From pay-to-play and free-to-play, the gaming industry has advanced to earn while playing or play to earn crypto games.
What are Play to Earn Crypto Games?
These unique games have native tokens supporting game economies. You buy, trade, sell, and play with these in-game currencies. However, some games are premium needing an initial investment to start with, while some can be played for free. Notably, most of these games are in early development, especially if you compare the graphics with traditionally top-level PlayStation or Xbox titles. So you’re a few years early if expecting a good-looking crypto game. But keep the focus on the economics, and the rewards can be enough to keep you hooked.
How to Verify a P2E game?
This is an entirely new era. So, there are bad projects trying to steal, and it’s imperative to check the legitimacy before investing anything. The first thing to check is tokenomics. What’s the total token supply, the release cycle, incentive to hold or stake, other use cases, etc. An unlimited token supply may not be a good thing to start with. Moreover, staking and holding need to be rewarding to keep people invested. However, there is no fixed recipe to judge a game’s future. But avoid investing big at the start, and don’t go in with an amount you can’t afford to lose. Because crypto is one of the riskiest investments ever seen in these times, do a proper background check if the stakes are high enough for you. Now that you know enough about these play to earn crypto games, let’s check out a few best.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is the top P2E crypto game, consistently in the news for providing household income in some weaker economies (read the Philippines, Venezuela, etc.). The game requires three Axies (in-game creatures) that you can purchase from their marketplace. Alternatively, you can buy eggs from the Axies labs and wait for them to turn into Axies. Moreover, you can also breed eggs with the Axies to produce new Axies and sell them in the marketplace. These NFT Axies are meant to fight other Axies in the group of three to earn the native token, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). This is the governance token that you can also exchange for real cash. Besides, one can stake them to earn crypto staking rewards. Except for AXS, there is one more in-game ERC-20 token, SLP (Smooth Love Potions), used for breeding Axies. As with AXS, you can exchange SLP for fiat currencies on notable crypto exchange platforms. The game also states the introduction of a no-upfront-investment model in the future with limited earning potential.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox has multiple ways to earn. You can be an artist, game maker, or landowner to earn SAND, its metaverse cryptocurrency. An artist can create useful assets with the platform’s tool VoxEdit. However, The Sandbox doesn’t allow just about everyone to upload NFTs on its marketplace. You need to apply to its creators’ fund with a portfolio to boost your chances of selection. Another way to earn in the Sandbox is to purchase land to rent or create experiences (ex., games). The game maker needs no coding skills to design games. Afterward, as per The Sandbox, you can levy a fee for that experience that other players will pay. Straightaway, this is very ambitious. Because metaverses themselves are similar to games, technically, you’ll be charging people to play a game inside a game. A more sustainable way to make money is to purchase land in the metaverse and sell it at opportune times or rent it out. Overall, this is a metaverse needing real-life perspective to make (or lose) money. Finally, SAND is a governance token supporting staking and can be purchased/sold at major exchange platforms.
Pegaxy
Pegaxy is a play-to-earn horse racing game. You purchase or rent a pega to race with the top 3 earning rewards in VIS, the in-game currency. However, as of now, you exercise minimal control over the actual racing. As a Pega owner, your role is limited to verifying the track elements, selecting specific Pega, and choosing appropriate gear. The racing is random without any human control, unlike the conventional games. Pegas are available at Pegaxy marketplace, which you can purchase with USDT. Moreover, there is breeding to create little Pegas. These offsprings get ready to breed or race in the stipulated time as per their bloodline. In addition, you can fuse two Pegas into one to earn higher VIS rewards. However, breeding and fusion cost you in VIS and PGX (governance token). Earning is supported by racing, selling, and renting Pegas. And the staking is in the works, along with better gaming controls that’ll make the race skill-based.
Decentraland
Decentraland is a top metaverse with ample earning potential for its users. The first way to earn is a cliche for all metaverses–buy land. Subsequently, you can lend it or sell it after substantial appreciation. The other more interesting (and challenging) way is to organize events or games and charge the audience. Similar to the Sandbox, there is an in-house tool to build experiences that you can use for free. But the catch is the publication; that needs a parcel of land that you will purchase with MANA, its native token. The third earning gateway is to offer your services to a landowner, just like we do in this mortal physical world. Somewhere in 2021, Decentral Games was hiring for its Tominoya Casino. You could have earned $200 as an intern, $700 as a part-timer (20 hours/week), and about $1500 as a full-timer (40 hours/week) working in its metaverse. They ended up hiring 20 part-timers and one full-time manager to run the metaverse casino. In addition to these, you can design the wearables, send them for approval to the community, and mint them after receiving consent. The registration fee is $500 per item (not per NFT). Finally, you can list your wearables on the marketplace to earn. Conclusively, Decentraland is a computer-made real-life mimic with similar job prospects and earning opportunities.
Blankos Block Party
Blankos Block Party is about partying with the little toy-looking blankos. The primary earning activity in this play-to-earn crypto game is collecting blankos, leveling up, and selling them for a profit. The value of a blanko depends upon the attributes and the rarity. While the cheapest ones are up for grabs for as little as $10, the most expensive one sits atop a $5 million price tag. However, it’s common to see most blankos priced at thousands of dollars. You’ll also be building parties for other players to receive rewards in future updates. Though still in beta, this game also has daily quests as an additional earning opportunity.
Thetan Arena
Thetan Arena is a free to play and play to earn crypto game. You get three free characters to advance in the game to accumulate the native token, Thetan Coin (THC). These are required to unlock the advanced characters that you can also directly purchase from the marketplace. The advanced characters are the real deal of the game. Those evolve, can be traded as NFTs, and are allowed to participate in the special events. THG (Thetan Gem) is the utility and governance token supporting the in-game economy. In addition, you can stake the THG token to gain staking rewards. The game also encourages renting premium heros or sharing rewards to further open active ways to earn via the gameplay. Finally, you can convert THC through a crypto exchange into fiat currency.
Conclusion
It won’t be wrong to say that playing to earn crypto games is the next sensation in the gaming universe. And what’s better if you could make a good amount while entertaining yourself. However, you should be careful of the games asking for initial investments, owing to the crypto volatility. On a side note, we have many articles for the gamers out there. For instance, you can check out some games for stress relief, Nintendo switch survival and adventure series, or free titles on the Epic game store.
