Play-to-earn crypto games have exploded recently and are shaking up the gaming industry. One of the top advantages is that players can monetize their time while playing. Gaming turned from a hobby to a multibillion-dollar industry.
A growing number of people are making money playing games in the world of GameFi. The GameFi sector is young but booming, and this is very exciting for investors. The trend has reached major game developers such as Ubisoft (Ubisoft announced its plan to launch NFTs).
What are the best play-to-earn NFT crypto games in 2022? How can you make money online while playing games? What game should you start playing? We did a deep dive into gameFi and P2E gaming model. Let’s see what you can expect in 2022.
What is Play-to-Earn Game
Play-to-earn games are based on blockchain and combine decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Most of the games are also free-to-play. The major difference from tradition games is the ownership and financial possibilities in the game.
Play-to-earn is the newest buzzword similar to GameFi. The hottest trend in the crypto industry.
Most traditional games operate on model pay-to-win and allow players to purchase upgrades in order to take advantage over others. GameFi introduces a different model play to earn. Players are motivated to play because of the ownership and financial possibilities in the game. In some cases, this has allowed gamers to become full-time players and make a living thanks to playing crypto games.
Objects in the game are expressed as NFTs – digital tokens used to prove ownership of scarce intangible items.
How to Pick the Right Play to Earn Crypto Game
Once you understand what is a play-to-earn game you can start looking for new upcoming games that have the potential to grow massively. Do your own research.
Decide your goal, what do you want to earn – coins or NFT?
Each play-to-earn game has a different reward system. Most games will payout rewards in a combination of in-game cryptocurrency and NFT. NFTs are usually the bonus you can claim after completing some quests.
When getting started, you should first understand how you will earn rewards and how much time does it take to earn money. Some games require also an upfront investment. They are promoted as free-to-play but to make money from the game you really need some NFT that cost you Ether.
You might think about a hundred or couple hundred USD as a first investment to start with a good position. For example, common Axies sell for anywhere between $25 and $80, while rarer Axies can go for hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Best Play to Earn Games in 2022
There are many crypto games live today so you can easily pick up one of your favorite and start playing. You can also look for upcoming P2E games that have the NFT models and try to jump in as an early adopter.
Usually, you need to be whitelisted to participate in the first purchase (first mint). This strategy might bring you a big advantage up front and also make you a lot of money. You might get a valuable NFT that you can sell afterwards.
Here is a list of live and upcoming play-to-earn games that have a huge potential to become your money-maker crypto NFT game.
Champions: Ascension
Champions Ascension is a play-to-earn adventure set in a player-driven high-fantasy universe. A true play-to-earn adventure set in a fantasy world shaped by players. Own, train, and equip NFT champions, and find glory in the Colosseum Eternal!
Champions Ascension is an upcoming high-fantasy, player-driven P2E game proudly backed by JamCiy, an LA based game studio behind games with over 1.3B installs (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Jurrastic World Alive, Frozen Advetures, Disney Wonderful Worlds).
The upcoming crypto game is still under the radar of most crypto players. Take advantage of it and get a whitelist for presale. Fill out the form and wait to be chosen.
- Status: Upcoming
- Web: www.championsascension.com
- Native token: unknown
- Blockchain: Ethereum
- Monthly user base: unknown
- Initial investment required: unknown
Alien World
Alien Worlds is an NFT Metaverse where you can play with unique digital items (NFTs).
Players join an alien universe consisting of several planets where they must fight for scarce resources and mine the game’s native cryptocurrency, trillium (TLM).
- Status: Live
- Web: www.alienworlds.cio
- Native token: TLM token
- Blockchain: WAX, Binance Smart Chain
- Monthly user base: 1.23 Millions
- Initial investment required: unknown
Gods Unchained
Unlike other free-to-play games, Gods Unchained gives you complete ownership over your in-game items. It is an online strategy trading card game with a play-to-earn gaming model. Collect rare cards (NFTs) and trade them on an open marketplace.
Players are able to earn the native GODS token. Rare cards have unique real-world value as they can be sold for GODS, which can be transferred to fiat money.
Gods Unchained is a game created by the same team behind the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution known as Immutable X. The game was first announced in 2018 and raised more than $15 million from investors.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.godsunchained.com
- Native token: GODS token
- Blockchain: Ethereum, Immutable X
- Monthly user base: 24.000
- Initial investment required: unknown
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity became the most popular play-to-earn game. A Pokemon-inspired game where you can buy, take care of, breed and trade digital monsters called “Axies.” It was the first Ethereum-based NFT game to hit US$1 billion in sales. It proved the concept that blockchain games can be fun and also make money.
The game has a high earning potential.
