An Interview with Volchenko, Co-Founder of Golden Cage
We chat with one of the premier architects of this all-kicking, all-punching upcoming WAX dApp to discuss fighting games, comics, and an intriguing in-house staking system!
AUGUST 27, 2021. INTERVIEWS. WRITTEN BY HYDRO.
I’ve been a fighting fan ever since I was a kid.
From sports such as boxing and MMA, to the male soap opera of professional wrestling, there’s something about primal, visceral one-on-one combat that speaks to me.
With the explosive growth of NFT projects this year, I knew it wouldn’t be long before a home-grown combat project entered the fray, but never did I think that one of the first attempts would have this much quality, thoughtfulness and grit behind it. I am, of course, talking about Golden Cage.
Very few NFT projects have made me pause and say “Wow!” at first glance. This was absolutely one of them. Speaking with co-founder Volchenko only reinforced my initial interest, and I am sure he will be able to make you a convert too!
Read through to the end of the interview for our Golden Cage Interview Card, and an upcoming collab NFT!
Pssst… there’s three hidden claim links within this article. Happy hunting!
Hydro: Hey! Could you tell me a bit about yourself, your background and how you got into NFTs?
Volchenko: My name is Alexey, I’m 28 years old, and I’m an engineer by trade. I started making money on the internet at the age of 16 by doing a myriad of things, including making an app.
I came across NFTs in March of this year. I’d heard about NBA Top Shot thorough my love of basketball, which I share with my friend Anton. Soon after, I discovered AlienWorlds, hence finding the WAX blockchain, and started looking into the world of dApps.
Three months ago I said to my wife; “Maybe I should start my own NFT project?”, and she supported me. For two weeks, I wrote every idea I had down in notebooks, before one day calling Anton and telling him all of my ideas. His response was “Let’s do it!”, and that’s how all this started!
Golden Cage is like nothing else we’ve seen on WAX so far – could you give us the lowdown on what it is?
When I was younger, my father bought me a bunch of different games consoles. I was never the biggest gamer, however I loved fighting games. There was just something about playing them with friends that I loved!
I’m also a huge fan of anime and comics, and at the time I joined, there were very few comic projects on WAX.
Golden Cage is a merger of these two passions; a card-based NFT fighting game, with a comic-driven narrative.
Currently, we’ve mapped out the concept, developed our website and promo video, released the first few cards and have started dev work on the game.
We were blown away by the support from our first sale, and it motivated us even more to drive this project forward!
What can the community expect to see from Golden Cage?
We want you to expect something completely unique. Everything is being made in-house, from the graphics and music to the battle concept, with plenty of attention to detail.
I am sure that through investing all of our efforts, we will create a popular game – one that is played not just because you can make earnings from it, but because it’s fun too!
By the end of 2021, we hope to have a solid, playable version of the game for the community!
Could you explain the gameplay of Golden Cage? What sorts of mechanics will we see?
To play, you need a deck, which consists of 1 character card, 1 city, 1 fighting style and 6 punch cards.
When a fight starts, you’ll have 4 of your 6 punch cards available, of which you can throw 1 into the “cage” at a time.
Each punch card has two attributes – time and strength. Time is simply how long before you can use another punch card, whilst Strength is the damage the opponent will take, modified by any character and environmental attributes.
As your health depletes, your character will change visually from a fully healthy state to beaten and bruised! We also have a damage-induced Rage mechanic, increasing the strength of the fighter for one round once reached!
You can discover the full gameplay mechanics here.
Sounds fantastic! I hear you have an in-house staking system. Could you tell us a bit about that?
In-house staking wasn’t in our original plans, but we wanted a way to reward the community for their support whilst we’re working on the game!
Through staking your Golden Cage cards on our website, you accrue WAX every hour, which can be collected once per day.
It’s a simple, but effective way to give back to the community!
Why did you decide to create Golden Cage on WAX?
The final decision actually boiled down to either BSC or WAX. We felt WAX had a stronger market, stronger community, and stronger development support.
Were you involved in cryptocurrency before you came across NFTs?
I wasn’t personally, no – but other members of the team were. I’ve learned a lot in a short team of time, but I’m very lucky to have other people on the team with a lot more experience. Everyone on the team brings their own strengths, so everyone is doing what they’re best at.
What does the process of creating a Golden Cage NFT look like?
Me or Anton usually come up with an idea, which we discuss between us and the wider team. We pass rough sketches to our illustrator, then pass the design to our translator for the text. We load the finished product onto AtomicHub and we’re done – it’s that simple!
What is your favourite NFT from the collection so far?
The legendary cards, with their animation, are my favourites by far. CJ’s legendary card particularly stands out to me!
What have you enjoyed the most about working on Golden Cage?
It’s great to be able to display my ideas and imaginations to the public – and it’s awesome that they apparently like them! It’s cool to be able to create your own world which comes to life more and more each day, and to have the community also enjoy the world you’re creating.
Are there any NFT artists/collections that you admire, WAX or otherwise?
Of course! I was incredibly happy to see MLB Topps come to WAX, and as a huge baseball fan, I can’t wait for a Series 2! Seeing Funko on WAX too is great – I used to have around 100 figures! I’ve got to shout out CryptoFinney and Ultra Comix – two other comic collections on WAX that I really respect!
Outside of WAX, Axie Infinity is doing some amazing things. I can’t wait to see how it develops!
Where does the future lay for Golden Cage?
Right back when we first started Golden Cage, we envisaged it as a 3D fighting game, like those I played as a kid. One day, I hope we can make that a reality!
Is there anything you’d like to add? Anything you’d like to say directly to the reader?
Please treat all NFT projects with respect! It’s easy to criticise, especially with blockchain projects, but all of these creators spend a lot of time, effort and nerves on their product. If you think you can do better, give it a shot!
Quick-fire question time!
What fuels you?
My family.
What price do you think $WAXP will be on 1st January, 2022?
$2.00!
One unusual fact about you?
I’ve only ever worked for myself.
You can invite three people, real or fictional, to dinner. Who do you choose and why?
I have good imagination, but I like to be present and realistic. I’d choose any three friends that I share similar interests with.
What is your purpose in life?
To live in such a way that I don’t have regrets when I’m old!
How can we follow you and your work?
The moment I first saw Golden Cage’s art style, I knew I’d come across something special, and after speaking with Volchenko, I couldn’t be more excited for the future of this unique project.
If you haven’t already, give their promo video a watch. Realising that everything within this; the graphics, the music, even the voice-overs, were done by the team themselves, makes this the perfect encapsulation of the talent within the team. All aboard the Golden Cage hype train!
To celebrate the interview, we have our Golden Cage Interview Card dropping tomorrow at 22 UTC, with a collab NFT coming soon!
The Fearless Fighter
Collection: nftinsiderio
Max mint: 150 (2 reserved, 98 public, 30 OGs, 20 Promo Holders)
Drop price: 25 WAX
Dropping: 28/08 22 UTC (public), 22:05 UTC (OGs), 22:10 UTC (promos)
Golden Cage x NFT Insider
Collection: goldencageio
Max mint: 100
Drop price: $3 USD in WAX
Dropping: 29/08 17 UTC
Drop link: https://wax.atomichub.io/drops/81292