land owned by another player but not being sold. Nothing prevents you from making an offer.
White: blocked terrain in the game. Attention! Many beginners confuse the white lands with the gray ones, and try to pass close to them, without being able to buy. When the land is white and its price is “N/A”, you will not be able to buy it as it has been blocked by the game.
Dark blue: your terrains.
UPX
UPX is the main internal currency of the game. Upland has no token listed on exchanges, so the only way to make real money in the game is to buy land with the UPX you earn and then sell the land in Dollars. The currency, since its inception, has a value of 1,000 UPX for 1 dollar, and can be purchased from 5 dollars.
CONSTRUCTIONS
Upland also has buildings that can be placed within your land (as long as the building you choose fits within your property boundaries). These buildings will play increasingly important roles in the game, such as being your own home, becoming a commercial building (banks, NFT stores, gas stations, among others). Buildings are also NFTs that the user will own. They give points to neighborhoods, and depending on the score the neighborhood achieves, it can become a collection neighborhood, becoming more attractive for buying and selling.
SPARKS
To build a house or building, simply allocate your Sparks to that building. This is another in-game currency, which does not run out. This means that if you have 1.25 Sparks, you can use them on as many builds as you want, because when one runs out, your Sparks return to you. You can split your Sparks between different builds, including borrowing part of them to build a friend. Because they don't run out, Sparks are extremely difficult to get, being possible to get a little more in special events, Sparks purchase events (about 450 dollars for each Spark unit, very salty…). An analogy for understanding the Sparks is to think of them as your workers. The more you own, the faster you build, and whenever a build is finished (or when you call them back), your workers become available again.
It is currently also possible to earn sparks by logging into Upland for 7 consecutive days on the specific dates that the game will inform us of. For example, the game may warn that starting tomorrow, and for 2 weeks, the spark login bonus will be valid. If you remember to log in every day, you will win 2 times the prize which will be at least 0.01 spark. If you forget to log in on the 4th for example, you'll start from scratch, and then you won't be able to get 2 more prizes.
BLOCK EXPLORER (BE)
Your character walking around cities is represented by a block explorer (BE), which is also an NFT. There are the standard BEs in the game, and you can also get others from events. When you reach Director level, you can order a BE customized for you.
LEVELS IN UPLAND
You start the game at the Visitor level, and then proceed to the next levels upon reaching certain patrimonies:
Uplander: 10 thousand UPX in equity.
PRO: 100 thousand UPX in equity.
Director: 1 million UPX in equity.
Executive: 10 million UPX in equity.
Chief Executive: UPX 100 million in equity.
VISITOR
You need to login and renew your visa at least 1 time every 7 days to not have your account disconnected from the game. The biggest downside to this level is not being able to sell properties, because they would only be “truly” yours when you become an Uplander.
UPLANDER
As soon as you reach a total of 10,000 UPX in equity (combining property value and cash on hand), you actually own your properties, confirmed on the blockchain and associated with your account. From there, you can stay out of the game for as long as you like without losing your NFTs.
You can sell your properties in both UPX and Dollars. However, to sell in Dollars, you must respect a minimum period of time after which you became the owner of the property. In UPX, you can sell at any time.
PRO
When you reach 100k UPX equity, you become PRO and can no longer buy FSA properties. However, you become eligible for a commercial license and need to wait less time to sell a property in Dollars.
PRINCIPAL
Reaching 1 million UPX in equity, you guarantee a prize of 0.5 Sparks (currently) and also earn the right to send the Upland team the description of a block explorer you want, and it will be exclusive and unique.
EXECUTIVE
Upon reaching the incredible 10 million UPX, you earn 1 Spark and also the right to request a 3D object to place inside your properties
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
When you get the trifle of 100 million UPX in equity, you reach the current last level of the game and earn 2 Sparks as a prize.
UPX WORLD
UPX World is an unofficial but extremely important site for the game. It has access to all sales and offers from all cities, being the place where you will do your market analysis to fit the bid and ask prices. One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is to advertise/buy land based on the price of neighbors.
It takes a much more detailed analysis for you to be able to sell well and find good buying opportunities. As stated earlier, Upland is not a trivial game, and you will need to really learn to do at least the basics of market analysis, a great opportunity to learn from the game.
But keep in mind that UPX World is not an official website, so it will always have errors and some out-of-date data. But don't worry, it's still very useful.
HOW TO PLAY UPLAND
The tips below were drawn from the experiences I've had in the game and from contacts with other players of all kinds of different levels and strategies. All these tips can be found in videos on my social networks, but they are not a “cake recipe”, but just guides so you don't get lost in the game and, from them, build your own strategy.
