Zeeverse — Lapsa, Making Of
In December 2023, we hosted a Curve x Zeeverse off-chain event in Taipei, where every attendee received a mysterious chest. (Pretty sweet reward just for showing up, right?)
Mystery surrounding these chests, with daily 'wens' & 'wats' swarming our Discord. Nine months later, Lapsas with Mr. Block's Chests were revealed!
Upon opening the chest, a Lapsa hops out, revealing your loot.
An interesting detail — for a long time, we never explicitly mentioned that a Zee would be acquired from these chests, leaving players guessing about their contents.
(In hindsight, the Lapsa was on the chest from the very beginning, so for some, it was probably obvious… but for others, maybe it was an “Ahhh!” moment.)
From the start, we knew we wanted to introduce Eevee-esque Zees — creatures that could evolve into different types.
At that point, the game only had four types — Normal, Fire, Grass, and Water. Wouldn’t this be the perfect time to introduce new types? YES!
So, we decided to use Lapsa’s evolutions as the perfect platform to introduce three new types to the game — Radiant, Dark Matter, and Astral.
Every Zee comes with four different traits spanning across five types, and we love crafting unique attributes for each one.
Since Lapsa draws inspiration from fox symbolism, we leaned into that theme while designing its evolutions. Here’s a look at some early concept art!
Lapsa introduced a unique attack — Multi-Attack — which can hit up to three times, shaking up the meta by breaking through Bubble Shields and landing consistent damage. (85% of the time, haha!)
Here’s a look at the initial concepts for the attack:
Okay, very cool! But why “Lapsa”?
When you look at the Zee names in-game — Chaka, Taka, Zoomba, Gongo — you’ll notice a snappy combination of syllables, perfect for a Zee! Our studio is based in Latvia, and guess what “fox” is in Latvian? “Lapsa”! A little Easter egg hidden in the name, while still fitting the naming style of other Zees.
And the Easter eggs don’t stop there! Lapsa’s evolutions follow a fun pattern:
- Radiant — “Gaisma” -“light” in Latvian
- Dark Matter — “Tumsa” -“darkness” in Latvian
- Astral — “Kosma” — Okay, you got me there. It doesn’t directly translate, but it’s derived from “Kosmoss”… I’ll let you guess what that means.
Speaking of evolutions, Lapsa introduced a special item — Spirit Blossom Gems. There are six different gems, each attuned to a specific type, allowing players to choose which evolution they want. (and avoiding Zee sacrifice in the process!)
Here's a look at the early concept art for these gems:
The Shamans of our Sky Island love a good set of equipment, and Mr. Block’s Chests didn’t disappoint! These chests had a chance to drop Foxblossom clothes or even a Legendary Blossoming Wand of Huli Jing.
Here’s a look at the concept art for the Foxblossom set:
And here's a look at the concept art for Blossoming Wand of Huli Jing:
Lapsas & Foxblossom items have been incredibly fun to create, and we’re very proud of how they turned out.
Shamans can still purchase Mr. Block's Chest of Wondrous Oddities for 666 $MAGIC by visiting the sakura tree in-game! (also used for Lapsa evolutions!)
Some Shamans have even noticed a new kind of Mr. Block’s Chest appearing on Opensea (and teased by Mr. Block himself!)… any guesses on what’s inside?
As a closing treat, here’s one random attribute set for each of Lapsa’s evolutions:
About Zeeverse
Zeeverse is a free-to-play monster-tamer RPG set in an indigenous fantasy world. It’s a place where turn-based strategy meets exploration, the thrill of collecting, and the player’s drive to create.
Embark on a heroic journey through the Spirit Realms to unlock ancient mysteries, collect mythical creatures, and forge your path among gods.
Play Zeeverse
Links
Website | Discord | Twitter | Game Docs | Treasure Game Profile