The game allows players to purchase, battle and breed virtual creatures (called “Axies”). Axies are minted exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Axie is represented by an NFT and it can be bought and sold via cryptocurrency.
Axies can battle each other to earn SLP tokens or be sent on quests for resource farming.
Axie has literally changed people’s lives – that’s their competitive advantage. No other play-to-earn game has that level of loyalty.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.axieinfinity.com
- Native token: axie infinity (AXS) and smooth love potion (SLP)
- Blockchain: Ethereum
- Monthly user base: 640.000
- Initial investment required: purchase 3 Axies
Upland
Upland is a metaverse trading game where users can trade virtual real-estate using native UPX tokens or fiat money. Within its metaverse, users can buy virtual real-estate that corresponds to a real-world address. The game is built on the EOS blockchain. The in-game assets are in the form of NFTs.
The Upland game is user-friendly. Gaming enthusiasts and cryptocurrency beginners alike can easily join.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.upland.me
- Native token: UPX token
- Blockchain: EOS
- Monthly user base: 340.000
- Initial investment required: unknown
Splinterlands
Splinterlands is a collectible card game where players can trade, buy or sell digital assets to gain in-game rewards. Previously known as Steem Monsters, the game operates as a play-to-earn game in the NFT world. Players fight against monsters to get in-game rewards.
The game currently offers 283+ cards which players can combine to increase their character abilities and become stronger.
Splintershards (SPS) is a cryptocurrency governance token that works as the primary currency in the Splinterlands card trading game.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.splinterlands.com
- Native token: SPS
- Blockchain: WAX, Hive
- Monthly user base: 594.000
- Initial investment required: unknown
The Sandbox
SANDBOX is one such example of a money-making game. It is the hottest virtual world where people can build a platform to earn, own and monetize their experience in the virtual game.
The Sandbox is a virtual world where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences in the Ethereum blockchain.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are virtual tokens minted on the blockchain for digital scarcity, security, and authenticity. They are unique, indivisible, and non-interchangeable — allowing true digital ownership of in-game assets.
$SAND is our main utility token that allows you to buy and sell LANDS and ASSETS in The Sandbox metaverse. SAND is the token used to buy land and other assets in the metaverse.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.sandbox.game
- Native token: SEND token
- Blockchain: Ethereum
- Monthly user base: uknown
- Initial investment required: unknown
Decentraland
Decentraland is a user-owned, Ethereum-based virtual world where you can play, explore, and interact with games and activities. You can also purchase parcels of land on which to build your own environments, marketplaces, and applications.
Explore LANDs owned by users to experience incredible scenes and structures. From a space adventure to a medieval dungeon maze to entire villages crafted from the minds of community members.
- Status: Live
- Web: www.decentraland.org
- Native token: MANA token
- Blockchain: Ethereum
- Monthly user base: unknown
- Initial investment required: unknown
Illuvium
Illuvium is an open-world video game aiming to be the first AAA blockchain title in the gaming industry. Players explore a 3D open-world searching for creatures called Illuvials that they can collect and use to battle other players. The game uses a play-to-earn model where Illuvials are represented on the Ethereum blockchain as NFTs, and winning battles against others wins players ether.
- Status: Upcoming
- Web: www.illuvium.io
- Native token: ILV token
- Blockchain: Ethereum
- Monthly user base: unknown
- Initial investment required: unknown
Ultimate List of Crypto Games and NFT Games
Once you decided to dive into play-to-earn games and get familiar with reward systems and in-game cryptocurrency and NFT, your next step is to find a game with your interest. It’s all about research.
Top 10 crypto games
- Alien Worlds
- Bomb Crypto
- Axie Infinity
- Sunflower Farmers
- Upland
- MOBOX: NFT Farmer
- Crazy Defend Heroes
- X World Games
- DeFi Kingdoms
- Farmers World
- Galaxy Blocks
- SecondLive
Start with an ultimate list of crypto games at Dappradar.com. Today, there are over 400 hundred blockchain games online. DappRadar offers you lots of key GameFi insights and metrics.
What’s next in P2E Games
The key opinion leaders in the crypto industry believe there’s a lot more ahead for GameFi and play-to-earn games. Crypto startups and gaming companies are already racing to catch early adopters.
NFT games with the P2E model seem to be revolutionizing the gaming industry. Not only gaming but also staking and renting come with GameFi. It means more ways how to make passive income with NFTs for players and early investors. Also, with the second generation of GameFi, we might expect a shift from the P2E model to skilled-to-earn games.
It’s still early and that means there are still opportunities to help shape the standards of crypto NFT gaming. As the GameFi ecosystems expand, and more people take part, more value is created.
