It’s no secret that the global gaming industry has grown bigger than movies and music combined and shows no signs of slowing down. MMO games in particular have become wildly popular in today’s online culture, attracting millions of players spending hours upon hours in their GPU-rendered realities – And now Cardano has one of our own.
MMO stands for “Massively Multiplayer Online” and refers to the type of game where masses of players gather inside the same online world, interacting with one another and the virtual environment – Think World of Warcraft.
Rogue Galaxies is a very ambitious and promising project brought to you by NMKR and NMKR Games.
They are building a vast, SCI-FI, Roguelike MMO universe on the Cardano blockchain using Unreal Engine.
“Roguelike” refers to a subgenre of role-playing games characterized by turn-based gameplay and the permanent death of characters.
The game has an engaging story and lore set in 11470 AD – Thousands of years after Earth has been evacuated. Three great factions control different territories of the Milky Way and explore space in search of The Stygian Light – A source of unlimited power that lies beyond the enigma of the “Overlaps”.
I love to see a project swinging for the fences – And when it’s NMKR holding the bat, with all its recourse and connections as well a respected reputation to uphold, I allow myself to get legitimately excited.
Rogue Galaxies is however a very large undertaking and I think it’s wise that the team decided to split the project into 3 distinct layers, each focusing independently on a core aspect of the game.
The 3 core modules are Space exploration, Planetary exploration, and the Social hub.
In the Space exploration mode, you will be able to travel through the dynamic universe in your NFT spaceship. Spaceships will have a huge variety of modular options, each more suited to a particular type of task or environment. The choices you make when it comes to your ship will have a big impact on your success.
The white paper also promises PvE and PvP action in the form of high-speed chases, battles for resources and random encounters which can lead to tangential expeditions and side stories. This already sounds like a winner to me…
Planetary exploration will be done in third-person gameplay, either solo or in groups of up to 4 players. You will travel the surface of planets, discovering secrets, harvesting resources, and fighting off threats.
Planets will also be NFTs which will earn their owners’ rewards every time another player completes an expedition on their planet! Did someone say passive income?
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of the Social Hub aspect of MMO games and I’m happy to see Rogue Galaxies has recognized it as one of their core components.
Cities are a place to dock your spaceship and to communicate with other players to trade, form friendships, join guilds, and a variety of other social interactions.
Cities are also where you will plan and prepare for your next expedition. You will be able to upgrade, repair, and refuel your ships, craft items, trade on marketplaces, and join events.
Mass Adoption
The team at NMKR Games has said that their ultimate vision is one of mass adoption, not only among crypto natives but in the general gaming population.
Yes, the spaceships are NFTs, and character information will be stored on the blockchain but the team is working hard to ensure that all of that happens seamlessly in the background and players needn’t even realize that NFTs or blockchains are involved at all.
I found it very encouraging to hear this because a crypto-based game will only appeal to a very limited audience. By underplaying the blockchain aspect to the point where the player doesn’t need to know will give the main release an unhindered shot at true mass adoption.
Mint
The mint of the first 1000 spaceships is live at the time of writing. There will be two more batches of 1000 ships each – Only 3000 in total.
The price is quite steep at 350 ADA but developing any game, let alone one of this scale, isn’t cheap. Besides this fact, owning a spaceship also gets you:
- – Early Access to the Space Exploration Module.
- – Season Pass Airdrop
- – Frequent Spaceship Accessoires Airdrops
- – Resource Boxes when the game is live
- – Benefits on upcoming mints and collabs like discounts and access
- – Exclusive OG Game & Supreme Commander Title
- – Access to exclusive NFT holder content on the Website
- – You will be able to rent out your spaceships to players who don’t own one!
Overall I am impressed with Rogue Galaxies and the scale of what they are aiming for. The potential here is massive and with their capable, resourceful team and strong, growing community, I believe they have what it takes to bring it to life.
