The best Web3 games feature an eclectic mix of styles and genres, including monster-breeding simulators, card-fighting games, cargo simulators, and epic RPG adventures.
They allow players to own portions of a game, thanks to the power of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies’ sophistication. Most of these games feature an explicit “play-to-earn” element, in which players can earn rewards as the game progresses through completing levels, participating in competitions, or just dedicating time to the game.
Some of these blockchain games have their own tokens in order to build a remunerated economy for their players, and others provide NFTs as rewards. These assets can then be sold for fiat currency, giving players an opportunity to earn real money, unlike the traditional gaming industry, which has always been about making money for developers and publishers.
So, let’s look at some of the top Web3 games!
Alien Worlds – Social Metaverse
In the last 30 days, Alien Worlds has recorded the most amount of unique active wallets (UAWs) at almost 750k, according to DappRadar. Available on Ethereum as well as the BSC blockchain, the project’s strength can be attributed to Wax-based Alien Worlds, which “managed to grow its user base by an impressive 25% to emerge as the most-played game of all, with 212,000 UAWs.”
This NFT game allows players to play with unique digital items while exploring a vast Metaverse where players compete for scarce resources on different planets. The game has four key pillars, viz. NFTs tools, Trillium (TLM tokens), Land, and Planet DAOs to boost its overall functionalities.
TLM is the in-game currency that can be used between BSC, WAX, and Ethereum via cross-chain bridges. Players can also stake their TLM tokens to participate in weekly elections through Planet DAOs. TLM is currently worth $0.016, down 99.8% from its all-time high (ATH) hit in April 2021.
The game has lands for players to purchase in the form of NFTs or sublet the same for commissions. Different land sections have different resources and rewards, the latter is critical to the game’s progression for the players. Players can also trade NFT game cards for mining, fighting, and missions.
Axie Infinity – Pokemon-Inspired Virtual Pet Game
This digital pet game allows players to breed, train, and battle their Axie characters. The game garnered huge interest in 2021 thanks to its game economy that incentivizes player engagement and community building. At the time, Axie Infinity was collecting multi-million dollars in fees, with its cumulative revenue since launch reaching $1.3 bln — 3rd highest in the crypto industry.
While the project hype has deflated tremendously since then, more than 110k UAW are still interacting with the dApp’s smart contracts. This puts Axie Infinity among the top 10 blockchain games based on UAW in the past month, according to Dapp Radar.
The game’s native token, AXS, is used to power the game economy, which is tradeable on secondary markets. Currently trading at $6.9, the governance token is down nearly 96% from its ATH. Meanwhile, the gameplay utility token Smooth Love Potion (SLP), which is earned by playing the game and used to pay to raise Axies, is worth $0.0025 and down 99.4% from its peak.
The game mechanics of Axie Infinity are designed to be simple and easy to understand. The player controls a team of three Axies NFTs, which are small creatures that can be used in battle. Players can earn rewards in the form of SLP cryptocurrency for playing the game and winning matches.
Axie Infinity is an exciting game that helped the people in the Philippines earn income during the tough times of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. In 3Q22, the team announced accessories for Axies, a new mini-game that employs Land NFTs Axie Infinity Raylights, and additional features for the upcoming Land alpha game.
Splinterlands – Fantasy Battle Card Game
Splinterlands, which became the most-played game in 2021 with over 350,000 daily UAW, is still going strong with 169,000 daily unique active wallets (dUAWs) playing the game in the month of November, as per DappRadar report.
The game’s player base increased by 1,406%, and transactions jumped by 448%, reaching 1.65 million transactions in Q3 of 2022. This year, the game also achieved the milestone of 3 billion battles played since its launch.
Recently, Splinterlands announced its newest NFT project, Runi, which will allow users to have their first opportunity to acquire and play with a one-of-a-kind NFT for use within the game. and on the Ethereum blockchain. NFT holders will be able to connect their Ethereum wallet within Splinterlands in order to stake their Runi.
With the mint of the new Runi NFTs, Splinterlands CEO Jesse “Aggroed” Reich aims to “provide new and exciting user experiences while expanding the visibility of Splinterlands onto the Ethereum chain.” Meanwhile, the project has laid off 45% of its staff to protect itself from the onslaught of the bear market.
