Earning money simply by playing games sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yet, the arrival of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games where players can collect cryptocurrency tokens just by playing has given us an exciting new way of playing and making money, so how do they work and in what ways can you earn crypto?
Axie Infinity
One of the best-known P2E games, Axie Infinity by Sky Mavis is all about breeding and training pet monsters that you then send in battle. It uses in-game currencies built on the Ethereum network and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to provide an economic structure that rewards players for improving their monsters and selling them.
This game was so popular that the average number of daily players rose to a maximum of 2.7 million at the height of its popularity. Since then, the falling cryptocurrency market and increased competition in the sector have caused the numbers to drop considerably but it remains one of the best examples of how the P2E model works.
Playing Axie Infinity proved to be such a reliable way of making money that it attracted players from developing countries who used it as their full-time job. However, this led to controversy as some people criticized the model that forces new players to grind through the game, making more money for others from whom they rent their pets.
Decentraland
Another of the major games you might have heard of, Decentraland uses two types of currency, known as MANA and LAND to give users the chance to make money. The main element of this game is virtual land, so you can try to make money by buying plots of land, developing them, and then selling them.
One of the biggest sales of virtual land to date came in 2021 when the crypto investment firm the Metaverse group reportedly spent $2.4 million to buy over 6,000 square feet of land on Fashion Street for hosting fashion shows. Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg are among the celebrities to have embraced the idea of digital land on Decentraland and rivals such as The Sandbox.
This game also offers the chance to create objects like clothing and accessories for avatars and sell them, in the same way, that buying Roblox outfits is a popular activity. Having a fully functioning economy is one of the keys to games like this, which are seen as a possible entry to the metaverse for people looking to create an interesting digital life while making money.
Crypto Miner
This next game is different from the others we’ve looked at, as the concept involves playing a mini-game for free to try and win some cryptocurrency. The Crypto Miner game has simple gameplay where players need to collect as many coins as possible in 60 seconds, but they need to be aware of hazards like bear markets and ransomware.
At the end of each month, the 50 players with the top scores all receive free crypto rewards. There’s no need to pay anything to take part and you can play as many times as you want each month, as your top score is always saved and used on that month’s leaderboard.
To play Crypto Miner, you just need to sign up as a user on the Bovada sportsbook and casino then make one or more cryptocurrency deposits to your new account. This only takes a moment to do, and you’ll be ready to play right away. Those monthly prizes add up to $,5000, with the person in the top spot picking up $1,000.
Gods Unchained
Here, we see another way of playing as the Gods Unchained game is classed as a digital trading card game. Created by Immutable, it is a fast and strategic game where players choose one of the six mythical Gods and build a deck of 30 cards to try and overcome the opponents they’re matched with, using good decisions and solid resource management.
The game has over 1,500 cards in it, which you can collect and trade with others. New elements are constantly added to Gods Unchained, keeping it fresh for existing players and attracting newcomers to try it. It’s free to play and you don’t need to invest in assets in the way Axie Infinity makes you buy or rent a pet.
You can make money in two separate ways on Gods Unchained. The first is by selling the cards you get as you move up through the levels and get increasingly useful cards. The other is by playing and winning enough matches each week to pick up rewards in the Gods Token Airdrop.
Summary
We can expect to see the play-to-earn category increase in size and diversity in the near future, as more games like these are released. These examples of popular crypto games show us how there are already several ways of playing and earning crypto, so this is an industry that’s made a solid start and still has a lot to offer.