The year 2022 marked the beginning of the end of the days of games being just for fun. Whether you are a gamer or not, you’ve probably heard about new gaming projects (Web3 Games) offering token sales and NFTs.
Thousands have made their fortunes from it, and its stories are as plentiful as its legends.
Even if you haven’t heard about it, here is a glimmer of what it is.
Web3 Gaming
Web3 gaming offers a fair, regulated marketplace ideally suited to the gaming industry, providing players with the opportunity to own in-game assets and engage in gameplay. Gaming NFT distinctively stores these assets.
Web3 gaming is revolutionizing the crypto industry, with 49% of the blockchain usage coming from the gaming industry.
According to DappRadar, trading volumes of gaming NFTs exceeded $4.5 billion in 2021, making up 20% of all NFT sales.
It is now possible to have different gaming experiences thanks to the metaverse merging both the physical and virtual worlds, resulting in an entirely new gaming paradigm being embraced by an increasing number of people.
Play-to-earn (P2E) and other online economies offer players rewards such as crypto tokens and non-fungible tokens with real-world value for their efforts.
A number of P2E platforms, such as Axie Infinity and Decentralized, have contributed significantly to the growth of the NFT industry. They have sparked a gaming revolution that’s steadily gathering momentum.
Now let’s take a closer look at 5 Web3 games with a significant impact in 2022.
Below is a list of games we picked based on the following criteria.
- Playability and robustness
- In-game economy
- Theme
- Model of reward-based incentives
5 Popular Web3 Games
#1 – Silks
Silks took the top spot for the best play-to-earn game of 2022. Here’s why.
Silks provide an innovative derivative gaming environment for users to play and earn rewards, bringing thoroughbred racing to the metaverse.
In this rich metaverse, equestrian performance takes Web 3.0 to a whole new level via mixed-reality technology infused with gamification.
After Genesis Silks Avatars were released in April, it gained immense popularity among NFT enthusiasts, including investors such as:
- CryptoPunks
- Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)
- CloneX
It has only taken Silks Genesis Avatars less than three months to become the 15th most popular All-Time Sports NFT project on the Ethereum blockchain and qualified to be listed on Nansen.ai Gaming 50 Index, regarded as the premier NFT index.
Distinctive Feature
This game’s prominent feature that stands out is Silk Horses, derivative NFTs designed to keep track of the lineage, the progress of training, results of real racing horses, and award holders reward if they perform well. There is a real-world connection since Silks partnered with Circle 8 Ranch in Kentucky, where thoroughbred horses are trained.
A Real-World Touch
Horses in the metaverse will also have to be housed and maintained, just as thoroughbreds do in the real world. Avatars, stables, and land are other in-game assets that will be used here. It is even possible to play a part in the future direction and growth of the Silks ecosystem as the platform uses real-time events to gather information.
Recent Update
The Silks metaverse horse racing platform was also recently featured in Cointelegraph after receiving $2 million in seed funding from crypto venture capitalists.
#2 – Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity promised something different – developed by the Vietnamese company Sky Mavis, it reached the $1 billion mark on August 8, 2021, making it the first Ethereum-based NFT game to do so. Moreover, this game claims to have more than one million active users.
It is a browser-based game that is free to play, but you have to purchase a team of 3 Axies to play. When the game was at its peak, the Axies of the lowest tier cost around $350 each, making it an expensive game at one point.
According to DappRadar, Axie Infinity has continued to lead its NFT rankings based on its data. With $563.6 million in sales in the past 30 days, Axie Infinity ranks above NBA TopShot, Splinterlands, plus WAX Blockchain’s “Farmers’ World.”
Distinctive Feature
Pokemon’s influence can be seen in Axie Infinity’s gameplay, allowing you to build teams of creatures called Axies that can be used in Arena and Adventure modes to combat other players.
As an NFT, each Axie is unique in terms of its body parts, skills they possess, and not to mention its rarity. Typically, they sell for between $100 and $1000.
The game features 2 cryptocurrencies, one based on Axie Infinity Token (AXS) and the second named Smooth Love Potion (SLP). As you progress in the PVP leaderboard of the game, you can earn AXS and SLP by battling axies in adventure mode.
To breed an Axie, you must have both tokens since it is a process that can only be completed if the two tokens already exist.
It is even possible to lease out Axie monsters to other players in the game.
#3 – Skyweaver
The advent of blockchain-based trading card games brings together trading cards and NFTs in a whole new way. Skyweaver is a trading card game featuring online features that allow players to earn money as they play.
Using Web3 technology, it features advanced strategic gameplay. You’ll love this one if you like card games.
The cards themselves are NFTs and allow players to engage in turn-based combat against other players. Each Skyweaver card is tokenized into NFTs to facilitate higher levels of transparency and decentralization. They can be owned, traded, and gifted digitally in a way that never loses track of their own history.
The game’s goal is to destroy the opponent’s hero using the entire cards deck.
As heroes level up, they gain special abilities based on prisms like wisdom, intellect, agility, strength, and heart. In some heroes, two prisms are combined, while in others, only one prism is involved.
The game’s lower entry barrier to initial capital is a vital feature of the game. A majority of NFT games are unaffordable for average gamers because of their high prices; however, Skyweaver allows you to unlock around 500 base cards for free.
#4 – Plant vs. Undead
Plant vs. Undead utilizes web3 technology, which makes it pretty versatile, offering a similar gameplay experience as Plants vs. Zombies. As you play the farm mode, you gain light energy, resulting in PVU tokens.
In Plant vs. Undead, if you control assets through NFTs (Non-fungible tokens), it is possible that a player can earn money.
With Plants vs. Undead, developers hope to unleash a new generation of games appealing to both conventional and crypto gamers. To accomplish this, the game offers a play-to-earn system that anyone can access, as long as the player owns a digital device connected to the internet.
The game offers you the opportunity to become a farmer, after which you will be able to collect and grow seeds, increase your level, earn rewards, and much more. A farmer starts the game with 1 Mother tree and 6 simple non-NFT plants, all of which are useful during the course of the game.
Once you reach new levels and earn tokens, seeds become available for purchase, which can be grown into plants to enhance your gaming strategy.
The Plant vs. Undead Token is valued at (US$ 0.0163462), an extremely valuable token with a high return for long-term play.
#5 – Gods Unchained
Gods Unchained has the distinction of being an actual free-to-play game with a money-making feature. Unlike most others, this one does not require an upfront investment.
It was developed by the same team responsible for Immutable X, the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution. In other words, the game is Ethereum-based using Immutable X; peer-to-peer transactions can be done free of charge at a rate of 9,000 transactions per second.
The game is also an excellent choice for true gamers since it values natural talent as well as allows you to advance at your own pace.
As opposed to the majority of other P2E games, you’ll need a lot more than luck to make money in this game. Gods Unchained can be a lucrative game if you are a strategic player.
Hi, my name is Brandan Henry, and I’m an NFT, Blockchain, and Research enthusiast, as well as a content writer for NFT-onomics. I’m deeply passionate about exploring the potential of NFTs and blockchain technology. My mission is to educate people on the capabilities of non-fungible tokens and their applications. I stay up-to-date with the latest NFT news and trends, and as a full-time writer, I excel at generating creative, out-of-the-box ideas surrounding NFTs.