Mystic Moose, a new Boston-based independent game developer, announced the closing of $5 million in venture capital and unveiled Planet Mojo, a browser based suite of interconnected games, beginning with a 3D take on Auto Chess. Featuring Player vs. Player (PvP) and Play-to-Earn mechanics, Planet Mojo will also use Augmented Reality elements and have a charitable eco-friendly component.
Logo art.
Founder Mike Levine previously produced the XR games “Sam and Max: This Time It’s Virtual,” “QuasAR Arena,” and “Hologrid Monster,” one of a handful of marker based mobile AR games that came out in 2016. Mystic Moose’s Art Director Eric Campanella, worked on Call of Duty 2 and 3 and Command and Conquer: Generals. The Mystic Moose team is made up of gaming industry veterans with over 25 years experience from LucasArts, EA, Activision, and Levine’s own HappyGiant. The seed round is led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Courtside Ventures, Republic Crypto, Alameda, AU21, Sfermion, Polygon Studios, Collab+Currency, Sky Vision Capital, Spartan Capital, HyperEdge, Momentum6, Fourth Revolution Capital, and others.
Planet Mojo will be Mystic Moose’s first title, which the company hopes will be released by the end of Q1. 2022. It tells the story of an alien world pitting nature versus machine. “We are building a platform, but not one like Roblox or others,” said founder and CEO Michael Levine. “Our plan is to have a suite of games based off of Planet Mojo, this new IP we are building. In our games you own your team, and customize them with skins, weapons and abilities and more. They are yours. It reminds me of when I played D&D as a kid, and you had a character that was yours, but you could bring that character to multiple dungeons and adventures. This is the 3D virtual version of that.”
Concept art for Mystic Moose’s upcoming Planet Mojo.
Planet Mojo is a PvP cross-platform auto chess game – a tactical strategy game reinvented for blockchain. Playable in a web browser, the game will allow players to own their teams as NFTs and play-to-earn in ongoing tournaments. Featuring an original IP and characters, players will have the option to own their game assets as NFTs and use them across an upcoming suite of games set inside the Planet Mojo universe.
“As a team who has lived on the bleeding edge of games, we believe blockchain gaming represents the next paradigm shift for the videogame industry,” said Levine. “We’re building a magical world people will want to discover, explore and spend time in. What we learned from LucasArts was how to build rich fantasy worlds with great characters and stories. These are the things that stand the test of time.”
Concept art for Mystic Moose’s upcoming Planet Mojo.
The game will have a dual-path economy. You can play for free, but just like on mobile, you can only progress so far. Those who buy in and own their characters and teams will have the most earning potential. Players who invest in the game will be rewarded in several ways. They become part of the community, they help shape the future of not just the chess game, but the platform itself.
“We invested in Mike and Mystic Moose because of the team’s experience in creating, launching, and shipping commercial titles for the gaming industry’s top legacy publishers,” said Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands. “On top of that, as a big auto chess fan, I’m very excited about Planet Mojo and its upcoming blockchain-powered metaverse and auto chess game.”
Levine says the company’s economy will depend on an eco-friendly blockchain like Polygon, Avalanche, and ImmutableX..