9Tales launches in Open Alpha

9Tales, a free-to-play and play-and-earn trading card game, has officially launched in open alpha.

The early version of the NFT title went live on November 6 at 8 PM UTC and can be played directly from its official website, with a mobile release planned for some time in the future. While connecting your wallet is optional, doing so will let you save progress as well as have access to the game’s temporary YDFA tokens. The developers also tease that “people who participate using their wallet might get a surprise later.”

During this phase, players can earn a share of the $50k prize pool, though doing so does require having a 9Tales NFT or an NFT from a partnered project, with the exception of missions, which can be completed by non-holders too. The amount that can be earned per game depends on which NFT you own, with the tokens being used for unlocking mystery boxes, which are NFTs that can be traded on any NFT marketplace without opening them.

More than 1000 players jumped in the open alpha in less than 24 hours, and the developers have already released an update that improved the UI while fixing bugs and making balance changes. The team plans on introducing new features once every 1 or 2 weeks, with the next update set to include new cards.