Play-to-earn. Earning crypto by playing games

In my younger years, the tamagotchi was incredibly well-known. Everyone had one of those devices where you had a digital pet that you could feed, play with, give medicine if the Tamagotchi was sick, clean up the living space, punish for bad behavior, etc. This same concept was also applied to the blockchain, the cryptokitties. Players can buy, collect, breed and sell these virtual cats.

The next development is earn-to-play crypto games. What is this and what examples are there of these games?

What are crypto games?

One of the first computer games dates back to the early 1970s. That game was called Pong. The purpose of the game? To pass a ball to the other person. If we look deeper, we actually see a group of pixels playing a ball over to another. The game is not very complicated either (but it is addictive). Since Pong, the gaming world has gone through an evolution of about 50 years. Crypto games are one of the latest groundbreaking developments. That's because these games are built on the blockchain.

As mentioned, crypto games are created on the blockchain. They therefore operate within the crypto network. In these crypto games, there is a lot of use of NFTs that can be used for certain assets in a game. NFTs stands for Non Fungible Tokens and NFTs are tokens that are unique, namely non fungible. For example, bitcoin is fungible because it can change hands often.

You can collect and sell these NFTs in a crypto game. But they can also be used as a weapon or tool in a game. For example, think of the game Runescape. Also in that game you have all kinds of tools, weapons, stuff etc. that you can collect and sell. In a crypto game, these items are in the form of an NFT whereas in Runescape they are not.

What distinguishes a crypto game from the already existing games? Besides the fact that players can earn crypto, these crypto games offer players more options. The crypto games are very community driven. This allows you as a player to add new game elements and as a holder of NFTs in the game, you also have a say in the development of the game itself.

The crypto games are also often built as open source and can be combined with other games. In doing so, for example, you can have Pokémon running around in Fortnite and you actually have two games in one. This makes it more fun! But you can also, for example, combine Call of Duty with Super Mario Brothers. Sounds crazy, but with crypto games, combining games is already possible. The big difference with for example Runescape or Fortnite, is that the stuff you obtain in a crypto game (an NFT) is really yours. That then comes into your possession. You can use this NFT to store and sell items outside the game on an exchange.

Pong

Fortnite

Runescape (old version)

What is a play to earn game?

In short, you play a game and thereby earn certain value.

You can generate earnings in two ways: you can collect and trade NFTs, and play games and perform tasks that allow you to earn or win tokens.

• Playing games

Each game often requires you to complete tasks, solve tasks, fight against other players, bring in a harvest, help others, find tokens in a magical forest, etc. There are many types of games to consider. A well-known example of a crypto game is Axie Infinity. In Axie Infinity, you fight with monsters. Players can earn crypto by just playing the game and fighting monsters.

• Trade in NFTs

Almost all crypto games put NFTs at the center of the game or they play a major role. Some NFTs can be collect and sold. Some NFTs also have a real function in the game. These NFTs can give certain powers, is an important tool to build, get certain skills, etc. These crypto games often have their own market where these NFTs can be bought or sold. But you don't have to. You can bring these NFTs outside the game as well and sell them on an exchange like Opensea.

Characteristics of the best play-to-earn games?

Whenever a crypto game is a good game depends on a number of factors:

A game where a player has multiple opportunities to earn crypto:

Blockchain games, for example, consist of several worlds in themselves where you can create value and earn crypto. The more opportunities there are in a game and the more variety there is, the more attractive a game becomes. This, in itself, also applies to games outside the crypto world. A game with many possibilities and options makes people keep playing the game. Think for example of Fortnite and Runescape. In Runescape, for example, you can do all kinds of quests to grow your character stronger.

An active community: a loyal ''fan base'' who enjoy the game and are also enthusiastic is incredibly important. A large community can not only promote the game, but also take it to the next level. This can be done through ideas and improvements. The people who play the game know best where changes can be made or certain areas can be improved. The more people that play the game, the more successful a game can become. So it all starts with an active community. Often, these types of games have a Discord page where people can exchange thoughts and have discussions with each other.

The developers: the team behind a crypto game is the driving force behind the development of a game. It is important to know who these people are. What is their resume and what is their knowledge about blockchain? These are important information to know if you want to invest in a crypto game. In addition, the developers' plan should be clear and straightforward. What does the team want to achieve? How does the team want to achieve it? Is security guaranteed? A clear plan of where the team wants to go is a good sign.

Which network: which blockchain network is the game built on? On Ethereum or maybe on the Binance smart chain? The Binance smart chain is increasingly being used to launch crypto games. Not only crypto games, but also new cryptocurrencies are launched on the Binance smart chain. The reason why the Binance smart chain is used is because the gasfees (costs) are a lot lower than on Ethereum. The cost on Ethereum is very high at the moment. But Ethereum uses smart contracts that allow you to launch crypto games fairly easy. The downside of the Binance smart chain is that a lot of malicious projects are launched on it. So you have to go through all those projects to see which one is legitimate or not. It therefore takes a lot of time and effort to find the right project. 

It is also important to note that the world of crypto games is fairly young. These games are therefore not yet fully developed. 

A few well-known crypto games

• Axie Infinity: This game is probably the most well-known crypto game at the moment. Axie Infinity is a true NFT game. This game was released in 2018. A few years later, in June 2021, a whopping $40 million worth of NFTs belonging to the game was sold. From then on, the game became increasingly popular.
• The game is played with Axies. These are characters within the game that are, at their core, just NFTs. So you can buy, sell, collect, etc. these Axies. But the fun part is that you can also use Axies in battles with others.

• The Six Dragons: This is also a crypto game. In this game, you can buy, sell and collect NFT's. It is an open world role playing game. You can roam the lands and collect stuff (NFTs) and fight monsters. This game looks a lot like Skyrim, but on blockchain. Really cool! 

• Decentraland: Decentraland is a game built on the Ethereum network. Players can buy a piece of land and develop this land as they see fit. For example, players can build a building on it, etc. Players can also create an event that players can go to. This in turn allows players to earn.

• Zed run: This is a very fun crypto game. In this game you can manage an NFT horse and participate in horse races. The winner of a race gets a reward. You can earn money by winning races. You can also sell these horses and buy better horses. You can also use the horses to breed new horses so you will get new NFT horses. These can be traded on an (in-game) marketplace.