There’s no doubt that NFT trading cards have been a hot space for collectors in Web3 to diversify their assets. Parallel is a sci-fi-inspired NFT trading card game that received $50M from Paradigm as an investment. What’s so great about this project?
Trading cards have always been popular among fans. With the NFT scene, digital cards hold much more value and utility than physical ones. Collectors now see them as worth the investment that will surely pay them back double the original price.
Parallel emerges as an innovative NFT project that redefines the utility of these trading cards with a brand-new concept and lore. It is one of the most popular TCG in today’s market because it is rumored to launch more projects and even a potential TV series in the future, similar to Marvel Universe.
What is Parallel NFT?
- Parallel is a sci-fi franchise and Play-to-earn NFT card game built on the Ethereum blockchain that gives users ownership over cards and other digital assets.
- The storyline depicts a catastrophic event after which humans scatter in space and evolve into five Parallels.
- Each Parallel differs from others in terms of its strengths, skills, and abilities.
- Parallel is developed by Parallel Studios while its decentralized ecosystem is designed by Echelon Prime Foundation.
- The game isn’t released yet but it is in development, but the Beta version is expected to be launched before 2023 based on the website.
Gameplay
- Players must form a deck of 40 cards and battle against other players.
- The deck of cards should only be from one Parallel bought or traded from the marketplace
- Players can also add Universal cards with any type of Parallel to the deck
- The players start at 30 LIFE and the first one to bring LIFE to 0 wins the game.
Cards Types and Rarity
There are mainly five factions of Parallels:
- Augencore
- Earthen
- Kathari
- Marcolian
- Shroud
Each Parallel has its specific skills and is further divided into artworks, ranked based on their rarity levels.
Parallel cards have three types:
- Units: creatures, constructs, and other beings that have the ability to fight in battles
- Relics: non-combat cards present on board; their role is yet to be revealed.
- Effects: One-time spells that go wasted once used in a battle.
All of these cards have utility in one way or another. The non-playable ones are collectibles that might entitle you to something in the future such as a share of royalties, token airdrops, voting rights, etc.
The traits of trading cards are divided as:
- Common
- Uncommon
- Rare
- Legendary
- Prime
- Special Editions
- Perfect Loop
- Asset
The Common trait has the most cards, while Asset is only three collectibles. People can either buy these cards from the marketplace, and some people who minted the Packs also received cards of the rarity traits.
Each card has a color line that shows its rarity ranking from the collection. The image above is from the Discord community that shows what color defines a certain trait.
Before the gameplay was launched, most people were attracted to buy these cards based on their high-quality artwork and rarity traits.
The most valuable NFTs aka Assets have been actively trading in the secondary marketplace. One of them is called Prime Keys. These assets are non-playable and only 1,500 exist in the marketplace. They hold special benefits but those are subject to change based on the core team.
Overall, all NFT trading cards hold some value but the most in-demand are Assets because a few speculations circulate that the owners will receive $PRIME, the native token of Parallel, in return for holding Asset cards.
Utility
When buying NFTs, the most important thing to research is their utility. When Parallel was first launched in March 2021, most collectors and investors were attracted to the benefits it gave to the users.
Although we already discussed this in the previous sections, here’s a more organized way to know the utility of Parallel NFT trading cards:
- Each card is equipped with skills and strengths that give the player an upper hand in the gameplay
- The game is set to expand beyond Web3 and Play-to-Earn into a brand
- You can buy, sell, and trade NFTs on the marketplace
- NFTs with high rarity traits hold value in the community
- Holder gets access to the Discord community and other ecosystem benefits.
Paradigm backs Parallel NFT
In October 2021, the Parallel team announced they held a funding round which was led by Paradigm and also received a $50M investment from the VC firm. The platform was also valued to be worth around $500M seeing the overall potential it held with its upcoming ecosystem and future plans.
According to the co-founder of Paradigm Matt Huang, Parallel is “beyond first-party content” and “inspires a community of players and developers to build on the game itself.” He also shared that the unique approach of the platform highly impressed the firm resulting in a huge investment.
Other than Paradigm, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Focus Labs, OSS Capital, Yunt Capital, and maybe more have also invested in Parallel.
Parallel Comics coming soon
As already discussed above, Parallel is more than just a game, it’s a universe. Recently, the team announced the release of Parallel Comics NFTs on October 29 for 0.21 ETH.
Each comic book features cover art unique from others that people can connect to know more about Parallel Universe before its official game and ecosystem release.
Final words
Parallel NFT is backed by a $50M investment from Paradigm and has a valuation of $500M; this alone is enough to convince you that the project is to go beyond what it is today.
With its proper roadmap and investment from famous personalities, there’s no doubt in saying that the people who have invested thousands of dollars in Parallel NFT will be rewarded with double the price in the next ten years.
Socials
For more information about Parallel visit:
Website: parallel.life
Twitter: @ParallelTCG
