This project started as an experimentation of CC0, protesting against copyright culture in NFTs. Who knew it would kickstart a trend for CC0-focused NFT projects? Of course, we’re talking about Nouns.
Pioneered by a few influential NFT enthusiasts, Nouns addressed the controversy of copyright in the NFT Space… by making Nouns free for commercial use by anyone. While this may seem like pure plagiarism of an artist’s hard work, it really isn’t. Do read this piece to find out more about how CC0 is solving this controversial problem.
Anyway, Nouns was a huge success, establishing a DAO to fund various communities, groups, and individuals in their exciting endeavors. As Nouns gains traction by the day, more and more people are coming up with derivatives of the project, expanding the Nouns ecosystem!
The following is a run-down of some of these projects… perhaps you’ll find one that “clicks” with you?
The Nounish Ecosystem
SideNoun
SideNoun is a “side-view” derivative of Nouns. In other words, their art is basically Nouns slightly tilted to the side, which gives them their name “SideNoun”.
SideNoun is a collection of 8,000 isometric Nouns, with a mint price of 0.09 Ether. Hosted on IFPS on the Ethereum blockchain, SideNoun doesn’t have a roadmap or plans for a DAO – they’re all in for the art.
Unlike Nouns, SideNoun doesn’t auction off their NFTs. Instead, they’re just like a typical NFT collection, first come first serve good ol’ minting; no limits set. With a royalty fee of just 1%, listed on both OpenSea and Rarible, and even backed by Nouns DAO Small grants, SideNoun as a project is not too shabby at all!
3D Nouns
3D Nouns is not just a derivative of Nouns, it is an extension to the Nouns ecosystem. Approved by Nouns DAO back in September 2021 under the Nouns DAO Proposal 2, 3D Nouns has the wild ambition of taking Nouns into the metaverse.
While they’re still in the development phase, 3D Nouns is already looking very promising. Displaying full-body 3D Nouns on their site, as well as a “Nouniverse” already in development, this project could blow up in time to come!
High hopes for 3D Nouns include their presence in gaming, animation, and even VR/AR industries. Well, we’ll just have to wait and keep one eye open for the 3D Nouns mint!
Bored Noun Gang
A CC0 project still in its infancy, Bored Noun Gang is already showing some promising qualities as a derivative of Nouns! It seems that BNG is minted on the Polygon blockchain, where gas fees are way lower than on the Ethereum blockchain. Oh well, appreciate the gas savings!
Unlike other derivative collections, Bored Noun Gang is a hand-crafted “replica” of Nouns. I guess this adds a human touch to the project, and I love the element of surprise (especially if the NFT turns out a little different from the original).
Akin to SideNoun, Bored Noun Gang isn’t in this for the roadmap or utility… they’re doing this for the CC0 community. Well once they get their website up, be sure to check it up as too for more information.
Voadz
Voadz is an interesting NFT project, crossing Nouns and CryptoToadz to form the Voxel version: Voadz. Mixing Nouns and CryptoToadz sounds like a crazy idea… but the end product actually looks awesome.
The collection is pretty scarce, with only 2 “Seasons” of Voadz so far, and 100 NFTs in each Season. Each Voadz is listed on OpenSea for 0.077ETH, and they even have names like “Goldfish”, “Snowmobile”, or even “Toiletpaper” given to them.
Perhaps the best part about Voadz is their Re-Create function. Through the power of what they call DPSTRY, your pixelated NFT can be converted into Voadz form. Yes, talk about cross-breeding with a cross-breed! DPSTRYs are sold in a dutch auction format, once per day, starting at 0.869ETH and ending at 0.169ETH.
Do check out their website for more info on stuff like how their DPSTRY system works! As usual, they’re in this for the art and vibes, only.
Noun Cats
Noun Cats really should be “Noun Cats and the Invisibles”. If you aren’t aware of this project, Noun Cats is an NFT project with 2 collections of 5,000 NFTs each, one being the Invisibles collection, and the other as the Cats collection. Your goal: To find your Nounterpart and get a free reward in the Noun Cats’ universe!
Invisibles were launched on 17th February 2022, going for 0.075ETH per Invisible. The Noun Cats should be released two weeks after the Invisible drop. There is a maximum mint of 10 NFTs per wallet.
The most attractive part of Noun Cats is probably their game, where people would try to pair up Cats with their Invisibles. Personally, I’d want to know what’s that free reward if we successfully pair up our Nounterparts!
Noadz
Noadz… is pretty similar to Voadz. Yes, while Voadz was the voxel version of Nouns and CryptoToadz, Noadz is the original version of Nouns and CryptoToadz… does this make sense?
Noadz, as with Voadz, is all about the vibes, the art, the CC0 power. They also use the Season formula, but they have already completed Season 3, with Season 4 underway. Mint prices progressively go up, with Season 1 starting at 0.069ETH and Season 4 Noadz going at 0.129ETH now.
Noadz also has 2 sub-collections. One is Noadz Stories, showing some illustrations of Noadz characters, while the other is Noadz Loot, only available for Noadz holders. Looking at how active their community is, I guess they AGMI? Just a thought though, what if we Re-created a Noadz into a Voadz?
The Boneys
The Boneys is a derivative of Nouns, just that they’re now just Skin and Bones, or rather, just bones in Noun form. The Boneys is a collection of 666 NFTs, with the mission of just staying fun, with no roadmaps, and absolutely no rugpulls.
