In fact, the idea of NFT games originated in 2012 with the release of Diablo III. The peculiarity of this RPG was that it was implemented a free auction between the players. That is, any user could sell or buy an item for in-game currency, which, in turn, could be purchased for real money through microtransactions. Diablo III didn’t discover America in this sense, but it was here that Blizzard first used the idea of free exchange/sale of items between players using fiat.
In 5 years, when NFT had already become an integral part of the global cryptocurrency system, the Canadians from Dapper Labs decided to make the most mass product that is NFT game for Android (Diablo III was distributed only for PC, and then they closed the auction). At the same time Dapper Labs used all the current trends. Firstly, they created their game on Ethereum blockchain, which was actively trying to compete with Bitcoin. Second, their game is a dApp, that is, a decentralized application.
And third, we have a full-fledged NFT game in front of us. What does this mean? Let’s describe with the help of concrete example. The main mechanics of the game is breeding virtual kittens (a la modified Tamagotchi). Each kitten is an NFT token. It is non-interchangeable and cannot be transferred to another user without the owner’s consent. But most importantly, two kittens can “reproduce” a third kitten, which will also represent an NFT token. So the owner gets a chance to make money.
At launch, the most expensive cryptocurrency was worth $117,712. The largest sale took place on May 12, 2018 – the virtual cat sold for $140,000. That’s to the point about the profitability of top NFT games.
The main point here is that all cryptocats (i.e. NFT coins) are not owned by Dapper Labs (the developer), but by Axiom Zen, which produces the cats under the Nifty license. This license is responsible for the fact that users who “breed” cats get the right to own new cats, but cannot use them outside the app. But they can sell them, and then withdraw the funds to their cryptocurrency wallet and convert them into fiat.
That’s how NFT games of Play-to-Earn format appeared. Right now such games have already been released or are planning to be released soon by such titans of game industry as Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami, Epic, Capcom, EA. Although we are not talking about AAA-class projects, most of these games are dApps for mobile devices. It is understandable, because we live in the era of portable gadgets, many are used to play not on PC, and on Android or iOS. Nevertheless, there are NFT games with no investment withdrawal for personal computers.
Criterion 1 – Platform.
There are NFT games for Android, iOS, Windows and Linux. For gaming consoles such projects almost none (except The Six Dragons and Alpha Kombat). Most of the games for mobile gadgets, examples are Cryptokitties, CropBytes, Splinterlands. You only need a smartphone, and not a particularly powerful one. For the most part, these are fairly simple games with mechanics that are easy to learn in 20-30 minutes.
Client games for the desktop usually have a more advanced graphics engine, that is, look prettier. However, their mechanics are also simple. Examples of these games – Gods Unchained, Vulcan Verse, Star Atlas. Note that there are cross-platform games, presented in mobile and desktop versions. For example, Axie Infinity.
Among the NFT games with no money withdrawal you can find browser-based projects (Battle Racers, Gold Fever, CryptoBlades). Their advantage is that they do not require installation. But among the games of this category there is almost no three-dimensional, most of them are card games or with a simplified graphical interface. Even in a separate category can be divided into projects that support VR, the clear flagship of this direction – Somnium Space.
Criterion 2 – Format
The best NFT games are divided into two categories based on the commercial model. The first model is P2E. In these games the user has to buy his first NFT token, further he can earn without investing. An example of a game is Axie Infinity. The minus is that you need some capital at the start. On the plus side, the games of this category are elitist, there is less toxic and more serious community, and the earning potential is higher.
The second model is F2P. Examples – Play Mining, Arc8, Crazy Defense Heroes. The main advantage of these games – they are absolutely free. That is, the player can start earning without starting capital. The minus is that they are easier to play than P2E games, their community is less friendly and the earning potential is always lower.
Criterion 3 – Blockchain
There are quite a few options here. The top NFT games run on the Ethereum blockchain, for example – Axie Infinity and Decentraland. There are projects on Tron (CropBytes), EOS (Upland), WAX (Alien Words) and other networks. Now Binance Smart Chain games are gaining popularity, for example, Mobox, one of the platform’s leading projects.
It’s hard to say which blockchain network is best. The more popular networks are potentially more stable, but for example, although Tron is seriously inferior to Ethereum in terms of capitalization, the NFT game CropBytes, which runs on it, is one of the most popular. So on the blockchain criterion, the game should be chosen based on the current state of the market and personal preference.
Other criteria
Paid and free NFT games can be divided by genre: action (CryptoPlanet), adventure (Worldwide Webb), arcade (BombCrypto), farms (CropBytes), breeding pets (Genopets), Metavsels (The Sandbox), strategy (Splinterlands). Genre is chosen strictly at the discretion of the gamer, there is no more or less priority areas.
And what is important to pay attention to is the status of the game. For example, there are active projects (Axie Infinity), they can already play with full functionality. It is advantageous to sign up for games in the presale phase (Vox), because it allows you to get unique bonuses. Games in the alpha and beta phases (Noa and Cronic) do not provide an immediate earning opportunity, but in the long run, registering at this stage will provide players with benefits.
Always choose NFT games with withdrawals. These are projects that allow you to withdraw your earnings to external cryptocurrency wallets. All listed games have such a feature.
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