🌈 End of June marked the launch of Galactica over Villa, a terraforming game for buying virtual real estate, aka #VRE:
Users who launch the app on their Quest 2 will see Galactica front and center, where they can immediately search for available land for sale on the Red Planet, buy to own using the built in coin system — currently offered for purchase with a credit card, with NFT purchasing options launching in a few weeks. Once owned, players can then develop their 1km^3 hexagonal lots using Villa’s Platform Services, a code-free Metaverse creation tool: Add terrain or choose from built in options like water, grass, or ‘None’ for creating a backdrop. Add skyspheres like day, night, or puffy clouds, add 3D objects like mountains, trees, parks, a city, add music, environmental sounds, and access in-app repos of both 3D objects and 2D pictures or other digital assets using the built in NFT wallet integration. Once ready, users can invite members to a private meeting in their parcel, or publish it so anyone with a Villa account can visit. Users can keep it open for exploration, host socials, meetups, exhibits, play games, and just hang out and have fun.
But the cherry at the top is the earn portion: Creators can flip their property and list it for sale. Once sold, creators earn coins back into their account which they can then redeem for additional land, for in-app experiences and subscriptions. Currently no commission is taken on the coin system, though in the future when made available, Villa plans to offer a way for users to cash out, which will automatically incur Meta and other platform fees.
Which is why we’re really excited to also be working on a way for buyers to mint purchase and sell land as NFTs, so that they can maximize returns on their investment.
So what’s the deal of terraforming the Red Planet? And why Galactica?
Terraforming: This is the act of turning a planet from uninhabitable, to inhabitable. Terra — earth, forming — by making it earth like. Galactica: there’s a personal story here, and we’ll keep it for another post. But the name does hint to the concept of many planets to terraform — an entire galaxy, or even series of galaxies.
Some might say: But wait! There’s no scarcity on the web? Bingo! On Villa, we don’t believe in scarcity. Instead we acknowledge that utility is the name of the game. What’s hard to come by though, is great imagination, and carefully curated Metaverses that are fun to build and visit. After all, Villa is a candy store for anyone wishing to exercise their creativity.
To try Villa grab a Quest 2, install Villa, and go explore and have fun! We can’t wait to see your creations.
Postscript: We love Elon Musk, but he snubs VR and non chemical terraforming (ie, IRL terraforming). Is Villa for you? And the answer is, wait for it: YES! On Villa, you’ll get to beat Musk to the punch. As in, you’ll be there before he ever did 😵💫. And let’s be real: He hasn’t exactly offered himself up to terraform the Red Planet IRL, or has he? 🤭