The Boneys is accompanied by another project, The Boney Batz! This collection only has a supply of 333 Boney Bats. On top of that, the founder of the collection Mr. Boney also has another project under his name, Mr. Boneys Death Club.
What an intriguing vibe for this bones of a project!
The Boanez
And here comes another project cross-0ver, the Boanez! Inspired by The Boneys and Noadz, Boanez NFTs turn out to be eerily cool bone Noadz. It’s pretty amazing how this derivative can be inspired by two other derivatives of Nouns… CC0 proving its worth!
The Boanez is currently in “Experiment 001”, with roughly 50+ pixel NFTs already listed on their OpenSea page. Their drops consist of both public mints as well as giveaway contests, pretty typical for Nounish derivatives.
Oh well, the art is amazing for a derivative of derivatives! I guess the grandchild of Nouns can be welcomed into the Nounish family.
Noun Punks
Noun Punks is a combination of CryptoToadz, Nouns, as well as CryptoPunks – our first “Tribrid” of the article! Pretty ironic, how holders of CryptoPunks broke off and founded Nouns, only to be merged again with this derivative…
Anyway, Noun Punks is a collection of 9969 NFTs, focusing on building a hybrid (more like tribrid) culture in NFTs, and using CC0 to help them with that. Well, they say that this project is all about the !VIBE, which stands for Vibes, Inclusion, Bespectacled Art, and Education.
Noun Punks is also expanding into the metaverse with their 3D collection, superBLOX. I’m pretty sure their community is hyped for superBLOX, finally a venture for Noun Punks into the metaverse! I’ll have to salute the core team for being dedicated to the community, creating additional pages like a YouTube channel, a Medium page, and even a TikTok account. Talk about being on all social media platforms!
Lost Nouns
Lost Nouns is a project about bringing back the Nouns that were never included in the OG collection. As to be expected, there were many rounds of testing before the initiation of Nouns, and some of these Nounish traits must have been lost in translation (or code).
Hence, Lost Nouns is all resurfacing these Nouns which never made the OG, back to the glory it deserves. As designs by the original Nouns team, but not featured in the OG Nouns collection, this gives a chance to those who can’t afford a Noun to own… what can be considered a legit Noun! I’d say this is not exactly a derivative, and instead, more of a Noun revival.
However, Lost Nouns has no interest in competing with Nouns. Through daily auctions of Lost Nouns, and a total collection of just 404 NFTs, they hope to be a greater part of the Noun Lore and ecosystem. Truly, kudos to the founders for picking up those Nouns who got lost along the way!
Noundles
Noundles is a Nouns-inspired PFP collection with a “funky” twist on their art. What started out as a PFP project is transitioning into a PvE game, and they even have a native token, $RAINBOW.
One of their missions is to bridge Nouns and Doodles, another famous NFT collection on the Ethereum blockchain. Upon reading their story, you may realize that Noundles has faced massive hype which turned to FUD later on, and are in the re-making process of their collection.
Still, the idea of their PvE game, earning of Rainbows, and the different types of Noundles like OGs, Companions, and Evil Noundles; are all great concepts that can be developed upon. I hope their new project “The Reboundles” will help Noundles build back to its former glory!
Alt Nouns
Alt Nouns is a creative project that directly pegs Nouns… yes, its entire minting process follows Nouns! The underlying concept of Alt Nouns is their smart contract in direct communication with Nouns’ smart contract. Every time a Noun is sold, an Alt Noun will be put up for sale.
While the auctioning process, the “Treasury” idea, and even the website look like a replica of Nouns, the art is distinctively different. Alt Nouns claims that their artwork is based on Nouns, but altered, so it could be any form of art, static or animated, Nounish or distorted. This is the true epitome of randomized artwork.
Coming in at an affordable price of 0.15ETH per mint, those who cannot afford Nouns can always turn to Alt Nouns for a similar experience.
Found Nouns
Found Nouns is one of the “hidden gems” of the Nounish universe… because it is free to mint! Yes, all it costs is the gas fees needed to mint your Found Nouns NFT, though that can already be a sizeable sum if gas fees are high.
With a total supply of 10,000 NFTs and a max mint of 10 NFTs per wallet, Found Nouns is doing their best to give back to the community. You can mint Found Nouns via this Etherscan contract, and more instructions on how to navigate their Etherscan can be found on the Found Nouns Twitter page.
Gnars
Ahh finally… we come to Gnars (saving the best for last… jk). I’m sure most of you already know that Gnars is our derivative version of Nouns, inspired by the world of Skateboarding and NFTs coming together.
Every 666 blocks on the Ethereum blockchain (roughly 2.8 hours), the auction of a Gnar ends. Although Gnars follow Nouns’ auction-style system, we do have one thing they don’t. Our classic “Skate or DAO” slider, where you can choose what percentage of the funds goes to the creators (Skate), and the rest goes to the DAO (Charity).
The Gnars project is all about encouraging skateboarders to pursue their passion and help with funds along the way. But we’re not stopping here. We hope to support more athletes (not just skateboarders) financially, and Gnars is our way of giving back.
So, Is That All?
Of course not! While this might have been a rather long list of Nounish derivatives, there’s a ton of projects out in the ecosystem we haven’t covered yet. In truth, we aren’t even scraping the tip of the Noun-berg.
You can have a look at the rest of the Nounish projects here, where Nouns DAO has nicely compiled for all to enjoy.
I guess that’s it for this article, hope you’ve discovered new Nounish derivatives you’re interested in!
Featured artwork by brandonmighty ⌐◨-◨
