On June 21, Bored Ape Yacht Club official Twitter released a promotional video about the new game "HV-MTL Forge" and revealed that the game will be officially launched on June 29.
"HV-MTL Forge" is a space building game centered around Yuga Labs' latest mech NFT series HV-MTL. Players who hold HV-MTL can access and participate in the game, build or customize a unique space within the game, and upgrade their HV-MTL to a new form through the game.
On the evening of June 28, the eve of the "HV-MTL Forge" launch, Garge.eth, co-founder of Yuga Labs, published a lengthy post on his personal Twitter, discussing the game, the earlier "Dookey Dash," and some thoughts on Yuga Labs' game development plan.
The following is the full content of Garge.eth's post, translated by Odaily.
Tomorrow, the "HV-MTL Forge" will be released, and before that, I would like to do some deep thinking about HV-MTL.
Two years ago, in the summer after the release of BAYC, GordonGoner.eth (another co-founder of Yuga Labs) and I had an idea to create a retro arcade game. We originally planned for this game to have a psychedelic and dark atmosphere. We were quite excited about it.
Although we didn't end up executing it, we still hope that some of the original ideas will become a reality someday. However, even though the initial concept was put on hold, certain design principles for the game have stayed with us: like making a game that is almost impossible to beat, limiting the number of game plays for each player, and giving each player a unique NFT character reward based on their position on the final leaderboard.
We wanted it to give players a feeling that it can only be played on a unique retro arcade machine that might be scrapped after a week, so they only have about a week to take on the challenge.
However, if you perform well, you will have the chance to obtain a unique character through the game. This character can be taken out of the game and serves as proof of your participation, showcasing your achievements in the game (such as rare features that prove you achieved a good ranking) and becoming the key to participating in the next limited-time game.
This idea piqued our interest because it demonstrated the potential of NFTs in gaming in a very simple way, such as confirming ownership, verifiable scarcity, and introducing a new esports mode, among others.
And most importantly, the idea emphasizes one unique potential of NFTs - that a part of it (such as the on-chain characters) can continue to exist even after the game ends, without being dependent on the closure of game servers.
Odaily Note: Web 2 game players may have a deep understanding of this. Referring to the suspension of the World of Warcraft Chinese version earlier this year, many players had to bid farewell to their long-time game characters.
So, how can we better showcase the potential of NFTs? Our answer is to use a new game to connect to the previous game, allowing players to use these characters again in the new game. Through different designs, players can continue where they left off or immerse themselves in a completely new and different experience.
These "mini games" will eventually evolve into a series of blockbuster experiences, which will be enriched by the emotional investment of players throughout their journeys.
The earlier "Dookey Dash" was born from this idea. It is adapted from popular running games like "Temple Run", where players compete in the sewers to be the first to reach the end of the tunnel, where a magic key stuck in a monkey's butt awaits.
"Dookey Dash" was only open for a few weeks. In the end, our champion was Mongraal, a professional player of "Fortnite" with super reflexes. Mongraal and all other participants of "Dookey Dash" received a small mech NFT called HV-MTL. HV-MTL has 8 different types corresponding to different rankings.
These HV-MTLs are currently in their Evlo1 form, in simple words, they are still kids.
"HV-MTL Forge" will be the way we upgrade HV-MTL from Evlo1 to the next form. In this new game, you don't need lightning-fast reflexes like in "Dookey Dash". "HV-MTL Forge" is filled with creativity, social interactions, and fun. This is the design direction of the new game, where you can compete and relax at the same time.
"HV-MTL Forge" was initially intended to be a hybrid of a pet game and a casual world-building game, but it later evolved into a dungeon exploration game. Unlike "Dookey Dash," "HV-MTL Forge" will be available for a few months but will eventually close.
I am looking forward to seeing what everyone can build in "HV-MTL Forge." Let's dive into the rifts of time and space together.
For those eager players, Yuga Labs has put together a game guide (https://hv-mtl.com/ forge-game-guide ) and FAQ page (https://hv-mtl.com/forge-faq) and will also release some video content before tomorrow's launch.
