If you love folklore, beaming #PinoyPride, blockchain, and want first dibs on everything that might become a huge hit soon, check out this new game that we discovered! Anito Legends, the first roguelike auto battler being developed by talent from the Philippines, is a play-to-earn game using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – specifically $LARO as the governance token and $GINTO for the utility token. The game is set to be publicly available both on desktop and mobile in the second quarter of 2022 but closed beta testing sign ups are ongoing.

Anito Legends draws inspiration from Philippine folklore as players take control of a team of “Anitos” to conquer challenges and earn rewards. According to developers, the first four Anito classes that are available for launch include the unpredictable Kiwig, the strong Sarangay, the swift Tikbalang and the elusive Siyokoy. The game will have two modes – an adventure mode where players can earn rewards to level up and strengthen their Anitos, and a more competitive PVP mode where players can compete to earn more valuable rewards. Once it’s open to the public, there will be more Anitos available, more customizable weapons, and probably tougher bosses to fight!

Here’s a peek at some of the character designs:

Masayato PTE LTD, the team* behind Anito Legends, is no newbie to this! They’re the bright minds behind hit games like Streetfood Tycoon, Vote Clicker, and Pocket Arcade which have a total of 50 million downloads and over 20,000 players. Plus, they partnered with Palanca award-winning author and horror writer Yvette Tan, who has been a pillar and resource for local folklore. In-game soundtrack is being developed by Myth_OS, composed by duo Malek Lopez (BuyBust) and Juan Miguel Sobrepena (Midnight in a Perfect World).

For those who are new to NFTs and are afraid of getting “scammed” by play-to-earn games, no need to worry as Anito Legends’ creators are very well-versed in this space. Since last year, the team has inked more than a dozen deals with venture capitals in the crypto space. It is being incubated under the guidance of ExNetwork Capital with other VC firms including AlphaCoin Fund, Automatic Venture Group, Spherium Finance, AV Star Capital, Nine Financial Venture, Area 13, CSP DAO, Dreamboat Capital, Sparkpoint Technologies and Kingpad Launchpad.

HOW TO SIGN UP

To get started, players will need a Metamask wallet address, which is typical of all play-to-earn games, and a Discord account. Once those are available, head over to https://play.anitolegends.com/ and scroll down until you find the Beta Signup Sheet. Enter your Discord username, Metamask address, email address, and where you found out about the beta testing (you can tell them that you got it from Manila Millennial) in order to secure your slot.

Since the game is still on closed beta testing, note that it will only work via desktop browsers and Anitos earned during the closed beta test will not be carried over to the actual game once it officially launches. It’s a good practice run for the real deal, though!

Masayato is also running a free NFT giveaway for early sign ups, so make sure that you join soon! Easy-peasy! You can also get updates about the game via Medium and through their Discord Community.

As a folklore-loving millennial, I’m really happy that our local myths and beliefs are given the spotlight that they deserve. Not everyone may be interested to read stories about Filipino mythology, but games like this can somehow keep the stories alive through a creative and entertaining platform.  

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*ABOUT MASAYATO: The team is led by CEO James Chua. He has had over 10 years of experience as a mobile game developer having founded Pixelkit Inc and Popsicle Games with co-founder Jed Cruz. Jed is also a faculty member for Multimedia Arts in one of Manila’s top colleges for the past 5 years and serves as the team’s Chief Creative Officer. Erick Garayblas is the COO in charge of overall game design. He is the Game Design Winner in Storm of the World, outshining 250 other participants from other countries. He is also a startup mentor for Ideaspace and Startup Weekend. He has been featured as one of the ‘Mad Men of Mobile’ in a book of the same title. Lastly, Jayvee Fernandez serves as CMO bringing to the table over 15 years of experience in traditional and digital media.