Play-to-earn games (GameFi) have proven their stability and resilience against the prevailing crypto winter phase and tumbling dApps industry. Statistics from the Q2 Dapp Industry report show that the blockchain gaming industry experienced only a 5% quarterly decrease in unique active wallets compared to a 26% UAW drop in the overall dApp industry. These figures indicate a bullish sentiment in the NFT games sector as its player base has not declined massively.
NFT games are basically blockchain-based money-earning games where participants can earn crypto tokens by completing the in-game quests, like winning battles, selling & renting digital assets, competing in tournaments, fulfilling missions, and staking. Players can then exchange their game rewards or coins with popular cryptocurrencies and, eventually, to fiat currency through various exchanges.
If you want to become a part of this play-to-earn game frenzy, here are the 5 best NFT-based money earning games selected on the basis of their popularity, token value, and game design & enjoyability.
Top 5 Money Earning Games
1. Splinterlands
Previously known as Steemmonsters, Splinterlands is one of the top-ranked money earning games built upon the Hive blockchain. It is an automated card battle game with a comprehensive and attractive gameplay, involving a large variety of battling cards, regular quests, weekly or monthly tournaments, an interactive marketplace, and seasonal rewards. Although Splinterlands is essentially free to play, you have to purchase a “Summoner’s Spellbook” to access the game’s play-to-earn potential.
In Splinterlands, players lock horns in one-to-one battles where their teams of monsters and summoners, the in-game NFTs, pit against each other. The battle proceeds automatically, and the system decides the winner as per the contesting cards’ statistics. As the battle system is automated, the game mechanics revolve around assembling the right team, leveling up of cards, breeding and training of monsters, and proficient positioning of cards during battle.
Players who win the matches receive Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), the native cryptocurrency of Splinterlands. Though, it can also be gained via reward chests and daily quests, depending on your player rank. Further, the game includes two additional tokens as well: Splintershards (SPS), which is the governance token, and a stablecoin called “Credits.”
You can transfer SPS and DEC tokens to other blockchains like Ethereum and Binance Chain via the Hive-Engine market and ultimately convert them to real money.
2. Decentraland
Decentraland is a metaverse-like platform where participants can create, develop, and monetize virtual properties. The game is powered on the Ethereum blockchain and integrates a decentralized economy (DAO), allowing the users to have full control over the platform’s administrative rights.
In Decentraland, players enter this virtual world as digital avatars, buy parcels of LAND and develop them according to their preferences. You can enact anything imaginable on the virtual land plots, whether shopping malls, art galleries, gaming centers, offices, restaurants, and then simply sell them or run a business to earn profits.
The total number of LAND parcels is capped at 90,000 that can be bought or sold at the Decentraland marketplace, which also lists wearables, avatars, estates, and many other items.
An ECR-20 token, MANA, is the primary currency of Decentraland that propels its economy. It is the token that is needed to buy LANDs, wearables, and all in-game items.
Earning money via Decentraland requires that you invest in LAND, construct a building on it, and monetize it. Also, you can exchange MANA at various popular exchanges like Binance and Kraken to acquire profits when the token’s price appreciates. Note that LAND parcels cannot be sold at crypto exchanges as they are non-fungible items.
3. Alien Worlds
Built on the WAX blockchain, Alien Worlds is one of the most popular and simplest money earning games with a galactical setting. The game takes place in a universe of six planets, each having 500 land plots (NFTs) that are owned by game players. The players mine on these lands by using various tools and receive pay-outs in return. All game participants are provided with a free basic shovel to get started; however, more advanced tools can be acquired as the game progresses.
The Alien Worlds p2E gameplay incorporates three simple functionalities: land ownership and monetization, mining on these lands via tools, and staking of Trilium. TLM or Trilium is the main currency of Alien Worlds that is distributed as mining rewards and payments to land owners. Moreover, TLM is also generated from a special staking system built upon the Binance Smart Chain.
Alien Worlds currently tops the “play-to-earn games’ charts” with the maximum number of unique wallet addresses, i.e., 227k, according to the Dapp radar stats. While this game does not offer much action and excitement, it is a good option if you want to earn little by little through click-mining.
4. The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a voxel-based comprehensive metaverse where users can develop their unique and individual gameplay via multiple game builders like GameMaker and VoxEdit.
In The Sandbox world, players can purchase land parcels from the 166,464 available plots and then capitalize on these NFTs. They can build anything on these plots, either new games, virtual museums, or whatever else possible, hence crafting personalized play-to-earn mechanics.
As part of their alpha testing, The Sandbox also furnishes some in-game tasks and events where users are allowed to experience a spectrum of “creations or games” assembled by the company itself. Some lucky players, who partake in such episodes, are granted Alpha passes that can be cashed out as SAND tokens.
SAND, an ECR-20 token, is the one and only native currency of The Sandbox, available on both Ethereum mainnet and Polygon chain.
5. Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is one of the most prominent money earning games, popular among play-to-earn enthusiasts. The game is set in an imaginary world, Lunacia, filled with unique creatures known as Axies. The gameplay revolves around these small pets where players collect, raise, and breed them as well as engage in 3v3 battles via their Axies.
While this card-based battling game integrates two playing modes, PvE (adventure mode) and PvP (arena mode), PvP holds more importance from the earning perspective as it delivers SLP (Smooth Love Potion) tokens as a reward.
Technically, Axie Infinity includes two tokens that are AXS and SLP, but SLP is the only in-game token that can be traded for fiat money or other crypto coins on popular exchanges like Binance. On the other hand, AXS is the ECR-20-based governance token that can be purchased outside of the game, though it is also provided to the top 50 PvP players.
According to Dapp radar data, Axie Infinity is currently ranked second according to the “balance” positioning, with more than $800 million locked in its ecosystem.
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