- The first component of UVL Studio’s Bandersnatch-style NFT narrative game, Axis Mundi, has been released with a 72-hour NFT open mint.
- The journey of “Axis Mundi” began on June 6 with a 72-hour open edition mint where users can acquire so-called Energy elements.
- The NFT project is unique because it is a “choose-your-own-adventure” game that will unfold over the next 8 to 12 months.
Design studio UVL is launching a one-of-a-kind “choose-your-adventure” styled NFT project this week.
Consisting of three major components, the “Axis Mundi” journey begins on June 6 with a 72-hour open edition mint where users can acquire so-called Energy elements. An open-edition mint refers to a collection that contains an unlimited number of NFTs.
These elements, which appear as 20-second video loops of light and liquid, were created by new media artist Jason Ting and sound designer Pelican Sound.
The mint price is set at 0.009 ETH or about $16 at today’s exchange rates. Beings, the experience’s primary NFTs, will be available in September at an unspecified price. Beings NFTs can evolve as well, but users must burn their Energy NFTs to do so. For instance, to progress from the first to the second form, users must destroy five Energy NFTs.
Once the experience is over, the final component is a much larger, collaborative work that generates art based on the various interactions between different Beings in the virtual world.
The experience will unfold in eight chapters over the next 8 to 12 months
Co-founder Alexis Foucault said, “Chapters are designed to maintain community interest post-mint. We have a well-structured, pre-planned experience where all collectors can participate.”
At the end of each game chapter, NFT holders will be presented with decisions to make for a few days at the end of each game chapter, with one-click decision mechanisms adapted to the brevity of collector attention spans. “The decisions you make, however, will have a significant impact and will not necessarily be easy,” he stated.
“The principles of gameplay are embedded throughout the experience,” Foucault explained. “Collectors are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zone and become active participants.”
Depending on the participant’s personality and psychology, various paths and experiences will begin to intertwine. “User decisions will shape their journey and the NFT that they own,” he says.
Foucault parallels the interactive storytelling format popularized by Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch,” in which viewer choices determine the course of the narrative.
UVL is also curating an immersive audiovisual installation for this week’s Non-Fungible Conference in Lisbon to help publicize the launch.
Axis Mundi deviates from NFT Trends
According to Foucault, “We aimed to create an emotional project based on NFTs that encapsulates everything we love.”
The duo is creating an NFT experience that bridges the gap between art, cinema, and gaming, with influences ranging from Neri Oxman and Giacometti to Avatar and Pokémon.
As Foucault acknowledges, this gamified mechanism also pays homage to the NFT projects launched by artist Pak. “We often reference Pak, and it’s entirely intentional. Lost Poets, for instance, has a principle of gamification and mystery that has always inspired us.”
He cites inspiration from other collections such as OG Crystals, Shibuya Studio, and the artist MGXS’s GNSS collection.
The NFTs are created using the AI software Stable Diffusion and a 3D algorithmic generation process. As a result, the artwork has a sculptural rather than graphic quality.
“We sculpted the silhouette as if we were molding a digital sculpture with biological and organic materials,” explained Foucault.
Though there is money to be made on the project—it is, after all, an open edition mint—it is not your typical NFT drop.