Splinterlands is a digital card game that uses blockchain technology to create a unique and immutable game economy. The game features a unique card battling system that pits teams of monsters against each other in fast-paced, strategic battles.
It has quickly become one of the most popular blockchain games in the world, with a vibrant community of players and a growing ecosystem of support services. The game is constantly evolving and expanding, with new features and content being added on a regular basis.
Splintershards (SPS) and Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) are two types of in-game currencies that players can earn by winning matches and completing quests and other activities. SPS is currently trading at $0.035, 97% off its peak, while DEC is down 96% from its peak to now be worth $0.0007, as per CoinGecko.
The Sandbox – A Metaverse Game
With one of the highest social scores at 3,219, The Sandbox leads the virtual reality game category, according to Playtoearn.net. Social Score is a metric that reflects which game has captured more interest in social media.
As per the website, games with a higher Social Score tend to have a stronger player base. The Sandbox team, meanwhile, has reported 39,000 daily users and 4.1 million total wallets.
The Sandbox is a Web3 game that allows players to create, own, and trade virtual assets in a decentralized gaming economy. Like Minecraft and Roblox, this game utilizes blockchain technology to provide users the ownership of in-game assets as NFTs and the ability to trade virtual land on marketplaces such as OpenSea. The game also has an auction system that allows players to auction off their in-game items represented as NFTs for other players to purchase.
Its native digital currency, SAND, is a utility token that is used to purchase in-game assets and services. The token can also be staked to earn rewards from the game’s economy. It is an ERC-20 token with a total supply of 3 billion and a circulating supply of 1.56 billion. The token is currently trading at $0.60, 93% off its peak.
Most recently, the metaverse game kicked off its LAND sale in collaboration with popular brands like Tony Hawk, Snoop Dog, and Playboy, among others. In this sale, the project is auctioning 1,967 LANDs via a blind ballot system out of the total supply of 166,464 LANDs currently valued at 1.119 Eth a piece.
Not long ago, OliveX, the digital fitness company that developed Dustland, also collaborated with The Sandbox to develop the fitness Metaverse.
Gods Unchained – Digital Trading Card Game
Created by an Australian company, Fuel Games, Gods Unchained is a AAA strategy trading card game that uses the Ethereum blockchain. With every aspect of the game, from the cards to the gameplay, stored on the blockchain, players can be sure that the game is fair and that their cards are unique as the game is completely transparent and tamper-proof.
Built on the gas-free L2 Immutable X, the game allows users to either play against the computer, against other players online who are automatically selected, or directly challenge their friends to a battle.
A player is given 70 free cards that make up the Welcome Set, but they can earn more card packs to build up decks by playing Ranked or Constructed games and level up through Weekend Ranked tournaments, purchasing expansion packs which are only available for a limited time, and trading with other players.
The governance token, GODS, is used to mint rare cards through NFT crafting at the Forge and is an integral part of the P2E concept of the game, providing players with incentives and more ways to earn in the game. As of writing, GODS is trading 97.4% below its ATH at $0.23.
Backed by the likes of Coinbase, the game has a strong community that continues to grow steadily. During the bear market of 2022, the game recorded a drop in its activity with transaction volume, and UAW recorded between 10k to 40k and 1k to 3k, respectively, in October.
Sorare – Fantasy Football
The NFT trading card game Sorare recently had a big win as it won a battle against the French National Gambling Authority (ANJ) and will no longer be classified in the category of gambling. Sorare also onboarded Argentines Football legend Lionel Messi, as an investor and brand ambassador with an aim to set new standards for how fans connect with clubs and players.
In Sep 2021, the project raised $680 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank’s vision fund team. The company’s latest valuation is $4.3 billion.
Sorare features top football clubs worldwide and allows players to trade, collect, and manage virtual football cards. It uses blockchain technology to power its in-game economy. Sorare (SOR) is an NFT collection with 17,158 Sorare owners, owning a total supply of 335,949 tokens. The Sports NFT game has a Social Score of 1,359.
The Sorare team has already secured the rights to European giants like Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Juventus, as well as the MLS, Korean League, and Japanese League.
Decentraland – A Virtual World
Decentraland is yet another virtual world where players can buy, build, and monetize 3D experiences. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, this virtual reality game has a social score of 1,840. In October, DappRadar noted that Decentraland has 650 daily UAW.
