Author: @!0xWang1 | @RealResearchDAO

1. Basic Information

1.1 Game Introduction

MoonFrost is a 2D pixel on-chain farming simulator game on Solana that launches soon. It integrates social interaction, life simulation and role-playing elements. The design inspiration comes from a series of popular free-to-play role-playing games such as "Stardew Valley" and "Animal Crossing".

1.2 Roadmap

1.2.1 Milestone 1 - Trailer Build

The expected time of arrival of this stage is mid-September 2022. The Trailer Build of the project is to combine and test the visual effects and playability of the game, which can be regarded as a semi-playable version of MoonFrost. The main purpose is to promote the game of MoonFrost.

1.2.2 Milestone 2 - Alpha Build

The plan for the second phase is to carry out Alpha Building while expanding the team and releasing NFTs. The official plan is to launch the first playable (Alpha) version of MoonFrost in the fourth quarter of 2022. It may not fully have all the functions of the game, but the core functionality of the game will be covered in the Alpha version.

1.2.3 Milestone 3 - Global Launch

In the third stage, MoonFrost is expected to release the official version of the game worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2023. The game is free to download and play, and the complete game version is rich in content. Players are expected to participate in the game for a long time.

At the same time, the sales of in-game pet NFTs will be launched before the third phase, which is the global release, and the specific time has not yet been determined.

2. Team & Investment Background

2.1 Team Information

Oxalis, established in August 2020, currently has a staff of about 20 people. The main members are located in the UK, and a few are located in other parts of Europe. The founder Ric Moore was previously the producer of the mobile version of "Stardew Valley", so they have a strong connection with "Stardew Valley", and their original slogan was: Build the Stardew Valley Metaverse.

Founder: Ric Moore

Ric Moore is the CTO and co-founder of Bossa Studio in London, UK, whose online game Monstermind won the BAFTA Award. Bossa Studio was acquired by Shine Group in 2012. Ric then co-founded a mobile game studio called The Secret Police, the developer of the free-to-play Japanese RPG Dragon Watch. At the same time, Ric is also the lead developer of the mobile version of the classic simulator game "Stardew Valley", which has been a huge success on both iOS and Android. In 2017, RicMoore entered the Crypto space.

Art Director: Gina Nelson

Gina is a senior designer from South Africa and the winner of the Develop 30 Under 30 award. She worked with Ric as the Art Director of Dragons Watch at The Secret Police before joining Mediatonic as Gears POP!’s art director. She has cooperated with big IPs such as Star Wars, Hasbro, Disney and so on.

Technical Consultant: Alexis Bacot

Alexis has worked in AAA game companies including Ubisoft, MVM, Area Effect, etc.

2.2 Investment Background

The project announced on June 8 that it has received a $4.5 million seed round investment. Investors include Animoca, Blocore, Supercell, Pantera Capital, Griffin Gaming Partners and other institutions as well as a group of angel investors. Among them, Animoca, as a star capital of Gamefi, participated in the financing of MoonFrost, which implies that MoonFrost has its own uniqueness. Supercell is a Finnish gaming giant that produces world-renowned mobile games such as Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and Brawl Stars. After Griffin Gaming Partners completed the over-subscription of its second fund, Fund II, up to US$750 million in March this year, it has become the largest game fund at present. MoonFrost is the first Web3 project they officially invested in.

3. Game Content

3.1 Story setting

MoonFrost’s storyline is set in a lively world, where the seasons and weather change. Humans live in harmony with nature, and the world allows players to experience how their actions affect the things around them.

Each player has their own piece of land, where players can grow crops, collect supplies and collect materials to steadily build their territory or customize their own unique avatar by earning NFTs. As the player's territory level increases, the territory will continue to attract new NPCs, each NPC provides players with new mission chapters, and players can obtain rewards and upgrades by completing missions.

3.2 Gameplay & Details

3.2.1 Custom Characters

Before starting the game, players can name their character and their farm. You can choose hairstyles, face shapes, eye color, skin colors, and clothings for your in-game avatar.

With the expansion of the game world in the future, if players want to change the character image, there will be special shops and hair salons in the game, and even if they want to change their appearance, plastic surgeons will also be available in the game. At higher prices, players may also encounter mysterious potions that change your appearance during their adventures.

3.2.2 Gardening & Farming

The core gameplay is farming/gardening. Players can buy seeds and saplings from merchants (NPCs). Carry out a series of operations of planting, watering, growing, harvesting, and selling.

If a player wants to plant crops on a land, they must first plough the land and clear the natural weeds in preparation for planting.

Weeds, grass and branches will naturally build up over time, and players will need to do some level of cleanup over a certain period of time to ensure the weeds are not overrun.

Players need to water and harvest crops as required during crop planting. Failure to do so will result in crops withering and then dying.

3.2.3 Wild Animals

Various creatures in different game environments appear randomly and do their own thing. Players getting too close will also scare away wild animals. The main animals are as follows:

• Birds - Players will encounter various types of birds in the game. Some may try to eat your crops. Birds can be fed by purchasing bird feeders and bird food. Different birds eat different things.
• Squirrels - they live around trees and like to eat seeds and nuts. Players can feed them.
• Spiders - they appear around the house from time to time. You may want to dust off their cobwebs.

