Mutant Ape NFTs take center stage in Serum City
Serum City, an independent city-building game developed by Novel Labs and Faraway, is placing Mutant Apes at the forefront of its gameplay.
Lore behind Serum City
The city-building game is set in a dystopian world where Bored Apes (BAYC) reign as the ruling class, leaving Mutant Apes as the subordinate group.
Interestingly, Mutant Apes are the game’s primary focus and give owners access to the game. Additionally, Novel Labs’ derivative Genesis Oath and Mutant Hound NFT collections, which are not official Yuga creations, along with Bored Ape holders, will also have access. Serum City is being constructed on the Ethereum platform, and ApeCoin will be the main in-game currency.
Serum City aims to build upon the lore of Mutant Cartel. The founder of Mutant Cartel, Lior Messika, has spent the past 18 months publishing comic strips and short video clips that will now be expanded upon in the game.
Messika claims that Serum City offers a more immersive and captivating gameplay experience than other NFT-based games. He asserts that the lack of depth in many games has hindered their adoption and failed to meet developers’ expectations. Serum City aims to challenge the simplistic and superficial characteristics of early NFT-based games.
The team behind the game is committed to providing Serum City players with abundant lore and narrative while also offering the freedom to create their own stories and game assets. In addition to using ApeCoin, players can purchase in-game currencies like gems (off-chain).
Messika expressed his belief that there is a gap in the broader Yuga Labs ecosystem for Mutants. Serum City is intended to help bridge that gap and draw attention to the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs, which are not currently regarded as being as valuable or prominent as the Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape NFTs.
Adding utility to Yuga Labs NFTs
Although Yuga Labs has no association with Serum City, owners of the NFTs can utilize and profit from their own artwork. The inclusive approach towards its intellectual property has empowered numerous Ape holders to establish their brands centered on various products such as food, games like Serum City, and more.
Serum City’s in-game items will take the form of transferable NFTs that can be utilized in future Novel Labs games. As each new in-game season of content is released, access to Serum City will expand gradually.
The developers of Serum City envision the game as a crucial move toward interoperability. They believe that the Faraway Developer Platform could provide an avenue for enhanced interoperability in the future. The platform is expected to facilitate “cross-game and cross-universe events” once Serum City goes live in August.
According to Faraway co-founder Alex Paley, Serum City will be a “transmedia” experience. Although there isn’t much information available about gameplay, Paley mentioned that the game would have an “illustrated” or comic book-inspired look.
