Throwback Schoolyard Classic Making a Digital Return
Back in the early ’90s, nearly every playground across the globe had a serious case of POGs fever. Kids brought their ‘regular’ pieces — and heavier ‘Slammers’ — to school and challenged other gamers to winner-take-all matches.
For roughly five years, students went absolutely bonkers (also the name of weird candy from that era!) over POGs.
Just to refresh your memory, here's what some of the original pieces looked like:
Old-school POGs
POGs game pieces were everywhere for a while there. Like, they were included in WacArnold’s Happy Meals popular.
Now, as you can imagine, the potent cocktail of kiddo gambling, kiddo immaturity, and general schoolyard-aged kiddo punkassery was an invitation to go off the rails on a crazy train. Not long after seven countries banned POGs in schools — Australia, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S. — the mania began to fade.
But like a sleeping giant, POGs is now set to rise again. Everything is virtual this time around, and the ‘local’ competition is global because players battle inside a smartphone app. Now that we're in the digital age, the game of collecting pieces maxes out the convenience level. In other words, we fill electronic wallets instead of pockets.
Here's a fresh take on an old hit:
New-school 'KOGs'
It's been a long time coming, but we'll soon be able to relive childhood nostalgia!
After 30 years of hibernation, a reimagined, cheat-proof version of POGs is coming to the blockchain.
And not once, but at least twice. How’s that? You’ll soon see. But before we look ahead, let’s revisit the beginning of this year…
Q1 2020
Back in February, we learned about the game's creator, RedFOX Labs, giving away 40 free NFTs to alpha testers who download and play the upcoming POGs remake — KOGs.
Missed the last giveaway? Don’t worry — another NFT contest is now active. Details below!
This version of the game is launching on Komodo Platform. Now relabeled as ‘KOGs on RFOX,’ it’s the world’s first 100% blockchain game to run on a mobile device in real-time.
Stacks contain KOGs with various degrees of rarity. The RFOX logo piece is a ‘heavier’ Slammer
All the game’s logic computes on-chain as you play — a true feat of tech that no distributed ledger has ever seen!
And, at least until they begin trading on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea and WAX's own Atomic Assets, it seems the only way to get collectible NFTs to play in KOGs on RFOX is by mining them.
Or even better, as defined by the game’s predecessor, you can win NFTs by pitting your pieces against online challengers.
Q2 2020
In April, the KOGs gameplay trailer saw the light of day on YouTube. While the team admits the game doesn't have the punch— or the development budget!— of a AAA title, that won't stop it from becoming the only game on Earth to fully run on a mobile blockchain.
Here's the video in case you missed it the first time around. As you watch, don't forget this is real-time mobile blockchain gaming—something NO OTHER "blockchain" game is doing:
How’s the game coming along now? It’s currently in the backend testing phase, and some of the KOGs on RFOX tech triumphs are now on display.
But if you were paying attention earlier, you know that KOGs is descending upon more than one chain. What’s the other? Glad you asked … it’s a BIG one …
August 18, 2020
In a little more than four weeks from today, KOGs is launching on the WAX Blockchain.
Now, there are a few reasons why this bodes very well for the game. For starters, WAX is a well-established player in the NFT industry.
Collectible, playable, tradeable, slammable KOGs on WAX NFTs go on sale Aug. 18, 2020
And if you’ve used the WAX Cloud Wallet, you can see why the project now boasts over 500k users. The wallet’s quick setup and one-click login are a breath of fresh air in the blockchain industry.
WAX is known for its collectibles, and its recent Topps-licensed Garbage Pail Kids NFTs sold out in 28 hours. But KOGs on WAX will be the first game that’s playable on the chain.
Click here to pre-register for KOGs on WAX — and score a free ticket to win 1 of 25 limited edition NFTs.
It’s somewhat important to note that because of differences in tech, KOGs on WAX is not a 100% blockchain mobile game, unlike KOGs on RFOX. Moreover, those tech variants influence more than gameplay …
Jumping From Game to Game
KOGs is an acronym for Keys to Other Games. As the name implies, the NFTs have ambitions for use across multiple digital realms.
Let’s just remember that we’re dealing with experimental, groundbreaking tech. But the cores of NFTs are inherently liquid. Meaning, non-fungible tokens are free to hop across unlimited games within the same ecosystem.
Here’s how the gaming studio describes the NFTs in their own words:
“Each KOG is a playable, blockchain-based collectible for use across an entire gaming ecosystem and will be interoperable with several upcoming games.”
There’s been no confirmation that gamers playing KOGs on WAX can send in-game challenges to a KOGs on RFOX player. Nonetheless, the collectible cryptoassets from both chains will undoubtedly find marketplaces for trading — something the WAX Blockchain already facilitates.
New collectibles will appear on the pre-reg site leading up to the genesis sale of 1st Edition KOGs on WAX NFTs
Plenty of blockchain gaming studios declare their interest in interoperability across different titles. That said, most studios focus on a single game — so no two blockchain games use the same NFTs yet.
But since two different versions of KOGs are under development by a single studio — RFOX Games — the chances are high that we’ll see cross-chain, head-to-head battles.
Wrapping Up
RedFOX Labs and WAX Blockchain are an excellent match. Although RFOX products are still gearing up for launch and WAX has a few years under its belt, both projects strive to keep crypto transactions simple.
And that simplicity was a determining factor in WAX’s recent GPK sellout, with specific traders earning a subsequent 12x or higher on their NFT bundles. WAX Blockchain’s fiat onramps vastly demystify the world of digital assets.
Video games speak a universal language. And by reviving a classic set to unlock fond childhood memories, RFOX Games — currently under advisement by Blockchain Founders Fund (Splinterlands ties) — has something extraordinary on its hands.
