Games are always fun to play, but what if you could earn crypto just by playing a game?
Sounds pretty great, right?
One of the newest things in the crypto world is play-to-earn games.
Play to earn is when games allow you to earn crypto tokens and other NFTs just for playing the game.
NFTs are unique assets for the game that you own, making it a good real-world use for NFTs. Sometimes NFTs can be bought and sold on the game’s marketplace allowing players to make additional income.
If you’re looking to earn some crypto by playing games online, then you’re in luck because today we are looking at the best crypto games in 2022.
Decentraland ($MANA)
Decentraland is a virtual world, similar to something like Second Life, where users buy virtual plots of land in the form of NFTs using the platform's currency called MANA.
The game launched in 2017, with its tokens starting at only about $.02 each, even hitting a low of just one penny shortly after launch, which meant a plot of land cost about $20. Now, in 2022, MANA is averaging around $2.50 each after it reached an all time high of $5.91, meaning now plots of land cost anywhere from $6,000 to $100,000!
Why would you even want to buy a virtual plot of land in this game?
Because, not only would you be hoping that your plot of land is an investment, (think of buying a plot of land for $20 and selling for $6,000), those who own the land have the power to change the world in the game and determine its future.
Another part of the game is designing your own personal avatar. Since this game is set in a 3D virtual world, you will have your own player. Using MANA, you can customize your own avatar by purchasing wearables in the game.
One of the coolest things about Decentraland is that any NFT you purchase or collect from the game can be sold or traded on marketplaces. By doing this, you can try to increase the amount of MANA you hold, or just convert it back into cash, and actually make money through the game. Of course, like anything in crypto, the risk is that the price of the token might get lower in the future, especially if newer, better Metaverse games come out in the future.
You also don't even have to play the game to take advantage of the increasing price of MANA. If you want to you can just
buy the token from an exchange and hold it as an investment. It's also one way to
invest in the metaverse.
Gods Unchained ($GODS)
Gods Unchained is a virtual trading card game where all the trading cards are NFTs, which can be bought and sold using the token called GODS.
The gameplay is similar to other card games like Magic: The Gathering, or the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game. Unlike the other games, this game is based on blockchain technology. By having each card be an NFT, it means that the player truly owns their card, just like a real life trading card. The game is PvP (player versus player) based, so you will be playing against other people who are also using their NFTs.
Gods Unchained itself is free-to-play and is also play-to-earn, which means that you will receive rewards in form of the game's token. GODS can then be used to buy other cards, or be transferred into cash. Using the play to earn model the players have more incentive to keep playing the game to earn more tokens and other valuable cards.
While the price of GODS has dropped since its release, the game is still going strong in the beginning of 2022. Gods Unchained has sold millions of cards since its launch in 2018 and continues to gain steam as crypto games are becoming more and more popular.
Like with MANA, you can purchase GODS directly through an exchange if you are just looking to invest in Gods Unchained instead of actually playing it.
The Sandbox ($SAND)
The Sandbox is an immersive Metaverse game, where you buy plots of land and then build your own experience or game on top of it using the native cryptocurrency, SAND.
The goal of the game is to buy a plot of land in the form of an NFT called LAND. There are other NFT ASSETs in the game too, so that you can customize your avatar or LAND.
Once you have a plot of LAND you start creating on your virtual real estate. You do this with a voxel editor. Voxels are cubes that you can use to design in 3D space, similar to Minecraft blocks. Afterwards, you use the Game Maker tools, which will allow you to build 3D games.
Any ASSETs you create can be uploaded to The Sandbox marketplace and then be bought and sold using SAND.
Having SAND is good for many reasons including creating ASSETs, buying and selling ASSETs, buying more LAND, and it allows you to vote to help improve The Sandbox game. SAND is also limited to only 3 billion tokens making it scarce, and possibly a good investment if the game gets super popular.
Silks ($SLK)
Silks is a game where you can buy, breed, and race NFT horses, using the token SLK.
By playing the game you will earn all sorts of NFTs, as well as another in-game token called STT. STT (Silks Transaction Token) is used to buy and sell NFTs in the game and given as a reward whenever you win races or breed your horse. STT can then be traded for SLK.
The cool thing about the horses in Silks is that they also have a link to real world horses! Each NFT has an actual horse attached to it. If the horse wins in real life then you can earn STT. Pretty interesting!
There are other collectibles in the game too like land, stables, and avatars. Of course, these are all buyable and sellable as NFTs.
Silks is the one of the only crypto games right now that’s bridging the gap between the Metaverse and real life.
Axie Infinity ($AXS)
Axie Infinity is a crypto game where you can collect, battle, raise, and build a digital kingdom for your pets known as Axies, which come in the form of an NFT that can be bought and sold using a token called AXS (Axie Infinity Shards).
Axie Infinity is one of the more popular cryptocurrency games out there right now. That’s because it got a lot of inspiration from a world favorite, Pokemon. That’s right, we’re one step closer to Pokemon in the metaverse!
You earn crypto by playing the game in adventure mode or by battling with your Axies PvP style.
One of the tokens is called Smooth Love Potion (SLP) and it can be used to pay the breeding fees in the game, but you can also trade it on exchanges.
The other token that you can earn was mentioned above, AXS. This crypto can be used to buy and sell your NFT Axies on the marketplace. AXS is also traded on some major exchanges.
The downside to this game is that you need at least three Axies to start playing. Since Axies cost a certain amount of AXS, you will need to pay to start playing the game. The cost of entry is dependent on the current price of AXS. At one point an Axie could cost $307 at the cheapest. However, in the beginning of 2022, now the lower prices are around $20.
Even though the cost of starting the game is quite high, you may be able to earn even more just by playing the game with this crypto game’s play to earn model.
Summary
Decentraland is a 3D virtual world where you can buy plots of land and customize your avatar using the in-game currency called MANA. The game itself has gotten increasingly popular over the past few years causing the price of MANA to drastically increase and is one of the frontrunners in the Metaverse.
Gods Unchained is an online trading card game using blockchain and crypto to create NFTs of trading cards that can be bought and sold using the native token called GODs. By winning against other players you will earn more cards which can be traded or sold for more tokens. Skilled players can definitely make an income by winning cards.
The Sandbox is a virtual Metaverse world where you buy NFT plots of LAND and create ASSETs on them, which can be bought and sold for the crypto called SAND. You create using voxels, 3D blocks similar to Minecraft.
Silks, a game that lets you buy, breed, and race NFT horses that are linked to real world counterparts by using the token called SLK. By winning races or breeding you can earn crypto by playing. If your NFT horse wins in real life, you get tokens too!
Axie Infinity is a Pokemon inspired adventure game where you collect, battle, and breed pets called Axies, as well as build a kingdom for them. The game uses AXS and SLP tokens to purchase the pets and other assets for their Axies.
Now that you know all about the best crypto games in 2022, check out other
ways to earn crypto for free.