3.2.4 Multiplayer

Playing with friends will make MoonFrost more exciting to play. Players will be able to add other players as friends and then play together on a shared map.

This kind of simulator game is better for playing with a few friends than 1000 strangers. It's an intimate co-op experience where you can chat with friends, help each other farm, complete quests together, and go on adventures together.

3.2.5 Township - Friendship, Love and Marriage

There are a large number of NPCs (non-game characters) in the town. Among them are men, women and non-binary sex people of different ages and backgrounds. Players can interact with them, and they'll usually be happy to stop and chat with you. Players can pursue single and eligible NPCs in the game and even date them. By maintaining a good relationship with them, players can eventually propose and marry NPC characters. Of course it's also possible to marry your real-life friends in-game.

3.2.6 In-Game Animal Rescue and Charity

MoonFrost cooperates with SweetFarm, an offline farm organization that adheres to sustainable development and implements animal rescue.

MoonFrost will provide 1/1 unique custom NFTs for animals in SweetFarm for players to raise in their in-game homes. The financial proceeds from these NFTs will be donated to charities, MoonFrost will combine online and offline, and provide players with the opportunity to truly rescue animals.

These animal NFTs that can be raised and taken care of by players will also be launched on the secondary market for players to trade, so that small animals are given their unique value as NFTs.

4. Token & Economics

4.1 Token Type

According to the information currently disclosed by the official, MoonFrost implements a single-token economy. As the game’s governance token, $FROST will be launched on Solana in the future. Holders can stake the tokens to earn yield interests.

At the same time, $FROST will also be listed on a staking platform such as Raydium on Solana, and holders can earn profits by adding liquidity to AMM. Yields on this can be very high at launch, but this amount declines as the liquidity pool grows.

4.2 Token Allocation

The total supply of $FROST is 1,000,000,000.

• Seed round (11.25%) - unlocked 9 months after $FROST is listed on CEX, 12.5% unlocked every 3 months for 2 years.
• Strategic Round (0.2%) - 100% unlocked when $FROST is listed on CEX.
• VC (3.52%) - The unlocking plan has not yet been determined.
• GEM Sales (0.03%) - 100% unlocked when $FROST is listed on CEX.
• Team (10%) - Locked to the game's global launch (expected Q4 2023). Then unlock 8.33% every 3 months for 3 years.
• Development (10%) - Locked for 6 months after listing on CEX. Then unlock 8.33% every 3 months for 3 years.
• Marketing - (10%) - 550,000 Unlocked in Token Generation Event. The rest are locked until 6 months after $FROST is listed on CEX. Then unlock 8.33% every 3 months for 3 years.
• Treasury (15%) - locked for 6 months after listing on CEX. Then unlock 8.33% every 3 months for 3 years.
• Ecological Fund (40%) - 666,667 $FROST are unlocked in TGE to fill liquidity pools. The rest are locked until 6 months after CEX listing. Then unlock 8.33% every 3 months for 3 years.

5. Others

5.1 Problems Blockchain Games Has Been Facing

Barrier of Entry

Most of the current blockchain games require players to spend money in advance to purchase specific game tokens through the exchanges to enter the game. For new players who have never been in contact with crypto and blockchain games, the process of purchasing tokens is relatively complicated. It's hard for newbies to figure out how to buy starter tokens. For those who have not yet become crypto enthusiasts, this is a barrier preventing them from actively participating in blockchain games.

Second, most games are ridiculously expensive to play, and some even require players to spend hundreds of dollars up front to get started (like Axie Infinity). This price burden will put off many potential players who are otherwise interested in the game itself.

The Games’ High Reliance on NFTs

At present, the blockchain game market is full of games based on NFTs transactions. When the game is released, the price of NFTs is very cheap, but as the popularity of the game increases, the price of NFTs necessary in the game system will rapidly soar to the level that off-chain players and ordinary players cannot afford. The price of NFTs has been smashed to a disgustingly high price, which discourages existing players from playing the game. For game designers, of course, it is hoped that the price of NFTs will continue to rise, until the price reaches an unreasonable range and there are still people willing to take it, until the economic system similar to the Ponzi scheme will lead to the decline of games with high playability.

The Dilemma to Attract New Players

For the entire game market, blockchain games are still a very niche genre due to the high barriers to entry. And due to certain rules that the game development industry has to abide by, many blockchain games are also unable to be listed on the App Store. In particular, the fact that blockchain games themselves require on-chain transaction payment can circumvent Apple's payment system to sell in-game currency, which will result in the sales platform preventing blockchain games from appearing on the App Store.

Declining Reputation

Steam recently banned all crypto-related games from the Steam store following complaints from users. Many believe that the crypto space is full of scams, pimps, and Ponzi schemes.