WHERE DO I START
First of all, enter the game's social networks for tips and help, including very precious information… Which city to start in. One of the biggest mistakes (and irreversible, unless you make another account) is to enter any city and then discover that it already has no good opportunities and that you will not get anything good there.
Upland is a very collective game, so your first step is to get good information from the guys before you even start the game. Join our Discord and Telegram to play with us and get the latest information.
HOW TO WALK AROUND THE CITY
Once inside the city, your block explorer will start walking in random directions, and all the free game terrain (gray) around it will turn light green. However, if you want to go to a specific place to buy land, you need to click on a property next to the land and click on “Send” to send your block explorer there. You can't send your block explorer to a property that doesn't have an owner yet (gray).
These Sends have a limit, and you can accumulate 11 per day, earning 3 for free daily. On the map, you will see that there are some white paper planes that, when you pass them, you can click and earn more Sends. Sending your block explorer between your properties doesn't cost Send or pay a fee, but you can only send within the city, to another city you need to take some transport
HOW TO ANALYZE A LAND IN UPLAND
Now we will see some fundamental tips to do well in the game. Upland is totally geared towards buying and selling land, so for you to earn coins, you need to make good deals, buying and selling good land at competitive prices. You will only get good deals if you have the right land at hand. Below you will better understand how to find them.
You will see that most of the good opportunities come from new city launches. I consider the most opportune and important moments in the game to acquire good properties.
COLLECTION
Collection lands are the most targeted in the game. In addition to being limited, they have the collection bonuses, and several players are after them. The best opportunity to buy such land is at the opening of a new city, when all will still be available for purchase at cost price. Later, they can be sold for a much higher price, reaching valuations on the order of 100 times the purchase value, depending on the rarity of the collection and the city. But in city launch, you need to be fast. Most other players will also be positioned to buy these lands as quickly as possible. The fight is intense.
SMALL NEIGHBORHOODS
Small neighborhoods sell out faster, and are easier to become collections if more than half of your properties have buildings. This makes this type of location very popular in the game, being an alternative for those who couldn't buy the collections they wanted and still have some money in their pockets.
LOCATION (STREET VIEW)
Using Street View is a very powerful weapon in the game. Neighborhoods that have multiple high-end homes, gardens, parks, and other surrounding attractions tend to reflect this in-game value. I've already given tips on my Instagram of some neighborhoods that were not collection, and that today cost approximately 10 times more than the initial value. All because, before they launched the city, I was careful to open some lots through the game's Street View and take a good look at the neighborhood.
FAMOUS LAND
Some lands such as artists' houses, buildings that have already appeared in series, historical buildings, etc., tend to have an extra value attached (if they do not already belong to a collection). It is important, before launching cities, that you research them and see which neighborhoods are famous and which important people live or were born there.
BURNERS
These are lands that you buy as a bargaining chip. Generally used by more advanced players, they are lands that are not in important places or collections and are usually very cheap. They can serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
HOW TO BUY A LAND ON UPLAND
LYING
As said before, to buy a land that is still in the game (nobody has bought it yet, you will be the first owner) you must pass with the block explorer near it so that it changes from gray to light green. Then just click on it and the “Buy” button. This practice is commonly called “lying land”, buying it at cost.
SECONDARY MARKET
In the case of other players' properties, you don't need to be close to them to buy them. Just search for the property, click on it and then on the buy/offer button.
WAYS TO SELL A LAND
IN UPX
Just click on your land, go to “Sell”, choose the UPX option and enter the desired price. Remembering that every sale and purchase is taxed at 5% by the game.
IN DOLLAR
Currently any user who reaches the level of Uplander will have their account automatically registered to be able to sell their NFT lands in dollars. When you click on the Sell button for your property, the USD option will also appear, so just put the price in Dollars. Be careful here, as many people used to selling on UPX end up clicking on UPX and advertising at 10 UPX (instead of 10 dollars), losing ground in seconds to someone lucky enough to take advantage of this super offer. Here, a 5% fee is also charged for the game, both on purchase and sale.
ANALYZE VALUES (UPX AND USD)
To do this analysis, you mainly need one factor: playing time. On my YouTube channel and also on my Instagram, there are videos explaining more about how to do a good price analysis, but this can be very personal and different for each style of play. The game recently made available the “resources” button where you find the “analytics” option that will open a website with several resources to search for prices of all the properties in the game, analyzing by cities, by neighborhoods, by collection, the way you want. find it more interesting.
Basically, you need to analyze the lowest price in the city to get an idea of where to start, and also analyze the price in the neighborhood where you are. Keeping these values in mind, you will be able to sell or buy at a competitive and fair price.