The game uses blockchain technology to give players true ownership of their virtual creations, which they can monetize through the use of NFTs. These NFTs can be used to purchase land, objects, and services within the game world.
The game mechanics of Decentraland are based on three core concepts: ownership, scarcity, and immutability. These concepts are what allow the game to be played in a completely decentralized way.
MANA is the native token of the game that is used to purchase in-game items and land. The token is also used to access certain features in the game, such as the Decentraland Marketplace. It is currently trading at $0.420, down 93% from its peak in Nov. 2021.
LAND is another currency in the game that is used to purchase parcels of virtual land, which are limited in number. Landowners can develop their land however they wish and earn income from renting out their land or selling it to other players. Players can also earn income by participating in Decentraland’s virtual economy, such as by selling goods and services or by developing and selling virtual real estate.
Illuvium – World Exploration, NFT Creature Collector
Illuvium is a decentralized gaming studio, and Illuvium is their first game which is a blockchain-based AAA gaming title offering high-fidelity graphics and interesting gameplay. In Illuvium, players can explore a virtual world, battle other players, and collect a variety of different NFTs.
Built on the Ethereum network, the decentralized NFT collection and auto battler game is integrated with the hyper-scalable ImmutableX layer-two solution. ImmutableX allows Illuvium players access to zero gas fees for minting or exchanging assets, as well as sub-second transaction times while keeping user-maintained custody.
The game economy of the Web3 game Illuvium is designed to be player-driven and open-ended. There are no predetermined win conditions or objectives, and players are free to pursue their own goals and strategies.
ILV, the governance token with a maximum supply of 10 million, is trading at $42.03 as of writing, and much like the rest of the tokens on this list, ILV is also down about 98%. Token holders can also stake it in the protocols to drive in-game revenues.
There is also an in-game currency called sILV, which is a Synthetic ILV token used for enhancements, skins, and emotes. It can be earned by staking ILV tokens.
Benji Bananas – Adventure Game
This online game is created by Animoca Brands, the VC firm which has been a supporter of Axie Infinity and counts OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, and Star Atlas, among others, in its portfolio.
Benji Bananas has been around for years, but a blockchain-enabled element was recently added to it. With this, it became one of the most played games in the Web3 industry.
This is a pretty simple and fun mobile game where players reap the rewards in PRIMATE token, which is worth $0.014 currently, 92% less than what it was earlier this year.
To enjoy the P2E model within Benji Bananas, you must own a Benji Bananas Membership Pass NFT. Besides being able to earn PRIMATE tokens, NFT holders also get to swap those tokens for ApeCoin.
This free-to-play mobile game, which supports Ethereum and Polygon chains, has had over 50 million downloads. In the game, you collect bananas by making Benji the monkey and his friends leap from vine to vine in order to get upgrades, specials, and power-ups.
Step App – Fitness Finance
Rewards for physical exercise have move-to-earn projects continuing to gain popularity and flourish even in the bear market. Step App is a relatively new move-to-earn Metaverse project. It is the first dapp on Step Protocol that combines gamification, Augmented Reality (AR), and economic incentives to attract first-time users into the Metaverse. On December 1st, the Step App was officially launched on iOS and Android.
The project has roped in Usain Bolt, one of the greatest sprinters of all time, as the face of the brand, and more than 45 million people have already pre-registered for the project, which constitutes a significant achievement.
To get started, you have to first purchase in-game sneakers. The project also has a governance token FITFI (Fitness Finance), which has a maximum supply of 5 billion and is trading at $0.036, down 95% from ATH.
Conclusion
Blockchain-based games have the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry, and the best NFT game design will be at the forefront of this revolution. As we saw here, NFT games are not only fun but also very profitable. But the best NFT game is one that integrates traditional gaming design while taking advantage of the unique properties of blockchain technology to create a gaming experience that is truly original and innovative.
With the advent of NFT-powered games, blockchain technology is changing the world of gaming. Players are able to own in-game assets such as weapons, digital accessories, characters, and virtual lands, as well as exchange in-game assets such as skins for monetary rewards. Cryptocurrencies typically play an expanded role in a game economy by making it easier to buy in-game items and other assets and providing real-world value.