Low Content Quality

Compared to modern PC and mobile games, the vast majority of blockchain games do poorly. Developers tend to come from a blockchain background rather than a professional gaming industry background. The overall experience for users is very bad, and the gold-mining mechanism in blockchain games may be difficult to understand. Even if many blockchain games mechanisms are understood, they will be found to be simple and uninteresting mechanisms.

The Huge Difference In the Investment Return Between Early Players And Late Players

In blockchain games, OG players can usually buy a large number of in-game NFTs and tokens at extremely low prices. In many blockchain games, these huge advantages accumulated in the early stage of low cost will seriously overpower the players who enter the game later. In the game of buying things with real money, the rich have a huge advantage over the poor. And the mechanism of how this money is used in the game is not fair to late-stage players. At the same time, the game becomes a mirror of the external world. The rich are privileged, and the poor suffer more. It magnifies capitalism and its flaws. Some blockchain games allow you to rent characters/lands from wealthy players, killing a lot of the fun in the game.

The Myth From Playing to Earning

For the participation of blockchain games, people play more for fun, or are they just doing this “job” to make money? So far, only Axie Infinity has made it possible for people in low-income countries to earn a living through gaming. However, the huge fluctuations in token prices caused by market sentiment have also brought the production ratio of many players who rely on game gold to make a living to a very low extent.

5.2 MoonFrost’s Solution to the Pain Points

0 Barrier of Entry

MoonFrost hopes that by releasing a game that doesn't require any purchases to start playing, users will be able to install the game on their phone or computer for free. And no need to buy any tokens.

Whether or not to spend in game is optional for users. If they want to buy tokens, MoonFrost will develop a way to buy tokens directly in the game with one click button (similar to traditional games), rather than buying through exchanges and transferring it complicatedly.

Equal game mechanics

The ever-increasing price of expensive NFTs has turned gaming into entertainment for the rich, making games not for every enthusiastic player. Essentially, there is nothing wrong with selling the NFTs you own for a profit, but having to spend a lot of money to start playing a game is a bad design.

MoonFrost avoids this by making it free to play for all players. At the same time, the development team will regularly release a stable supply of limited-edition NFTs and update other game content to ensure that active players can afford or obtain NFTs through active game behavior. There will also be opportunities to obtain rare items that occasionally drop during the game, which can be valuable!

Play-to-Earn n’ Chill

MoonFrost is committed to creating an immersive world where players are happy to invest their time and energy in the game and enjoy playing it. Playing games shouldn't be a chore or a source of some kind of stress. So MoonFrost's core gameplay won't be competitive or skill-based. Its original intention is to attract chill players who want to experience casual games and experience the real fun of games.

When the game rewards players with tokens, it encourages gold-farming players to be active. Even in order to make money, people will try botting to achieve autopilots, which brings many problems to the game developers. In these cases, both the player and the game itself are gradually detached from the original intent of the game.

MoonFrost suggested that the best way to avoid this is to simply reject any gameplay in earning tokens on a regular basis through repeated game mechanics. A better way is to let players acquire rare items (NFTs) through the game's variety of gameplay (rather than farming golds).

5.3 Concerns around MoonFrost

MoonFrost, which will be released on Solana in the future, has already shown its unique game style and operational concept before its official release. As a simulator RPG on-chain, MoonFrost also disclosed on its official website that it will adopt a full PVE mode in the early stage of the game. In the game mode, there is no mechanism in the game that may bring some "pressure" or "materialism" to players, such as player-to-player battles and competitions.

In the current Gamefi industry, where the competitiveness of the game itself is more important, MoonFrost's casual gameplay appears relatively bland. Under the premise of advocating fair games and relaxing gameplay, how to attract the relatively chill gameplay to gamers or on-chain users is a problem that MoonFrost could be facing at the beginning of the project.

MoonFrost is also facing scrutiny from app markets such as Apple and Google when the game is released. Although the two companies have not issued a clear ban on blockchain games, the developers still said that they may provide different versions for PC and mobile. Some of these features are only available on PC, such as generating profitable NFTs, etc.

In addition, MoonFrost itself also has a risk, which is the ecological vulnerability under the single-token model. Since Axie Infinity was born and achieved great success, almost the entire GameFi industry has adopted and learned from Axie's complex economic model of dual-currency + NFT.

The advantage of the complex economic model is that inflation is delayed. In Axie, the inflation pressure of AXS is transferred to SLP through the interconnection between AXS, Axie NFT and SLP, and the relatively stable price of AXS and NFT is realized, delaying the rapid decline of the currency token price. At the same time, it is also more convenient for the developer team to avoid the premature arrival of the death spiral by adjusting the loss ratio between multiple currencies.

Although the single-currency model is simple and clear, compared with the complex economic model, its control over inflation will be much weaker, and it will give the team less means of macro-control, except for buying back and limiting outflow

It is not ruled out that MoonFrost's economic idea is excellent, but at present, it has not been shown more clearly from the existing data.

In general, although MoonFrost also has many drawbacks. At present, there are not enough social, farming simulator and RPG type games in the crypto industry. I believe that MoonFrost's experienced and mature team is capable of pushing this type of game to a new climax of blockchain games.

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