Evolution today announced that four CryptoPunks it purchased earlier this year are now featured in a ground-breaking online slot game – the world’s first slot game to integrate NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

The four unique CryptoPunk digital artworks are showcased in NFT Megaways, a new game that has been built by Evolution Group brand Red Tiger and released Thursday 9 September. The CryptoPunks are unique collectable characters that are amongst the very earliest examples of NFTs. Their proof of ownership is stored on the Ethereum blockchain.

Inspired by the explosion of interest in cryptocurrencies and the trading of unique, digital-only assets, this is a one-of-a-kind online slot game in which Evolution’s four CryptoPunks come together on the slot reels to multiply – and multiply again – the value of the cash prizes on offer to players.

The six-reel seven-row NFT Megaways slot game creates a unique and exciting crypto pixelated world that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has followed the rise of NFTs. At the heart of the game are CryptoPunks 914, 3008, 4701 and 8143 – four particularly diverse, distinctive and exotic looking characters created by Larva Labs and now owned by Evolution.

The aim of the NFT Megaways game is simple: Get the punks, win the cash! The CryptoPunks act as WILD symbols that may land only on the CryptoPunks Bar and substitute for all paying symbols. When a CryptoPunk lands on this bar and participates in a win with low-paying symbols, the CryptoPunk will collect them. This causes the CryptoPunk’s multiplier to increase by 1x for each low-paying symbol collected. The CryptoPunks multiplier can increase up to 30x, and up to two Crypto Punks can land in the same spin. If two CryptoPunks participate in the same winning way, their multipliers are multiplied by each other.

Todd Haushalter, Evolution’s Chief Product Officer, said: “At Evolution we have a long record of innovation and being first with distinctively different new ideas. With all of our Group brands our goal is always to offer players the most feature-rich and vivid gameplay possible. In essence, it’s all about creativity and originality and that’s why the CryptoPunks were such a great fit for us.

Evolution is in a unique position to contribute to the crypto-community by taking the first NFT on Ethereum and featuring it in the world’s first NFT-based slot. One of the open questions in this community is how to display your NFTs and we thought this was a really fun way to do that, where there’s a chance for lots of players to admire them and also to interact with them in a completely new way! We are honoured to now be part of the crypto-asset history.”

He added: “NFT Megaways is a game that’s taken this crypto trend and transformed it into a form of entertainment – and it’s the first of its kind. Players have the chance to be a part of history in the making. As a game, it’s going to appeal to lovers of slot games everywhere, as well as bringing in those crypto fans who want to see a new way of using this CryptoPunk artwork. The team has done a brilliant job on this launch, and we’re looking forward to the game being live.”