(It was Sappy Seals until the run this morning past 1E.)
Kidding. I just actually got through playing one of the best, if not the best, web3 activation for a web2 business I've ever seen. is responsible for the amazing experience, in which you take on the role of a faceless JRPGesque hero for an adventurous romp through a ramen-themed city.
The Ramen Wars Partnership
KPRverse is the NFT community, Esther Choi's real-life ramen restaurant is the web2 business. I was skeptical of the entire initiative at first (this was months ago) because it seemed as though KPR was aiming too low. Every other NFT project was shooting for the moon with partnerships, trying to onboard NBA stars and wack EDM DJs. And succeeding! So why would a project focus on a single ramen shop? Esther Choi might be well-known in her niche, but the niche isn't traditionally one to drive new adoption in anything outside of itself.
Turns out I was wrong! (And looking at the complete failure of cryptobro projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club and their meaningless celebrity "partnerships," turns out that having integrity may have been the right play all along! ??)
The KPR Experience
Ramen Wars created an idle game JRPG experience during which the player is introduced to Esther Choi's ramen business and the KPRverse through an intriguing storyline, colorful UI and interesting characters.
The core game loop was very simple:
1?? Click on different locations in an overworld city looking for ramen ingredients
2?? Construct the best ramen bowls based on the ingredients you find
3?? Play an addicting spherical flappy birds game to speed up exploration time
But the graphics were insanely good, the storyline made the repetitive idle loop quite fun, and the flappy birds game was addictive. Every detail from the music to the SFX around every interaction was AAA level, even without the AAA budget (FP of KPR ? 0.07E; they definitely don't have a AAA budget).
I find myself wanting to win the grand prize, a meal with Esther at her restaurant, and I would actually consider flying to make that happen. All because this web3 overlay created a rockstar intrigue around this ramen shop.
The Results
It's difficult to determine exact results for the Ramen Wars game unless KPR releases them. We must rely on more qualitative measurements although there are a few metrics we can use as guideposts.
1?? The KPR Discord increased by around 10% total members and percentage online went up by as much as 50%
2?? Message rate was up enormously in the general chat
3?? It was easy to get answers from community members when confused about something; this speaks to a general goodwill in the chat
4?? Tweets about Ramen Wars received significantly higher engagement than other Tweets from the project, especially those before the game started
5?? FP jumped max 2X from its previous averages (?0.07E to ?0.15E)
Did I Buy a KPR?
No, and it seems backwards, I know. I proclaim this is the earth's most undervalued NFT and I'm not sweeping 30 of them off Blur. Why not?
I've learned my lesson from being both a BAYC and Azuki member — if the community's values don't coincide with your own, then you don't get into an NFT project for capital gains alone. I spent the entire 2021 bull run trying to fit in with the BAYC cryptobros and Azuki Crazyrichasians. I though there was something wrong with me because I wasn't fitting in and finding project partners and best friends to go to conventions with. So I held both NFTs too long. I literally could have sold 2 NFTs for a house, and I missed the opportunity because of some schoolyard notion of fitting in.
I promised myself I wouldn't do that this time around. Before I buy anything, I'm going to have some in depth conversations with that community and learn the ethos of the project. And there's one thing that KPR's not doing that bothers me.
The Problem With KPR
After talking with community members and reading docs, I found that the KPR project is really putting all of the focus on first-party content. KPR NFT holders do not have the latitude to create third-party IP with their NFTs, and this is the major advancement web3 gives us in this space.
Not to mention that communities leveraging third-party content have the ability to grow exponentially faster than projects giving all creative powers to the first-party team. It's not good business. The answer I got in the chat was that "the team is thinking about it," to which I respond, ok, get back to me when you've thought about it and come to the correct conclusion. I'm into NFTs for the sole purpose of finding projectmates and creating awesome IP. If I wanted to sit back and let someone else do it, I'd invest more in Apple or Nvidia.
So while I think KPR has the best first party creatives and business development I've seen in the space, as well as the best execution on an idea yet, I am not sweeping. I'm still on the lookout for the community with these traits the ethos to help people like me, who want to create and take their business acumen to the next level, find projectmates and empower building.
But if you're a passive investor looking for a team that can deliver some insane integrations, KPR is literally earth's most undervalued NFT. I can recommend this as a project to watch during this bull run, and more importantly, after it.
??????? Follow on Twitter for more exciting, boisterous alpha.
??????? Make sure you're in position to profit from web3 gaming in 2024
