What is My Neighbour Alice (ALICE)?

My Neighbor Alice is a farming-themed play-to-earn builder game developed on the Chromia blockchain. The game is centered around the concept of players purchasing and owning virtual islands, constructing exciting items, and forging new connections with fellow players. Each participant in the game possesses a customizable avatar that serves as their representation within the virtual world. The acquisition of virtual land, either from the game's central character, Alice, or the internal marketplace, is facilitated through the issuance of NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

The primary goal of My Neighbor Alice is to introduce blockchain technology to a wide audience, aiming to attract diverse players from the traditional gaming sector. Despite being rooted in blockchain and featuring decentralized finance (DeFi) elements, the game is designed to be accessible to players who may not possess prior knowledge of cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. The game draws inspiration from various sources, such as incorporating daily in-game tasks and social interactions similar to Animal Crossing, while drawing on Minecraft for its building mechanics. The visual design of the game is influenced by the illustrations found in the Swedish children's book series "Pettson and Findus."

Who are the founders of My Neighbour Alice? 

Antler Interactive, a Swedish interactive mobile game studio, is the creator behind My Neighbor Alice. Formerly recognized as SVRVIVE Studios, this studio was an early proponent of virtual reality (VR) and produced titles like SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix, Kartong - Death by Cardboard, Krystal Kart AR, Krystopia: A Puzzle Journey, Krystopia, and Nova's Journey. In 2019, Antler Interactive was acquired by ChromaWay, the entity responsible for developing the Chromia blockchain.

In terms of funding, My Neighbor Alice has secured a total of $2.1 million across two funding rounds. Prominent venture capital funds like Coin98 Ventures and Kyros Ventures have contributed to this funding. Additionally, the game successfully raised $100,000 through an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) round on the DAO Maker platform.

What makes My Neighbour Alice unique? 

My Neighbor Alice sets itself apart through two distinct approaches. Firstly, it features the character of Alice as an approachable "in-game friend," creating a more relatable experience for casual players unfamiliar with traditional blockchain gaming elements. Importantly, the game doesn't require players to engage directly with the underlying blockchain technology, although it does offer opportunities for those interested in exploring conventional DeFi features.

Designed to appeal to a diverse audience, including women, the game offers a range of activities. The core gameplay revolves around virtual islands, which include six unique options: Snowflake Island, Medieval Rest, Nature’s Rest, Lummestad, Sandy Coast, and Submerged Island. Players can purchase virtual land on these islands in the form of NFT tokens, and then embellish their plots with various in-game items such as houses, decorations, lakes, animals, and plants. Players' avatars can also be customized using in-game items. All of these items are tradable through the game's marketplace or on other blockchain-based marketplaces.

Furthermore, players have the opportunity to enhance their in-game reputation by completing quests and participating in various activities. Shared quests enable collaborative efforts towards common objectives, fostering community engagement. The game's decentralized forum provides a platform for discussing and coordinating community-created events.

In a recent development, the game's developers unveiled an impressive $80 million Metaverse Grant Program. This initiative aims to support innovative ideas that expand the game's metaverse, showcasing the developers' commitment to the game's ongoing evolution.

Explain the network security of My Neighbour Alice.

My Neighbor Alice is built on Chromia, a layer-one blockchain used in conjunction with Unity to operate accounts, token transfers, relational data, and user progress. Chromia follows the development of cross-chain playability, with its unique database aspects allowing for complex back-end logic directly on the blockchain.

The second layer of the game is Unity. This front-end solution is, in large part, a procedural building system connecting the back-end with login-registration edge case and multiplayer scalability.

ALICE is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchains and the go-to solution for many decentralized applications. Its’ proof-of-work consensus mechanism requires miners to mine new Ether and ensures that Ethereum is one of the safest blockchains in the crypto industry. A set of decentralized nodes validates transactions and secures the Ethereum blockchain.

What are the recent developments of My Neighbour Alice? 

During the first week of Alpha Season 3, My Neighbor Alice received an overwhelming response from players. Hundreds of active players joined Lummelunda, and the game's popularity was inspiring.

With the launch of Season 3 on June 27, a new and exciting feature was introduced: crafting. Players engaged in fishing and farming to gather resources for creating customizable Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which garnered an impressive response with a significant number of items created.

However, as days progressed, transaction delays increased, prompting the game to be placed in maintenance mode on Monday, June 3. The issue was traced back to the high volume of NFTs created, exceeding 100,000, which impacted performance. Working alongside ChromaWay, the root cause was identified, but implementing a scalable solution during an ongoing season proved challenging.

To ensure the best possible gaming experience for players, the decision was made to restart the season at the end of August after addressing the issues. Feedback from the community has been valued, and the aim is to reintroduce the game with improved performance and efficiency.

While this decision may disappoint some players, it's made in the best interest of both players and the game's quality. The introduction of the decentralized Chromia token bridge for the $ALICE token was successful, and players are encouraged to withdraw their tokens or have them migrated to the new season.

Players with NFTs deposited can leave them as they are, as they will be safely transferred to the new season. The development team appreciates understanding and patience as they work towards enhancing the gaming experience and ensuring a stronger My Neighbor Alice.

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