The Best NFT Games to Play
As many users continue to embrace blockchain technology, NFT games are expanding across the world. Ever since the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), they’ve shown time and time again that they have the potential to change the gaming world. Now, whether we mean that in a positive or negative light, that’s up for gamers to ponder. Nevertheless, the emergence of NFTs promises a new and exciting order where players take up even more critical roles in the gaming economy and receive rewards in the process. Currently, this gaming paradigm has begun to take shape as game developers (most recently Square Enix and Ubisoft) are increasingly adopting blockchain technology to give their games an even more “immersive experience”.
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How Play-to-Earn Games Work
An NFT game combined unconventional game mechanisms with conventional game designs results in users having more control over in-game assets like characters, weapons, skins, virtual lands, and more. All of this is made possible by launching games on blockchains, anchoring them with digital asset-powered economies. These digital assets are NFTs, making them tamper-proof and distinguishable. The adoption of NFT token standards also allows the developers to preserve the uniqueness and rarity of in-game items. This is the main reason why some blockchain game assets are more expensive than others.
With this primary system in place, players can claim ownership of game assets in three ways: they could breed or create new characters, unlock and earn new items, or purchase digital items on native or third-party marketplaces. Whichever way you choose to access these assets, you essentially have exclusive ownership rights over them. You can also distribute or even sell them and pocket all the money mode from trades, thus coining this gaming model as “play-to-earn”.
The Top NFT Games to Check Out
Certain platforms have positioned – and maintained – themselves as the juggernauts of the NFT gaming world. These games are currently at the forefront of the NFT craze because they’ve successfully integrated the tokens with popular gaming genres and mechanics. This is a win-win for players that want to make a profit, as they get to play some of their favorite game genres and engage with a profitable NFT market at the same time.
- Gods Unchained
Similar to Magic: The Gathering or Hearthstone, Gods Unchained is a trading card game with a free-to-play and play-to-earn model where users can build decks and battle against each other. You can accumulate cards by purchasing them from other players or winning PvP matchups where the quality of your cards and skill will determine the winner. Emphasis is placed on strategy and skills when it comes to Gods Unchained. This is because the game utilizes a ranked mode where players with the same ratings are matched.
How to win in Gods Unchained is simple: you win matches when your opponent’s life drops to zero before yours. For every win, you get experience points which will fill your bar up. Once this bar is full, you’ll move to the next rating or level and receive a new pack of cards to add to your collection. Where does the play-to-earn aspect come, you ask? Well, each card is backed by an ERC-721 token, thereby making them tradable on the platform’s native marketplace. If you’re planning to sell your cards within the game’s ecosystem, you’ll receive the platform’s token called “GODS” as payment.
- Axie Infinity
Heavily inspired by the Pokemon franchise, Axie Infinity adds a blockchain twist that gives the finished product an even more exciting feel. In this Ethereum-based game, players collect and breed NFT-based adorable fantasy creatures called Axies for the core purpose of battling other players. Axie Infinity’s core philosophy is play-to-earn and rewards its users’ time and effort in the form of an SLP (Smooth Love Potion) token that you can earn in the gameplay. The SLP tokens can be exchanged for other Ethereum tokens on decentralized exchanges like Binance and UniSwap.
A minimum of three Axies are needed to start playing the game. Each individual Axies has its own genetic imprint, therefore, their strengths and weaknesses are passed down to their offspring. This is why there are specialized breeders in Axie Infinity, as these digital pets can be traded on Ethereum NFT marketplaces and the price of each Axies depends on their unique traits and rareness.
- The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a voxel-based gaming metaverse in which you can own land, play games, or even build your own game. In this game, you can monetize and manipulate voxel assets – think of it as the blockchain iteration of popular gaming titles such as Roblox and Minecraft. Besides that, the platform offers tools to create and animate objects that you can sell on marketplaces.
The Sandbox introduced SAND, an ERC-20 token, as the native token of the metaverse. There’s also LAND, which is a valuable and sought-after NFT token in the game; a record of a whopping $8.5 million in LAND sales was concluded in April 2021 alone.
I think it’s really a good time to invest in NFTs right now since the market is currently down. I hope that it jumps back up again this March like last year.