# Announcing: The AFAR: RAFA GENESIS Collection By [playafar](https://paragraph.com/@playafar) · 2022-09-28 --- The first-ever AFAR NFT hero collection --------------------------------------- **_Hi there,_** The Lava Labs team is back with BIG NEWS! We have just announced the release of our first-ever limited edition NFT hero drop: the AFAR: RAFA GENESIS collection! The release date is October 28, 2022, at 16:00 BST/ 08:00 PT/ 11:00 EST. Together with our friends from [Magic Eden](https://magiceden.io/), we’re launching these exclusive hero descendants of RAFA, who you all know and love. The collection will only be available on the Magic Eden Launchpad and will run on the Ethereum blockchain – that means you will need a Magic Eden-supported ETH wallet to mint your NFT. _Click_ [_HERE_](https://www.magiceden.io/launchpad/eth/afar) _to check out the collection on the Magic Eden website!_ ![Some awesome sample heroes!](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/1612c9d12e651942f23625fbbb46248a22b2b900b2b1125a70d0cc4f9d8e58da.png) Some awesome sample heroes! What Can I Do With a Rafa Genesis NFT? -------------------------------------- With this collection, we’re kickstarting the _A Far Away Realm_ franchise, opening the door for early supporters and new enthusiasts to interact with the world we’re building. Next to being individually unique NFTs designed in the signature AFAR art style, every item in the collection comes with a number of awesome perks. Owners of a RAFA GENESIS NFT will be able to use their hero in the upcoming AFAR Mining Game to customize their profile with a unique badge. In addition, NFT holders will be able to give their mining camp a personal touch with custom statues and other visual elements. At a later stage, the heroes will make their way into other parts of the AFAR metaverse, such as the Main Game or the AFAR Social Hub. On top of that, owners receive access to exclusive parts of the community and ways to interact with our games throughout development: access to NFT holder channels on the [AFAR Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/playafar), access to airdrops of NFT cosmetics for the Mining Game, and early access to Alpha versions of future AFAR games. How Can I Get Access to the Collection? --------------------------------------- You want a RAFA GENESIS hero? **Easy! Just make sure to follow a few simple steps!** Access to the collection will follow a whitelist process split into three groups: OG, GG and WL (Whitelist). OG slots were given to early members and contributors to the AFAR community, such as Discord moderators and artists. GG slots were given to AFAR community event winners. This stage of the whitelist allocation has mostly been completed. **Registration for WL spots is open** and accessible via the [RAFA GENESIS page on the Magic Eden Launchpad](https://magiceden.io/launchpad/eth/afar?tab=whitelistOpportunities)!! No matter your whitelist group, you need a Magic Eden account and a wallet to gain access to the collection. You can only mint during your allocated time window, so make sure to be there! ![Whitelist process overview](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/76be5f3c4ca5f319a660408f00ce1ce1b92f879eb1012f6db5f7335fbbfceed3.png) Whitelist process overview Just like in the development of our games, we’re releasing this first AFAR NFT collection together with our community, involving AFARians through fun challenges ahead of the release. We have established a minting process that engages our awesome players and rewards those who have supported us from day one. ### Coming up: The AFAR Mining Game Next to the RAFA GENESIS collection, we have another exciting release coming up this year: the launch of the first game in the _A Far Away Realm_ franchise – the AFAR Mining Game. The Mining Game is a base defense game where you construct buildings to harvest resources, use these resources to upgrade your mining camp, and build defenses to fend off incoming attacks. \*Want to know more? Check out this [previous blog post about the Mining Game](https://medium.com/@playafar/what-afars-mining-mini-game-is-all-about-156aba6abca3)!  \* The entire Lava Labs team has been working incredibly hard to bring this first element of _A Far Away Realm_ to life and we can’t wait to finally share it with our community. We will share more info about gameplay mechanics and how the Mining Game fits into the wider AFAR story soon, so make sure to follow our social channels to stay up to date. To sum up, the release of the AFAR: RAFA GENESIS collection is special for us in many ways. We’re proud to partner up with Magic Eden as one of the first gaming projects to release a collection on ETH on their platform, following their strategic expansion to the Ethereum blockchain earlier this year. We’re excited to release these unique NFTs to our community, kickstarting the AFAR metaverse, and can’t wait to see them in action in our upcoming games. **_Yours,_** **_The Lava Labs Team_** _This sounds exciting to you and you could imagine becoming part of our journey? As it happens, we‘re still looking for motivated people to join our team. Head over to our_ [_careers page_](https://lava.hrpartner.io/jobs) _to find out about our current job openings._ \*If you’re new to A Far Away Realm and would like to know more, head over to our [Litepaper](https://playafar.com/litepaper/Overviews/Mining_Game.html) for additional information about the upcoming mining game and the AFAR development roadmap. \* ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/18b933285c2cbbd8901ed35f1f2267ce062651b1adf55e47f39d7c7ca12846af.gif) \*\* \*\* --- *Originally published on [playafar](https://paragraph.com/@playafar/announcing-the-afar-rafa-genesis-collection)*