Minecraft Meets World of Warcraft in Gala's Survival Fantasy Game Mirandus

PREVIEW: We go hands-on with an early tech test of Mirandus, an upcoming MMORPG built around an array of NFT assets.

Mirandus. Image: Gala Games.

Among Gala Games' many upcoming Web3 offerings is Mirandus, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in a medieval fantasy world—featuring a first-person point of view and a minimalist visual aesthetic. 

While still in development, Decrypt had the chance to check out an early tech test of the game firsthand and experience a taste of what Mirandus has to offer. In short, the game mixes relaxing farming and crafting mechanics with high-risk hunts in the world outside the citadel walls, where goblins and wolves are waiting for their next kill—you.

Here’s a sneak peek into the world of Mirandus:

Gala Games co-founder and lead Mirandus developer Michael McCarthy also joined Decrypt during the tech test. In a previous interview, McCarthy shared his perspective on the importance of highly realistic audio and in-game, real-time voice communication that he believes collectively enhance the gaming experience—as opposed to traditional text chat, which is common in other MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (WoW).

While Mirandus has the potential to become the WoW of Web3, based on what we've seen and played so far, it’ll also appeal to Minecraft and Animal Crossing fans looking for a game with higher stakes. There’s plenty of strategy to be developed here.

If the game garners enough players to steadily fill out the world, then it has the potential to be incredibly immersive, as McCarthy has said that Mirandus will not have non-playable characters (NPCs) to fill out the population. As of right now, it appears that the only NPCs in the game will be the monsters and animals that players must kill to survive and gain items, which are used for crafting weapons, outfits, and other gear.

The success of most online games relies on the number of active players—and that may prove especially true for a game without NPCs in the mix. If Mirandus doesn't ultimately command a sizable audience once launched, then the world may feel less immersive and fun. Gala will also need to develop complex, team-based boss fights down the line to appeal to traditional MMORPG fans.

When it comes to crypto elements, Mirandus is offering tons of NFTs, putting nearly every aspect of the game on-chain. I demoed a crypto-free version, but it's clear from Gala's existing NFT offerings that it has grand ambitions for tokenized in-game assets.

Gala is selling playable characters across its five races, stallion horse mounts, in-game buildings, and boats, to name a few tokenized in-game offerings. At time of writing, the OpenSea marketplace has over 196,000 different Mirandus NFTs listed—some starting for less than $10 apiece. However, the characters are typically selling for $150-200 apiece, as of this writing. Mirandus has already seen over 16,900 ETH in total volume traded, or nearly $31 million worth.

While potentially pricey NFTs may be a major obstacle for some gamers, Mirandus remains one of the most promising Web3 games in development thanks to its ambitious vision for an immersive, player-run medieval world.