Sugartown proves it’s still for degens with its latest mint

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Sugartown — the “GameFi” platform that began its development while part of Zynga for years — is launching another NFT collection.

Zynga is the mobile gaming studio behind games like FarmVille and Words With Friends. The studio sold off Sugartown to startup D20 Labs in a move that was reportedly part of a spinout last year. Zynga’s crypto-focused staff also moved to D20 Labs.

Now, Sugartown’s latest drop is underway.

The 9,999 “Cores,” which will live on the Abstract blockchain, resemble scientific tubes filled with a mysterious liquid substance. They’ll cost 0.069 ETH (about $175) each to mint.

The team says Cores will give holders access to Sugartown’s Abstract minigames, rewards, and other features in the works like token staking.

The mint schedule and process for these Cores is a bit complicated. It prioritizes long-term believers and crypto degens over regular gamers or newcomers with little to no crypto experience.

Buyers who already bought Cores in a private presale have received them via airdrop. Then, those still holding their Sugartown Ora NFTs from late 2023 will be able to mint Cores. The Ora holder mint opens today, with a free mint occurring first and a paid mint taking place after.

The free mint phase goes from 8 am until 2 pm ET today, but you’ll only be eligible if you have three Ora NFTs in one wallet.

Then, from 2 pm today until 8 am ET tomorrow, anyone with at least one Ora will be able to mint two cores for a fee, plus an additional two mints per three Oras held.

Does this sound like a high school math problem yet?

Tomorrow, the allowlist mint will open for just an hour from 12 pm until 1 pm ET. At 2 pm Wednesday, a public raffle will occur, with no regular public sale.

Degens without any special NFTs or allowlist access will have to buy their way into the ability to mint in the last stage with “deposit entries” — the more entries bought, the higher the chance they might be able to mint. It’s like a lottery, but if you don’t get in, your entries will be refunded, according to the team.

A lot of this feels like it’s prohibitive for casual gamers, but suitable for degens. The Sugartown website remains token-gated, so I can’t even see if anything’s live there yet.

But Ora holders can get access to whatever’s on the other side.

Sugartown advisor Bharat Krymo argued that all crypto games have an element of gambling during an X Space yesterday.

And Tommy Ngo — who is Sugartown’s co-founder, D20 Labs’ co-founder, and formerly Zynga’s head of Web3 product — said during that Space that he wants those who do snag Cores to feel “really rewarded” for hanging onto them.

But a disclaimer in the Sugartown Discord server tells buyers that the platform’s NFTs “are not an investment product or business opportunity.”

Sugartown is a game platform where players connect their crypto wallets and can choose from a number of different minigames, including gambling or “social casino” games, plus poker and “hypercasual,” fast-paced minigames.

There are three minigames so far, all crypto-themed: the 2D scroller NGMI, the climbing game ATH, and poker game RNPC (Royal Nutz Poker Club).

Abstract co-inventor Michael Lee has said Sugartown has five games in the works in total.