ANALYZE MARKUPS
In addition to the price, it is important to analyze the markup, which is nothing more than the difference between the original price of the land and the price at which it is being sold. For example, someone bought land for 10K UPX and is selling it for 25K UPX. This land will have a markup of 250%, which represents the 150% more in the price compared to the original price.
It is important to check this number especially when buying land, because imagine the following situation: João is selling a land that originally cost 3 thousand UPX for 10 thousand UPX, and Maria is selling a land that cost 5 thousand UPX for 10 thousand UPX. Both are selling for the same price, but Maria is selling a better product, as her land yields more than João's, as it originally cost more.
HOW TO CHANGE A LAND
You have the option to click on a piece of land and, instead of offering a value in UPX or USD, send an offer to exchange for one of your properties. Just choose one from the list that will appear. This option is free of in-game fees.
HOW TO GO TO ANOTHER CITY
Just send your block explorer to a station terrain (metro, bus, plane) and then click on the station symbol. A window will appear with the cities to which you can go from the one you are in, as well as the value of the ticket, which depends on the distance and means of transport (if it is faster or slower).
HOW TO HUNT TREASURE
Treasure Hunt is an extra game mode to help you earn some extra UPX. When you enter a hunt, a treasure containing UPX will be hidden in some property on the map. You can click on the terrain next to you and go to “treasure”, so that an arrow appears and indicates the direction and distance of the treasure in relation to you.
The distance is determined by how often the arrow flashes, which tells you roughly how far away the treasure is. By following these arrows and making Sends through the city, you try to reach the treasure and collect UPX. However, it is a risky game because, without knowing how to play and without having enough land to walk around the city without paying, you will end up spending more on visit fees than the reward contained in the treasure.
Some game modes are competitive, meaning whoever finds the treasure first wins. It's harder, but the payoff is much higher than classic mode.
HOW TO COMPLETE COLLECTIONS
To complete a set, just follow what the set card says. For example: buy 3 lots in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Cards are per city, so you have different sets to complete in each city. Each completed card generates you a unique UPX prize, in addition, the lands added to the collection gain mining boost, that is, they generate more UPX per month, this boss being determined by the rarity of the collection you completed.
If you sell or remove one of the lands on the card from the set, the set will be deactivated and all other lands in the set will lose their boost. You can't use the same land in more than one set at the same time, but you can use it to complete a set, win the prize, and remove it from there to use it in another set, if it fits in. another card.
TIPS TO GET STARTED WELL IN UPLAND
OPTION 1: STARTING WITH ZERO INVESTMENT
You can play Upland without putting a penny into the game, but you'll have to be more patient. With only 4,500 starting UPX, you'll need a lot of visits to reach 10,000 equity. If you're lucky, you'll have started the game close to a city's release date, and you'll find cheap land. Then you will have a chance to complete more collections and earn some more bonuses. Even so, you will need help to reach the Uplander level. Get on social media and make friends to get there faster.
OPTION 2: STARTING WITH SOME INITIAL INVESTING
If you use the referral link with 50% bonus currency on the first purchase, even if you put only 5 dollars (minimum allowed in the game), you will already reach Uplander level and can sell land. Some people choose to start with more money, but remember that if you put in an amount that, together with the bonus, adds up to more than 100 thousand UPX, you will already start the game as a PRO level and you will not be able to buy land FSA. It's not a big disadvantage, because part of the purpose of the FSA is to serve the low-money, and you, as a PRO, are already considered a "rich" player in the game hehe. Just play normally and, as we know happens in the real world, money calls for money, so your evolution will be faster. Just be very careful not to start the game with a lot of money and no information. With money in hand, you will be tempted to buy lots of land quickly and you can make bad purchases, throwing your UPX away. If you're going to start with more money, make sure you've read all the tips and are on all social media ready to ask for help at every step. Remember that you started out rich, but you are still an inexperienced player and you will need all the help you can get to make all that fortune pay off in the best possible way.
LAUNCH OF CITIES
As stated earlier, city launch is the most opportune moment in the game, when all lands are free to purchase at cost price. However, the scheme is whoever comes first (and has the money to buy it) takes it, so when the official Discord (and my social networks =D) announce the date and time of a city launch, be ready to go online at exact moment and try to get the best terrain. Even before the lands are open for purchase, you can go with your block explorer to the city, letting him walk randomly there. Maybe you're lucky that by the time they release shopping, you're close to a good place like a collection. Otherwise, you will have to wait for someone to buy land close to where you want and send a Send there, and this can be precious time in the case of rare collections, for example. But that's how the launch works, some people will be in the right place at the right time.
