The natural synergy between electronic games and Web3 is easily visible to the untrained eye. Both are inherently digital, take advantage of digital assets and currencies, and have implicit/explicit aspects of gamification built in. The next-generation games are built on the innovative foundation of blockchain technology, enabling players to achieve ownership of in-game assets, a feature facilitated via fungible and non-fungible tokens. Ethereum is one of the most significant breakthroughs in blockchain technology with its high-security applications and strong developer base. Web3 games enable the tokenization of player items obtained by completing a mission, for instance, and sold for real money.
Most Web3 games are developed on the Ethereum blockchain, offering players a more immersive and transparent experience. While most blockchain games use Ethereum’s Mainnet, many have adopted Ethereum-compatible scaling networks. Polygon remains the top choice, followed by Solana, Avalanche, and Arbitrum. To play blockchain games, you’ll need to have some cryptocurrency; in an exchange, you can buy Ethereum with bank transfer, credit or debit card, and e-wallet. In what follows, we’ll dive deeper into the most popular blockchain games on Ethereum you can play and earn rewards.
Sorare
Sorare is a fantasy sports game in which players use cards based on the Ethereum cryptocurrency to buy, sell, trade, and manage virtual teams. There are three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. You can play Sorare in your online browser or download the app – you can enter tournaments, trade players, and compete for prizes worth thousands. By competing against other players, you can score points, which are calculated using a matrix that uses third-party data from Opta, a British sports analytics company. Some of the player cards are digital collectibles, while others are NFTs.
NFTs add a new dimension to Sorare, as they can be exchanged outside the platform on marketplaces like OpenSea, so if you have a card that’s in high demand, you can make a lot of money. The blockchain game is free to play, but if you want to improve your performance and skills, you should start trading. If a player is punished with a red card or scores a goal in real life, you’ll lose points in the game, too. Attention must be paid to the fact that luck is an important factor because a top player can be benched, so the team won’t perform at a high enough level.
Illuvium
If you want to take up the adventure of a lifetime, play Illuvium, an open-world game developed by Unreal Engine 4. Illuvium leverages the Immutable X blockchain and its Layer-2 scaling technology. Once you’ve brought your team together, you can join the fray and challenge opponents in the Autobattler. You can search for in-game items and creatures (Illuvials) that have unique stats, classes, and affinities. Capture them all and then store them in the Shards, gathered in the Overworld. Illuvial NFTs, which depict battle items, skins, collectibles, etc., can be obtained and traded on OpenSea or IlluviDex, its associated marketplace.
Decentraland
Decentraland is a 3D virtual platform built on the Ethereum blockchain where users can create and monetize content. Gamers and artists alike can grow and evolve in the thriving community. Decentraland works as a marketplace, so players can buy and sell virtual land (LAND) represented by NFTs using the ecosystem’s native token MANA. You can navigate the plots of land, build virtual stores or art galleries, and generate value by selling parcels and estates of LAND. MANA, an ERC-20 token, can be used to acquire avatars, wearables, names, and so forth. It can be purchased from various exchanges and swap services.
Decentraland can host applications, games, and interactive 3D scenes. You can socialize, play games, swap collectibles, and even listen to music. Unlike other Web3 games, it’s entirely owned by its users via a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), with token holders making the final decisions. Through voting, the collective can change lists of banned names, issue grants, and modify points of interest. Decentraland is one-of-a-kind because it enables communication and interaction between users and grants ownership of land in the metaverse. The price of the MANA tokens depends on the demand and its maximum supply.
Alien Worlds
Alien Worlds is a sci-fi fantasy crypto game where you raise and battle horrendous creatures. The universe is made up of six worlds, each with 500 land plots owned and represented by an NFT. Players can embark on dangerous missions to earn in-game resources and harvest the game’s native token, Trillium, so Alien Worlds has a decentralized finance element to it, as you can advance by staking or voting in the Planet DAOs.
By mining in the Alien Worlds, you’re rewarded with in-game currency or NFT packs. More Planets can be created without endangering existing Planets.
CryptoKitties
Last but certainly not least, CryptoKitties was the first game developed on the Ethereum blockchain – it’s focused on trading, collecting, and breeding NFT cats. Each CryptoKittie is special and owned by the user; its value can appreciate or depreciate based on the market. CryptoKitties was initially designed to study the idea of digital scarcity using smart contracts and ERC-20 tokens. Even if it had a slow start to adoption, the game immediately gained momentum during the NFT hype. Breeding, an essential mechanic of the game, allows owners to pair existing CryptoKitties to create algorithmically-generated offspring.
You can make a profit inside the game or on NFT marketplaces because CryptoKitties are still worth buying. There are four types of CryptoKitties available, namely Normal, Fancy, Special Edition, and Exclusive. To get your hands on one, you’ll need a computer or a mobile device, a cryptocurrency wallet, and some Ethereum. New players must have realistic expectations because CryptoKitties is about collecting virtual cats – it’s not a get-rich-quick opportunity. Indeed, you can make money if you’re lucky, but if you want to invest in Ethereum, there are other options worth looking into, such as investing in Ethereum or buying cryptocurrency stocks.
Final Thoughts
You can’t lose money while playing blockchain games on Ethereum, but there are certain risks involved when investing in any crypto asset. Always do your research.
