Play to earn crypto games are the hottest trend, powering a few to earn significant amounts. Let’s take a look inside to see what’s really possible.
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.
Top Play to Earn Crypto Games of 2024
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.
CryptoKitties
Cryptokitties is where you deal with kitties on blockchain. You can buy one from a friend or breed if you already have a pair.
Every Cryptokitty has unique attributes which separate it from the rest. Technically, every such cat has a mother and a father unless it belongs to Gen 0, which is generated every 15 minutes by the CryptoKitty team. These special cats are limited to 50,000, which adds to the scarcity and the monetary value.
While selling kitties is the easiest way to make money, it’s the breeding the whole Cryptokitty ecosystem depends upon.
There are many details one should check in the FAQ section. Put simply; you need two cats to breed another one. And interestingly, every kitty can be a mother (dame) or father (sire). Each breeding event adds to the cooldown period, which makes the new ones attractive to acquire.
Every exchange and breeding is a blockchain event on Ethereum for added legitimacy and incurs fees.
Additionally, CryptoKitty has introduced KittyVerse, where cats compete, participate in cat fights, etc.
CryptoKitty can be played on Chrome or Firefox, with a native application in the works.
Star Atlas
Star Atlas is a Metaverse to own a ship, buy land on a distant planet, and explore depths of space on your spaceship.
Metaverses, in simplest form, are games. Based on the specific project, you can live a digital life inside while buying and selling assets using cryptocurrencies.
Due to the details it offers and the complexities involved, Star Atlas developers are launching this game in stages.
As of this writing, you can choose factions, buy lands and ships, space combat and race, explore showrooms, etc., with the more interesting features like space missions and crafting planned for later releases, per this Star Atlas roadmap.
This game is powered by the Solana blockchain, so you need its wallet to pay transaction fees. In addition, it supports USDC or ATLAS tokens to make purchases.
Governing decisions are taken by the Star Atlas DAO, which is like most other decentralized organizations. This works by staking POLIS tokens in exchange for the voting power to influence Star Atlas development.
Overall, Star Atlas is a very ambitious work-in-progress project with eye-catching graphics that mandates an initial investment to participate.
The Six Dragons
The Six Dragons call itself the world’s first blockchain open-world RPG. And going by the visuals, you can surely tag it as one of the most beautiful crypto games, significantly raising the bar for other blockchain game developers.
The gameplay consists of explorations, farming, crafting, enchantments, trading, fights, etc., similar to popular open-world adventures like Skyrim. However, its map size is enormous–measuring a mammoth 256 square kilometers compared to Skyrim’s (Elder Scroll V) 38 square kilometers territory.
Notably, it’s a single-player RPG where you can hire AI non-player characters to get assistance in farming, looting, etc.
The blockchain side of things is powered by Ethereum to manage transactions and Enjin to handle NFT trading.
The Six Dragons are underpinned by its DAO to take governance calls to support future development.
Lastly, it won’t be wrong to call The Six Dragons the Skyrim of the cryptoverse, marking the onset of a new era for blockchain gaming.
Ethermon
Ethermon seems to have taken a few pages out of Pokemons and mixed some blockchain tech to launch its Metaverse game in 2D and 3D.
Ethormon’s 2D (Ethermon classic) gameplay revolves around the PvP battles, which puts the fierce creatures–Mons–to work. They come with unique rarities and are the backbone of Ethermon’s tokenomics. Winning PvP battles upgrade your Mons and award EMON tokens and NFTs.
Its Decentraland version (3D) is primarily P2E, offering unique quests, crafting, etc. This also makes it a one-of-a-kind collaboration, where one fully-fledged blockchain game is happening in a metaverse.
However, now, the earning potential is chiefly limited to its Classic mode.
Ethermons is powered by Ethereum and Polygon network. As of this writing, Mons based on Ethereum can transform into stronger forms, while the Polygon-powered Mons are yet to acquire this ability in the coming updates.
The best part of Ethermons is the minimum requirement of just an Ethereum wallet and no initial purchase.
Phantom Galaxies
Phantom Galaxies is a 3rd-person action RPG that brings you space simulation and combats with its mec shooters–flying machines akin to the shapeshifting robots of the Hollywood blockbuster series, the Transformers.
First, you want to connect to an appropriate wallet (Metamask, etc.). Subsequently, one can click download only to be greeted by a paywall. Actually, you need to have the Halberd-001 NFT, which is currently worth 2.3 MATIC (~$1.8), to access the download link.
While the amount is symbolic more than anything else, it would’ve been great if players were allowed something of a trial play before needing to take out their wallets.
However, the thrilling visuals of the Phantom Galaxies quickly help you forget everything, and you find yourself checking the mec shooters to kick off this space adventure.
In addition to the combat missions, you can mine asteroids which helps you to upgrade your weapons and buy more mecs, ammunition, etc. Besides, the missions, side quests, raids, PvP battles, crafting, etc., make this play-to-earn game iconic in its own right.
The governance token is ASTRAFER, and the tokenomics follows a similar route of trading in-game assets with other players. Interestingly, this is planned as a multichain play-to-earn game, with each blockchain having its galaxy and players interacting with each other, making it all the more fun.
Looking at the overall gameplay, it’s tough not to recommend Phantom Galaxies. It has great aesthetics, its physics engine feels realistic, and there is a ton of content to explore and cherish.
My Neighbor Alice
My Neighbor Alice is a laid-out animated world you can enter to farm, fish, socialize, beekeep, etc. However, you need a piece of land to enter Alice World, the cheapest of which is 247 ALICE (~$260).
Past the initial purchase, it’s as simple as living and doing the daily chores. However, the key to earning rewards is to become a good neighbor and help Alice to do her things. This gives you awards that can be exchanged with items to use on your lands.
The target audience is players looking for casual gaming with blockchain, know-how to participate in this real-life simulation.
The in-game economy is kept live with trading land pieces beside ready-built houses, animals, plants, etc. Besides, one can allow rentals and impose visitor fees on their properties, opening more ways to monetize.
ALICE, an ERC-20 token, supports the business inside the Alice world, a series of six islands with unique attributes, collectively known as the Lummelunda Archipelago.
Ultimately, My Neighbor, Alice is a cute-looking play-to-earn game that needs active (financial) participation and, rewards with relaxed gameplay and a few earning opportunities.
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, you shouldn’t be giving anything upfront.