We all know that over the last few months NFT based games have been popping up daily and it’s nearly impossible to keep track of all of them. It’s an even tougher task to select which ones will be sustainable and which ones will fizzle out in a few weeks.
This post is different as the game I am going to talk about today is really close to my heart and I have been following it’s progress closely for more than a year now.
Most of the NFT games that I am involved with, my primary intention is to make the highest possible returns from it and I don’t expect much entertainment value while playing them and I admit that the majority are outright boring and a waste of time. The only reason we spend time on them is to see if we can make a fast buck here and there.
Project Nebula is a totally different case for me, as even if they declare sometime later that they are going to stop giving any rewards to the players I will still keep playing it everyday as I find the game mechanism truly fascinating.
I somehow feel that this obsession is somehow driven by the fact that I have always been amazed by astronomy and was always curious to understand more about how the universe is structured and how do the various constellations, solar systems, planets and other heavenly bodies operate within this framework.
This was the main reason that when I heard about Project Nebula for the first time sometime around summers last year I was hooked from the start.
I immediately joined their telegram group which barley had 30 odd members at that time. In fact even as of today their telegram group has less than a 1,000 members. It feels like being part of a secret cult society and it adds to the enigma.
This is probably going to be a really long post as there is just so much that I want to share about Nebula that I will probably need to split into separate posts so it does not turn into a PhD thesis. I will try to cover as concisely possible what the game is about, what is so special about it that I am so deeply attached to it and why do I think it’s going to sustain itself for many many years to come.
What Exactly is Project Nebula?
Simply put Project Nebula is a Space-themed game built around NFT collectibles. The NFTs included in the game ecosystem consist of Planest you will encounter while exploring the space as you proceed through the game. Another set of NFTs is the spaceships you will use during this journey.
This game into existence last year when they received starter fund from the ICON group and laid down their roadmap about how they will launch the game in exactly one year. While most games are pushing to launch as early as possible even if it means cutting corners these guys made it clear from the start that user experience and game quality was of utmost importance to them. They kept sharing more details about how the game will unfold with their community members. They conducted a pre-sale of 1,000 Generation-0 planets during October – December 2020 and also conducted several giveaways and lucky draws for the community members. I feel really rewarded being part of this journey from the start as I received 2 planets through these giveaways and purchased 1 more during the auction process at a really discounted rate.
The artwork, design and color patterns of these planets is really mesmerizing you can see how much detail has gone into designing the planet specifications, categories and rarities.
During March this year they airdropped free spaceships to all users that held some planets in their accounts. The quantity and quality depended on the rarity and number of planets you held. I received 3 spaceships of which 2 were basic and 1 was advanced. At that time I had no idea that the planets and spaceships I have received as airdrops will be worth over $7,000 once the game launches as they had minted very limited number of NFTs.
The game finally launched on 27th July, which is about 2 weeks at the time of writing this post. I already had very high expectations from the game but was still amazed at the quality of design and sound effects. Normally a new game launch is full of bugs which devs fix on ad-hoc basis but I have so far not found a single issue in gameplay.
The gameplay involves selecting a constellation to deploy your spaceship and then you move it around to encounter different objects like asteroids, abandoned ships, space-stations and of course planetary systems. Once you encounter a new planet you have the option to claim it and receive it as a NFT collectible.
What Do You Need to Get Started in the Game?
If you have already been part to this project then consider yourself really fortunate, if not it is still not too late and you can purchase a spaceship from the marketplace on their portal to start their journey.
The minimum requirement to start playing this game is a spaceship and in case you were not part of the community that got a free ship airdropped you can still buy it from the marketplace. A basic spachip would cost about 400 – 500 ICX tokens which is worth about $500. Advanced spaceships will cost more ranging from $1,000 to $1,500. The bigger spaceships have higher fuel capacity which means you can travel farther with them.
The price of this for a new entrant might seem a bit on the higher side and my recommendation here would be to invest only if you think this is the gameplay and theme that interests you to keep playing long term. If you are only looking to make a fast profit then it might not be the best project for you.
Once you get your first spaceships you might also want to get hold of a few planets as they can be really useful to support you with the space exploration. To explore the Nebula universe more effectively you need to boost up your in-game credits, research and industry ratings which can only be achieved by holding these planets. Additionally to get hold of special planets of Lava, Exotic or Rogue categories you need to have specific elements like Zeta Particles or X-13 element which can only be obtained by collecting the planets.
My personal favorite is the Exotic category of planets as they have the best color patterns and are visually the most appealing.
What Rewards do you Receive by playing Project Nebula?
When you traverse through the vast universe of Nebula you will come across multiple constellations and galaxies and encounter several wormholes which can suddenly zap you across to an entirely new galaxy.
While the thrill of playing such an enthralling game in itself is rewarding you will receive several in-game rewards when you encounter quad-stations to boost your fuel or asteroids to replenish your industry ratings. The biggest rewards are within the shiny solar systems you will discover. Upon entering them you will find the planets which are part of that system. You will have the right to claim planets which have not already been discovered by other players. These planets in turn can be sold on the market for ICX (ICON) tokens.
Going by the current demand you can expect to get around the following range depending on the rarity of the planet you find:
· Common: 400-500 ICX
· Uncommon: 700-900 ICX
· Rare: 1,000-2,000 ICX
· Legendary: 4,000-10,000 ICX
· Mythic: Retirement Fund
Long Story Short
In case you are not the types who like reading long posts let me drill down a summary for you. I have tried all the popular and even not so popular NFT games and I have not come across such an engaging game that stimulates you at so many levels. If someone to ask me of all the NFT games I know of which is my favorite it will hands down be Project Nebula. While the game offers great monetary rewards as the planets you find can be sold for humongous profits my main motivation is the entertainment I get by exploring the unknown expanses of Nebula and discovering new things everyday. I would personally keep playing this even if the rewards stop someday just for the sheer joy I feel while playing it. While I am aware that the starting price of getting a spaceship might be a deterrent of those of you who are running a bit low on money but this is the game I strongly recommend everyone to try out once.
If this sounds like your kind of game the following links will offer more details and I will surely be posting follow up posts with more details on the gameplay.
Medium Blog- https://projectnebula.medium.com/
Homepage- https://play.projectnebula.app/
PS- This is not financial advice and I have not been paid by Nebula to write this stuff and I am not going to get any referral bonus if you decide to join. I wrote what I genuinely feel about this game.
Cheers,
SamBTC
