ÆRTHLINGS, a mystery-box NFC collectible toy and mobile game from developer Modern Games, today announced its U.S. launch on iOS and Android at PAX East.
ÆRTHLINGS is a mobile RPG adventure where players collect, trade, and evolve characters while rebuilding a shattered planet, ÆRTH. Players collect ÆRTHLINGS FIGs, which are physical, cube-shaped NFC-enabled mystery box toys. Once scanned, a unique version of that character hatches into the game for the player to name, level up, battle with, and trade. The ÆRTHLINGS Genesis Collection launches with 24 character species across varying rarities, each with distinct attacks and abilities.
Players are tasked with rebuilding and repopulating ÆRTH while battling the MOONLINGS whose moon crash destroyed the planet. Along the way they heal the planet's scars, complete quests, earn hearts, and unlock new biomes as the world expands around them. Every ÆRTHLINGS FIG scanned into the game — whether from unboxing or a trade with another player — adds a new character to the world and pushes the rebuild forward. The game is free to play on iOS and Android, and physical FIGS are sold separately.
A Whole New Way to Trade
Trading collectibles has always meant giving something up, but ÆRTHLINGS is built so trading is always a win-win.
When players trade a physical FIG, their digital character stays in their collection permanently. Trades earn MUTÆTION Points, which unlock new skills and upgrades. Every time that FIG trades hands again, the original owner and everyone else in its history earns more rewards through a system called LINEAGES. The more a FIG travels, the more it gives back to the people who have held it, adding a new social twist on collecting and gaming in real life.
Taking Mystery Boxes and Toys to Life to the Next Level
Mystery box collecting is bigger than ever, and ÆRTHLINGS takes it somewhere entirely new. Every FIG is a blind unbox with the same thrill of the rare pull, but once you scan it into the game, that character is yours to play, level up, and trade in a full mobile RPG. Unboxing is the start of the story, not the end of it.
The team at Modern Games has spent over a decade building innovative connected-play products — and building the kind of experience that makes the moment after the unbox as exciting as the unbox itself. Core Modern Games members come from leading roles at Osmo and Sphero, and the studio published Beasts of Balance, a critically acclaimed NFC tabletop game. That experience is baked into every layer of how ÆRTHLINGS is built.
"Mystery boxes are all about the thrill of unboxing, hoping you find the thing you've been chasing, but then the experience is over. Toys-to-life games have this magic moment, where physical meets digital, and their worlds converge. We spent years asking why nobody had built something that did both — so we built it ourselves." said Justin Kifer, CEO and co-founder of Modern Games. “The physical toy, the mobile game, the trading, the Lineages — we designed each piece to make the others better. We've been building toward this for over a decade, and we can't wait to finally get ÆRTHLINGS into players' hands in our home U.S. market."
The ÆRTHLINGS universe also extends beyond the game. A 10-episode animated series on YouTube tells the story of trying to save ÆRTH from the MOONLINGS, and has already crossed 3.5 million views. Watch the ÆRTHLINGS series and the new game explainer video.
To download and play ÆRTHLINGS now, visit aerthlings.com. FIGS are available for purchase online, and will be sold in major U.S. retailers later this year. For players at PAX East, visit Booth #12031 to secure a free FIG.
About Modern Games
Modern Games is an independent game studio that creates immersive, physical-digital connected play experiences. By blending connected objects and mobile devices, the studio creates transcendental game experiences that form unique, immersive worlds and stories. The studio is best known for Beasts of Balance, the award-winning connected tabletop stacking game. For more information, visit moderngames.com.
Media Contact
Kirsten Underwood
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