BlaCat, a NEO-based blockchain gaming platform has announced the open beta of NEO.Girl, a mobile dating simulation game that combines virtual reality, non-fungible blockchain assets, and artificial intelligence.

Developed by YYMOON Network, the game first debuted at the first NEO Game Development Competition that ran from May though August of 2018.

NEO.Girl performed strongly, earning ¥500,000 in prize money as well as taking the competition’s art award. The game was determined to have the “highest artistic value, including its design and animation, visual experience, and through its narrative development” out of the 46 valid entries the competition received.

The backdrop of NEO.Girl is centred on an artificially intelligent girl named Luna, who was created by a mad scientist, Dr. Wattman. The developers note that Luna closely mimics human sentience as the character can “talk, eat, exercise, and do almost anything that humans can do.”

Gameplay in NEO.Girl is open-ended as the objective is to cultivate a friendly – and even romantic – experience with the character.

The core mechanics of the game are increasing Luna’s fondness towards the player as well as taking care of her daily activities such as dressing her and purchasing new outfits. Players collect two forms of in-game currency to increase Luna’s fondness: diamonds and love bubbles. These resources can then be spent to unlock additional in-game content such as exclusive items and storylines.

Affection, and more generally, the social aspect of NEO.Girl appears to be at the heart of the game’s design. For example, players can create a boyfriend avatar to explore a romantic connection with their character, which also interacts with the game’s generation system. Aiming to simulate the complete life cycle, death and procreation are present in-game, along with genetic inheritance that passes unique gene codes from one generation to the next.

The gene codes determine the girl’s physical characteristics, such as the color of her hair, eyes, height and so on. These genetic features are preserved immutably on the blockchain along with any outfits that were purchased by the player. As virtual assets, the security of a player’s character claims to be guaranteed so they may be preserved and potentially appreciate in value as part of a wider collection.

Outfits and other accessories play a special role in the game’s economy and ecosystem. NEO.Girl will mint 4,000 limited edition clothing items that can be bought and sold in the game’s Trading Mall once released. These clothes can then be thought of as scarce, non-fungible assets that may appreciate in value if the number of users increases.

In future, players will be able to pay in GAS for the purchase of in-game items and may also upload their own clothing designs for developer perusal.

Outfits also serve a functional purpose in the game’s talent shows. The best dressed characters at these events can win awards and prizes for their fashion sense and taste in beauty.

Finally, as a highly visual game, emphasis was placed on the realism of the player’s character and the overall aesthetic.  A motion capture system was used to make the girls as life-like as possible, with characters closely mirroring human expression.

To see the game in action, a clip can be watched here on Youtube.

NEO.Girl Beta Signup

The NEO.Girl beta has a fixed duration that started on December 24th and will run until December 31st. Players then have until the end of the December to participate in the beta and to submit their feedback.

Game data in the beta test will be deleted after the game is officially launched – although there are some rewards available for players in beta that will carry over.

Instructions for participating in the beta are below:

  • Register on the BlaCat platform and get a wallet address.
  • Join the Telegram group and provide the wallet address to the admins from step one.
  • Once the admins have received the request, they will issue BlaCat test tokens (BCP) to the wallet address; BCP can then be exchanged to FISH tokens for use in-game.

Additional Information

A number of rewards are on offer for early participation in the beta that will be issued once the full game goes live.

The reward structure below is taken from a cached report that can be read here. (The BlaCat Medium account is currently unavailable)

  • If a player reaches an affection level of 10, 15, 20 or 25, they will receive 300, 500, 800 or 2000 FISH token rewards respectively.
  • If an album collection rate reaches 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30% or 40%, the player will receive 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 or 5000 FISH tokens respectively.
  • During the test, players who achieve an affection level of 20 and a photo album collection rate of 30%, will receive a special Christmas package reward. The reward will be issued after the game is officially launched. (The Christmas package is only available during the Beta testing).
  • During the test, if a player finds any bugs in the game, ​​they may receive up to 800 FISH tokens as a reward. The reward will be issued after the game is officially launched.
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