Forget this coin and that coin. Video games are the most exciting things to come out of blockchain technology. These digital distractions offer players a way to earn money and have fun at the same time. Of course, much like cryptocurrencies and the technology they’re built on, blockchain games are still in their infancy and have plenty of room to grow.

There are, however, a couple that already stand out. Here are the best blockchain games on the market right now.

Upland

Upland is built on top of the EOS blockchain. The game is all about holding virtual property based on real-life locations and addresses, using UPX currency (pronounced UP-EX) to make in-game purchases. The more property you own, the more UPX you can make. It’s as simple as that. Still in beta, the game currently only lets you play landlord in New York City and Fresno, California but promises more to come in 2021.

Once you sign up, you get a bonus of 4,500 UPX, and then you can go from there. You choose your Block Explorer (or BE, which is like an avatar of sorts) and then your BE moves randomly and discovers properties for you. The properties are color-coded as follows:

• Light-blue colored addresses are already owned;
• Dark-green colored addresses are owned but up for sale;
• Light-green colored addresses are not owned and up for sale; and
• Grey colored addresses aren’t owned.

You’re awarded various bonuses for daily logins and the like, and you can obviously buy more UPX with real money. From there it’s just a matter of managing your properties, building your empire and earning money while doing it.

Upland is available on internet browsers and through the Google Play iOS App stores.

Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds works on the WAX blockchain and has quickly become the second most-popular blockchain game on the market with over 9,000 users due to its DeFi and NFT-based nature. The game uses the currency Trilium for all in-game trading and as the reserve currency of its metaverse.

The draw of these new blockchain games has always been the promise that you can make real, tangible money playing them. Alien Worlds is a game that showcases this potential quite nicely. Players can earn Trilium through multiple means such as exploring, staking and holding land, which is finite in this world (there are 3,343 land NFTs available for purchase, and that’s it). Players can also buy, sell and trade various items they earn. Holding land is probably the most lucrative way to earn Trilium in Alien Worlds, but it is certainly not easy money. Players constantly attempt to wrest land and planets from each other.

With a variety of units and weapons users can deploy, the game offers quite a bit of depth, and we’re very excited to watch the future of Alien Worlds unfold.

Alien Worlds is available on PC through any capable internet browser.

Splinterlands

Splinterlands is a digital trading card game built on the HIVE blockchain. As you probably guessed, your primary path to earning in the game is through trading cards you earn by opening packs and other means. However, there are also a few other ways to make money through this game. And uniquely, Splinterlands is a blockchain-based game you can even play in person with physical cards.

The game was originally built on the Steem blockchain but has since shifted to HIVE.

Splinterlands is not free to play. You need to dish out $10, or an equivalent amount in cryptocurrencies, for a starter pack. After that it is up to you to earn more cards and in-game currency by winning matches, buying land that you’ll later be able to sell, achieving season ranks, completing daily quests, participating in free tournaments or even through renting your cards to other players.

Splinterlands shows a lot of promise, and with decent art and a large player base supporting it, we can’t wait to see what’s in the cards for this game.

Splinterlands is available on any capable internet browser (including mobile).

Galaxy Blocks

Galaxy Blocks is a game on the ThunderCore blockchain, and the picture above describes it better than 1,000 words. .It’s Tetris on the blockchain.

OK, there are some differences. Blocks don’t fall in Galaxy Blocks. They stay where you place them, and game play goes as follows:

You start a game with three random blocks and a time limit. Your task is to score as many points as possible by chaining lines, much like you do in Tetris. Once you use up your initial three blocks, another random three blocks spawn simultaneously. , You don’t get to plan your plays like you do in the more modern iterations of Tetris, but like the treasured classic, you can connect columns (vertically) as well as rows, which are horizontal. There are also different bonuses for connecting multiple rows at the same time or for chaining rows quickly one after the other.

You earn TT (ThunderCore currency) by participating in tournaments and one-on-one games.

Galaxy Blocks is available through the ThunderCore hub, which you can find in the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store.

Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired, NFT-based game built on the Ethereum blockchain. Axie Infinity is the No. 1 game on the ETH blockchain and with good reason. There’s a lot to love, from the cute Axie designs to the many ways you can earn money by simply playing the game.

It is still in early access, mind you, but the game shows immense promise, and its developers are putting a lot of effort into improving various aspects of it.

So, what’s it all about? Much like Pokémon, Axie Infinity is mainly about battling with your Axies. However, battling won’t be your main source of income in this game. The main way to make money is through breeding and selling your Axies, similar to the other popular NFT collection game, CryptoKitties. You can also own land and virtual assets/items to enhance the virtual kingdom where your pets live.

Where Axie Infinity truly shines is in its supportive community, which has helped build this game into what it is today. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that without the support of its players, the game wouldn’t exist as it does.

On the Flipside

• Blockchain games are still in their infancy. User experience is often still not phenomenal, but game makers are constantly working on improvements.
• Only a few games that run on blockchain technology are ready for real-world use. Scalability still poses a problem, but this should be resolved in the near future.