HOW TO BUILD IN UPLAND
Your properties can have one building (or more than one in the future) as long as it fits within the boundaries of the land. To build just have Sparks, at least 0.1 for smaller buildings. Each building also has a maximum amount of Sparks that can be allocated to it.
The amount of Spark determines the time the construction will take to complete, ranging from 4 days to 2 years, for example, depending on the construction and the amount of Sparks. You can borrow or borrow Sparks from friends who are not building.
To build, just click on the desired terrain, go to “Build” and select the type of construction. Note that each of them can house a certain amount of people, that is, in the future it will be possible to charge rents if your construction includes other people. When choosing the construction, the game will show a 3D image of it, and you can place it wherever you want on the terrain, being able to drag it to the sides, back and forth until you find the desired position.
After that, you will be able to choose some colors for the construction. When finished, your construction will start counting the time left to finish, and you can have Sparks allocated and moved at any time by anyone, including you. You can, for example, (if you have 0.2 Spark) use 0.1 Spark to build a house on one lot and 0.1 to build another house on another lot. It will only take longer…
For now, there is no way to make any changes to the colors and position of the building once it has been initialized, but you can destroy the building at any time (remember, your Sparks will never be lost at any time).
BUSINESS
Players will be able to own a trade to install some business in their buildings. We are still in the Beta phase, where not everyone can open trade, but over time it will be open to everyone. The more businesses in the same sector exist in the city, the more taxes will be charged, making the market self-balance. Some already advertised examples are banks, NFT sales stores, land ad stores and coffee shop with live chats.
ALCATRAZ (FOLLOW THE RULES)
The game has well-defined rules, and for those who break them, there is a penalty. Your block explorer can be taken to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco and stuck there for a time determined by the Upland support team. One of the biggest causes of arrest/ban from the game is the multi account, in which players are passing land from one account to another. Another common cause is the sale of land for absurdly low or high prices frequently. This often happens to people who are selling UPX for money outside of the game.
AND HOW TO MAKE MONEY?
To earn money playing Upland you have a few options, the best thing is that more and more options have appeared in the game with each new update, which opens doors for us to earn more and more and in different ways.
Today you can advertise your lands directly for dollar and this is currently the main source of income in the game. When someone buys some of your land using dollars, the balance goes straight to your in-game account, and can be reused to buy more lands also advertised for dollars, or you can withdraw this balance via PayPal and then send it to your bank account.
Another common way to make money on Upland is by renting out your idle sparks to people who are building. On the discord servers you can find who is looking for this precious token which (on the day I wrote this article) is worth approximately 6 dollars for 1 spark rented for 1 week. If you have less or more sparks just make the proportion.
As I said, Upland has gradually added more ways to trade its NFTs, starting with UPX trading and then expanding to the possibility of direct trading in dollar. One of the upcoming updates will allow players to buy and sell other NFTs, such as Block Explores and NFL Legists, and the long-awaited NFT cars, allowing new profitability mechanisms, not only in the sale of land .
WHAT'S TO COME
- CARS
NFT cars will enter the game, we will be able to buy from the stortivo to trucks and vans that will be useful in the future (such as transporting cargo or other players), we will also have to fill gasoline using sparks and even park. They will even get old over time using the odometer. Car races have also been announced by Upland, where we will be able to build our own in-game circuit, or compete in official races.
Your block explorer will be the pilot and will gain skills with each race, which can make it even more valuable, remembering that you can use as many block explorers as you want, training each one the way you want. With the car, you will be able to walk faster around the city (Send will have slower movement and no longer instantaneous as it is today). You will also be able to travel to other cities in your car and even give rides.
OWN HOUSE
You will need to say where you live in Upland and have a building in this town to live in. Probably those who don't have a house will have to pay rent in UPX for those who do (nothing official yet).CARS
NFT cars will enter the game, having to fill gas and park. They will even get old with time. Car races were also announced by Upland. With a car, you will be able to walk faster around the city (Send will have slower movement and no longer instantaneous as it is today). You will also be able to travel to other cities in your car.SPARK MINING
Sparks can be mined at certain (distant) locations in Upland.“SPARK” FOR LIVING BEINGS
Another currency will be used to “build” living beings such as trees and pets, which can be placed on your land in the future.TIMES
Teams of up to 4 people can be formed to share land and profits. They will also be able to pool their cash to buy a single land, which will bring new strategies to the game.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Well folks, I hope I clarified the basics of the game! Upland is full of details and factors to consider when setting up your strategy, be it short, medium or long term. Over time, you will get used to the terms, the market cycles, the game mechanics and you will build your own strategy. Any questions, I'm available on my social media and also on P2E CREW to ask questions and exchange ideas about new strategies and approaches. A good game to all!
