Do you ever find yourself wishing that there was a game on PC that was comparable to Animal Crossing? What do you think about the prospect of getting paid to play a blockchain game that provides the same warm and fuzzy experience as Animal Crossing? What can I say? Your wish has been granted! So, if you’re ready to take a break from the island life in Animal Crossing and eager to experience some new horizons in the web3 space, then let’s get started to look into My Neighbor Alice.

• Blockchain Platform: Chromia, BNB Smart Chain
• Developers: Antler Interactive
• Genre: Multiplayer Builder Game
• Available In: Windows
• Status: Alpha Season 2

DEVELOPMENT

My Neighbor Alice was developed by a Swedish game development studio known as Antler Interactive, who drew inspiration for the game from other titles such as Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and Minecraft. Antler Interactive is renowned for its Virtual Reality (VR) games, including Survive: The Deus Helix and Kartong. Additionally, the firm is working with Augmented Reality to elevate the quality of gaming to a new level. Meanwhile, Antler Interactive uses the Chromia platform and BNB Smart Chain to enable advanced blockchain and in-game DeFi functionality for My Neighbor Alice. This project was posted on Steam at the beginning of January 2021 and it gained attention in the media, with several publications listing it as one of the crypto games that has huge potential. With this, My Neighbor Alice attracted the attention of crypto and non-crypto gamers alike. As of the time of writing, alpha season 2 is currently available.

GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW

My Neighbor Alice is a multiplayer, open-world builder game in which you can own a virtual island, gather, create exciting products, and make new friends. In My Neighbor Alice, animals and humans can communicate and coexist peacefully on the same island while also working together, just like in Animal Crossing. You can do anything in your land to make it prosper such as change its terrain and decorate it with different in-game NFT items such as houses, lakes, plants, and others. Just like in Town Star, My Neighbor Alice also tasks you with various quests and duties as you travel to assist Alice in her desire to cultivate the land. In order to raise a wide variety of crops and domesticated animals on your farm, you will need to construct the appropriate housing and facilities.

TOKENOMICS

ALICE is the native cryptocurrency token of My Neighbor Alice. This will allow you to play, invest, and be part of the game’s ecosystem. You’ll be able to earn this token by completing certain quests, trading NFT items, among others. Meanwhile, using this token you’ll be able to do in-game purchases, and participate in the game’s governance operations through voting.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

The game offers its players a peaceful, colorful, vibrant, and an alternative beautiful world where anyone can play, find friends and work together. In short, this game rings a lot of similar bells to Animal Crossing in its gameplay and style. There is a whiff of Stardew Valley in the game because it also provides the atmosphere of being in nature with a calming farm soundtrack while you have the ability to personalize your land in any way you see appropriate. My Neighbor Alice's replay value is similarly high because you'll never stop having to check in to tend to your farm's animals and chat with the rest of the town's residents.

Even though it has a lot of potential, the game still has certain things that could be done better. An example of this would be the process of creating a character, which features a low amount of detail and fewer options to select from. The game's features are currently basic, since there are only a few houses and objects in the island with a handful of NPCs that often feels lifeless. Due to what I believe to be the lack of any memorable NPCs or strings to tie everything in the game's world together, it is difficult to get players hooked in or get them invested in helping Alice as much as the studio wants them to be.

Overall, the game is still in its Alpha (season 2) version. There may be elements that are obviously lacking, but the consistency of the gameplay and the fluidity of the graphics give me some reassurance that this game will be a smash hit once everything is polished.