The boom of play-to-earn gaming has given rise to hundreds of NFT games, with many more waiting for their time to shine. Hundreds of newbies want to start playing, but do not know where to start, or which NFT games to choose.
The reality of NFT gaming is that it is still a very young niche. Many projects often emerge with some promise, only to die a month or two later. Some are free to play, while others require significant investment to start.
So what’s the best way to avoid getting lost and find the best NFT game to play and start generating income?
First Things First: What Is an NFT Game?
NFT games are are games based on a blockchain using the nascent technology as part of the play-to-earn gaming revolution, which brought players the ability to fully own their in-game items and generate income with them. When you buy a tokenized piece of land, weapon, pet, or new avatar skin, you can later trade it, thereby earn money in or outside of the NFT game itself.
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In NFT games, all in-game items are represented as NFTs and run using the blockchain, which stores all records of the items themselves and thus secures the ownership of any in-game asset.
How Do NFT Games Generate Money?
The original NFT game model relied solely on the collectability of a given in-game asset. Players were rewarded for playing and supporting the game with NFTs, but this meant that their success largely depended on chance. The current iteration of NFT games allows players to build NFTs, earn, own and sell them to other players.
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Though it depends on the genre and model of the game in question, players most often earn tokens for completing missions and quests. Other games allow players to build their own in-game NFTs, for example, in the form of the avatar equipment.
Players can then earn financial rewards for selling their NFTs to other players and collectors, either in or outside of the game. These NFTs can also be swapped into digital currencies and later exchanged into fiat money.
The amount earned, however, depends on the popularity and mechanics of a given game as well as on the rarity and utility of the chosen tokenized collectible.
Most NFT games have their own digital currencies that are used to pay for NFT purchases and transactions, or to provide holders with decision-making rights within the game’s governance system. Players can also choose to stake or lend them to generate passive income.
What You Should Know Before Choosing NFT Game
The NFT game market is young but has already become heavily saturated, and this will only become more flooded over time, with new NFT game projects popping up every single day.
If you are interested in making some extra income and would like to generate it while playing, there is some certain criteria you should check off in order to choose the right NFT game for you.
Goals and Personal Expectations
People enter NFT gaming driven by various motives. Some of them would describe themselves as “true gamers,” others are simply curious about the potential of earning extra income, while more still are on the hunt for profitable investments.
Each group applies different criteria to NFT games. Determine, which category you fall under, what your goals are, and what you hope to get out of playing certain game.
Anyone looking for new ways to make a profit can visit websites like playtoearn.net to check which genres are trending, how certain NFT games are performing, what games were recently added, or when developers are planning the next set of airdrops.
As a general rule, being early to a game typically means making the biggest profit.
The Founder and the Development Team
There are no shortage of projects in the play-to-earn gaming field with anonymous founders. This carries some risks as it means that you may eventually find out that the game has no support, or is simply a scam. Anonymity typically lends more of a chance of the founders being shady than if the project featured by a team with their names proudly emblazoned on it.
It’s always worth choosing NFT game that have a team behind them with a clear identity and field of expertise. A respectable and experienced team, in most cases, suggests that they know how to create a catchy and successful product. Because credibility will always attract demand for projects, it also increases their value, which benefits the players as well.
The Entry Price
Not all NFT games are free to play, some of them require an initial investment to begin your journey.
Players may be asked to pay to set up a team, or to purchase virtual land, or for any other type of virtual asset in order to begin playing. Although these costs will most likely be recouped over the next few months of playing, the initial investment can be an intimidating entry barrier for newcomers.
Some games offer scholarship options for new users, meaning that they can “borrow” entry assets from other players in exchange for later sharing a custom percentage of their income with their benefactor.
The Cash Out Process
Because of the play-to-earn model, players are the full owners of their unique, tokenized in-game assets. This means they can sell their NFTs to other players directly inside the game or on the secondary market, as multiple NFT-dedicated marketplaces exist.
Various NFT games are built on different blockchains, like Ethereum, Polygon, or the Binance Smart Chain. This means that each of their NFTs is of a different token standard. Since not all NFT marketplaces support different NFT token standards, it is critical to evaluate the potential of the marketplace on which a game’s NFTs could be sold.
Players would also be wise to consider the NFT transfer fees, which severely vary across different blockchains, especially during times of network congestion.
On the Flipside
- The NFT game space is still very young and is constantly evolving. The majority of games are unpolished, and thus still cannot compete with the high quality video games available.
- As the NFT space is still quite a novelty, and largely unregulated, the NFT gaming sector is a playground for scammers and cash-grab schemers. There is no shortage of NFT games being created to make money quickly, which are done hastily, and have little to zero quality finish.
- The value of in-game NFT items is highly dependent on the game’s popularity and the size of its active community.
