The Alpha Ascent
Bridge to Beta: Alpha Goes Always-Open
While we work on the beta client, the alpha just became the most stacked it’s ever been: always-open, new casual mode, quests, tournaments, weekly competition, staking, and partner rewards all landing in the next few weeks.
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump in, this is it. Everything you do in the alpha carries forward, so anyone playing now is getting a head start on what the beta becomes.
TL;DR
The Variance alpha is permanently open on Somnia starting today. No more Weekend Arcade windows.
New casual mode is live. Lower difficulty, same game. Bring your friends.
Somnia Quests arrive March 20. Real gameplay required, no idle completions.
Intraverse “Tokyo Nights Season” tournament: March 26-29, real prize pool, 100+ guilds invited.
Weekly competitive series starts after the tournament with weekly prizes.
Daemons partnership live: first Aura Draft Pool raffle running now, test run before staking expands the system.
Phase 3 ends March 27. Unused Relics convert to 2,500 Aura.
Staking goes live March 31. Legends earn at 2x the rate of normal Variants.
Aura Season 2 details dropping end of March.
Play now here: 🔗 Play Variance
In our first post (”Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going”), we talked about the engine migration and what the beta looks like.
As we move closer to the launch of the Variance Beta, it’s time to give our Alpha client the send-off it deserves.
We’re officially kicking off our final alpha client season: The Alpha Ascent. We’ve packed these final weeks with more ways to play and earn than ever before. Whether you’re a veteran looking to dominate the leaderboards or you've been waiting for the right moment to dive in, this is your time.
This is your last chance to earn Alpha Material Lootboxes - and since your inventory carries forward into the Beta, there's never been a better time to stack your rewards.
Always Open: No More Weekend Windows
Starting today, the Variance alpha is permanently open on Somnia. No more Weekend Arcade time gates. The client is live 24/7, and it stays that way until the beta takes over.
We also need to stress-test some new backend infrastructure at scale before the beta launches. Having the alpha always-open gives us real players generating real load, which is exactly the kind of data we need heading into the next phase.
Casual Mode
The alpha has always been punishing. That was part of the appeal for the players who stuck around, but it was also a wall for anyone jumping in cold.
Casual mode makes the enemies less deadly, runs are shorter and the boss encounter is swapped for a tougher-than-normal elite mob. It’s still Variance. You can still die. But if you’ve been waiting for a good time to bring someone in, this is it!
Somnia Quests: March 20
Somnia has been our home chain since integration. The alpha runs directly on their infrastructure, and the speed and cost of their chain is a big part of why a browser-based game like Variance alpha can work on-chain at all. Quests go live on March 20 through the Somnia quest platform.
These aren’t idle completions or wallet-connect checkboxes. Every quest requires real gameplay in the alpha client. More details on the specific quest structure when they drop.
Intraverse “Tokyo Nights Season” Tournament: March 26-29
We’re partnering with Intraverse for a multi-day cumulative-score tournament running March 26-29. Real prize pool, and over 100 guilds are invited to compete.
Variance is also now onboarded as a game on Intraverse, which means that moving forward any of their 100+ partner guilds can organize game nights for Variance. The tournament is the headline event, but guild play stays open after it ends.
Details on format, prizes, and how to enter will come from both us and Intraverse ahead of the event.
Weekly Leaderboards
Once the Intraverse tournament wraps, a weekly competitive series takes over with weekly $SOMI prizes and leaderboards. No gap between the tournament and the beta.
This keeps the alpha competitive every week until the beta is ready. If you like competing for something real, this stretch is built for you.
Variance x Daemons: First Partner Raffle Live
We recently announced our partnership with Daemons, a GameFi project building an identity layer for casual gaming inspired by Pokemon and Tamagotchi. The first Aura Draft Pool raffle is already live on your profile page: 20 playable Daemons creatures up for grabs, with your Aura determining your odds.
This is a test run. When staking goes live and more owners start accumulating Aura, we’ll be able to onboard more partners into the same system. Aura-weighted raffles, cross-community events, partner rewards: it all starts here.
Phase 3 Ends: March 27
Phase 3 closes on March 27. After that date, free rerolls and Relic attachments are done. Your Variant’s colors, expression, Legend status, and Variant Aura are all finalized at that point.
Any unused Relics convert to 2,500 Aura when Phase 3 closes. If you haven’t made your moves yet, now is the time. Once it’s done, what you have is what you carry into staking and beyond.
Staking: March 31
Staking goes live on March 31. You’ll be able to stake your Variants and start earning Variant Aura passively. Nothing about staking touches gameplay balance: it’s an ecosystem reward for committed owners.
Normal Variants earn at 50% of their Variant Aura through staking. Legends earn at 100%, a 2x bonus. If you went through Phase 3 and attached a Relic to reach Legend status (covered in our Phase 3 posts), that decision is about to kick in.
Aura Season 2: End of March
The current Aura tier system has done its job through the pre-season. What comes next is designed around the beta and everything that follows it.
We’ll share the full breakdown before the end of March: what the new tiers look like, what they unlock, and how your accumulated Aura carries forward. If you’ve been building Aura through ownership, Phase 2, and Phase 3, none of that goes to waste.
What’s Next
March 18 (today): The Alpha Ascent: always-open + casual mode live
March 20: Somnia Quests go live
March 26-29: Intraverse “Tokyo Nights Season” tournament
After tournament: Weekly competitive series begins
March 27: Phase 3 ends
March 31: Staking goes live
End of March: Aura Season 2 details
The alpha has been the original client since the first playtest. It’s where the community actually formed.
The beta will be better in every way we can measure, but this is the one you were there for. We’re making the last stretch count. Come play, and bring someone with you.
Join the conversation in Discord or jump right into the game: 🔗 Play Variance.
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