CASTILE opens Beta testing. What are the highlights of the 3A idle RPG game developed over three years?

Author: Scof, ChainCatcher

Editor: Nianqing, ChainCatcher

CASTILE is a 3A idle RPG and Roguelike game set in a fantastical Cthulhu universe within the Aptos ecosystem. Its developer, Nytro Lab, recently announced the completion of an $8 million funding round, led by SevenX Ventures, with participation from OKX Ventures, Aptos Labs, HashKey Capital, and others.

The game has completed its Alpha testing and will launch its Beta testing on September 10 at 20:00 (Beijing time). Early participants will have the opportunity to win CAST tokens for Castile by participating in the beta version. As of the time of publication, the genesis NFT series TAROT for CASTILE has a floor price exceeding 1.2 ETH on NFT trading markets OpenSea and Blur.

Fundamental Overview

Team: Nytro Lab is a Web3 game studio that has introduced a "Play and Trade" game model, which aims to attract a large number of paying players through game quality and an appealing trading system, allowing users to earn in a more sustainable way.

According to the RootData page, the co-founder of Nytro Lab is Arthur Kao, who is also a co-founder of the CASTILE development company. Previously, he served as the investment director at SevenX Ventures and head of the gaming fund at ChainHill Capital. According to Nytro Lab's official introduction, CASTILE is the core work developed by the team over three years with an investment of tens of millions of dollars.

Funding: On September 10, the project announced it had secured $8 million in funding, led by SevenX Ventures and strategic investment from OKX Ventures, with participation from well-known institutions such as HashKey Capital, Aptos, Amber Group, Matr1x, and Leland Ventures. Nytro Lab has raised a total of $25 million.

Game Mechanics: In CASTILE, players focus on strategically collecting and nurturing heroes to build a team capable of overcoming various challenges within the game. The story begins after your team defeats the Corrupted Valkyrie and is transported to Pucela, where only you and another hero survive. Each initial team consists of five heroes, including warriors, tanks, assassins, support, control, mages, and ADCs. Additionally, there are camp and specific character bonds that require flexible team composition to tackle a series of challenges.

The single-player PvE mode includes main quests, Hell's Gate, and the Dark Emperor Trials. In cooperative PvE content, players can participate in the Forbidden Magic Prison and maze-like dungeon explorations. Furthermore, the game offers various competitive arenas for PvP battles and GvE challenges, encouraging alliance cooperation. In simple terms, the game involves progressing through the storyline, completing dungeons, forming guilds, battling world bosses, and enhancing one's cards through equipment and synthesis, while selecting suitable hero combinations to boost combat power.

Products: The current product focus of CASTILE is the genesis NFT (TAROT) and Tarot Coins. The TAROT is the most powerful hero accessory in the game, which can activate Tarot sets by equipping specific tarot cards, granting game privileges and powerful attributes. These privileges include:

• Game Power: NFT (TAROT) holders will directly enjoy power boosts in the game's tarot card system.
• Lottery for Elite Points: NFT (TAROT) holders automatically unlock the elite points prize pool, receiving three lottery chances daily (updated daily at UTC+00:00).
• Highest Invitation Reward Level: NFT (TAROT) holders can enjoy a 15% rebate on points and Tarot Coin spending for inviting friends through shared activity links.

With the update of the Beta version, the game has also launched a trading system:

Players can use Tarot Coins to purchase equipment items from other players in the trading system, and they can also list their own equipment items for sale in exchange for Tarot Coins. According to game design, Tarot Coins and u can be exchanged for each other; currently, $0.99 can buy 200 Tarot Coins, while the reverse exchange channel has not yet been opened.

Additionally, this beta version has introduced an event called "Beta Lucky Draw," running from August 28 to October 10, with a total reward pool of 4 million $CAST. All registered players can participate in the lottery. Each draw requires the consumption of 1 key. Ordinary players can earn keys by participating in the Quest points weekly leaderboard, where the top 10 players receive key rewards; also, during the Beta testing period, every 2000 Tarot Coins spent will earn 1 key. The more Tarot Coins spent, the more keys obtained. Furthermore, TAROT NFT holders will receive 3 keys for free each day.

Secondary Market Data

As of September 12, sales data for TAROT on Opensea.io shows that there are 183 TAROT holders, with a floor price of 1.99 ETH and a total transaction volume of 1582 ETH. Based on the current price of 1 ETH = $2359, this amounts to approximately $3.73 million. Additionally, TAROT has a 7-day transaction volume of 58.16 ETH on Blur.

Token Economics: The governance token CAST for CASTILE has not yet been officially issued, with the total supply cap disclosed by the official source set at 1 billion.

The CAST token will play the following roles in the Castile game and community:

Community governance and voting: Participate in the decision-making process and shape the future of the game.

Core alliance membership: Gain exclusive membership in the core alliance.

Production:

Season rewards: Awarded to alliances and players at the end of the season.

Community expansion rewards: Given to players who contribute to community development.

Staking rewards: Distributed to players in the form of staking rewards.

Consumption:

Purchase game packs and resources: Enhance the gaming experience by acquiring various in-game items.

In-game asset trading: Buy and sell equipment, hero skins, tarot cards, and various enhancement materials.

The Castile team will regularly buy back and destroy CAST tokens.

Roadmap:

In Q3 to Q4 of 2024, Nytro Lab will launch the Castile Beta testing, including the release of the first version of the Castile white paper, and the issuance of the second-generation NFT series based on Castile's game assets.

In 2025, Nytro Lab plans to update the new version of Castile and release more products.