Yuga Labs co-founder's handwritten thoughts: Some reflections on the eve of the new game launch

Author: Garga.eth

Compiled by: OdailyNews

On June 21, the official Twitter of Bored Ape Yacht Club released a promotional video for the new game "HV-MTL Forge," revealing that the game will officially launch 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, building or customizing their own unique space within the game, and upgrading their HV-MTL to a new form through gameplay.

On the evening of June 28, the night before "HV-MTL Forge" launches, Yuga Labs co-founder Garge.eth published a lengthy post on his personal Twitter, discussing thoughts on the game, the earlier "Dookey Dash," and Yuga Labs' game development plans.

Below is the full text from Garge.eth, compiled by Odaily Planet Daily.

Tomorrow "HV-MTL Forge" will be released, and before that, I want to share some in-depth thoughts on HV-MTL.

Two years ago, during the summer after BAYC was launched, GordonGoner.eth (another co-founder of Yuga Labs) and I had an idea to create an old-school arcade game, which we originally planned to be filled with psychedelic and dark themes. We were quite excited about it.

Now, although we ultimately did not execute it, we still hope that some of the ideas from back then can become a reality someday. However, even though the initial concept was shelved, some design philosophies regarding the game have always accompanied us: for example, creating a game that is nearly impossible to complete; limiting the number of attempts for players; and providing each player with a unique NFT character reward based on their final leaderboard position.

We wanted it to give players the feeling that it could only run on a single old-school arcade machine, which might break down a week later, so players would only have about a week to challenge themselves.

However, if you perform well, you will have the opportunity to earn a unique character through the game. This character can be taken out of the game as proof of your participation, showcasing your achievements (such as rare traits that prove you had a good ranking), and it will become your key to participate in the next limited-time game.

This idea intrigued us because it showcased the potential of NFTs in gaming in a very simple way, such as confirming ownership, verifiable scarcity, and a new esports model, among others.

Most importantly, this idea emphasizes a unique potential of NFTs—part of it (such as on-chain characters) can continue to exist after the game ends, rather than disappearing with the shutdown of game servers.

Note: Players from Web 2 may resonate with this, referencing the earlier shutdown of World of Warcraft's Chinese servers, where many players had to say goodbye to their long-time game characters.

So, how can we better showcase this potential of NFTs? Our answer is to connect a new game with the previous one, allowing players to use these characters again in the new game. Through different designs, players can either pick up where they left off or dive into a completely new and different experience.

These "mini-games" will eventually evolve into a series of blockbuster-like experiences, enriched by the emotions players invest in their journey.

The earlier "Dookey Dash" was born from this idea. It was adapted from popular endless runner games like "Temple Run," where players competed in a sewer to be the first to reach the end of the tunnel, where a magic key stuck in a monkey's butt awaited extraction.

"Dookey Dash" was open for only a few weeks. In the end, our champion was Mongraal, a professional player from "Fortnite" with exceptional reflexes. Mongraal and all other participants in "Dookey Dash" received a small mech NFT, which is our HV-MTL. HV-MTL comes in 8 different types, corresponding to different leaderboard positions.

These HV-MTL are currently in Evlo1 form, simply put, they are still just kids.

"HV-MTL Forge" will be our way of upgrading HV-MTL from Evlo1 to the next form. In this new game, you won't need the lightning-fast reflexes required in "Dookey Dash"; "HV-MTL Forge" is filled with creativity, social interaction, and fun, which is the design direction of the new game, allowing you to relax while competing.

"HV-MTL Forge" will initially be a hybrid of a pet game and a casual world-building game, but will later evolve into a dungeon exploration game. Unlike "Dookey Dash," "HV-MTL Forge" will be open for several months but will eventually close.

I look forward to seeing what everyone can build in "HV-MTL Forge." Let's dive into the time-space rift together.

For those players who can't wait, Yuga Labs has organized a game guide (https://hv-mtl.com/forge-game-guide) and an FAQ page (https://hv-mtl.com/forge-faq), and will release some video content before tomorrow's launch.