NFT games have become a popular way to make money in the Game-fi (blockchain gaming) industry : you can sell your in-game NFTs to other collectors and players, and even earn tokens in Play-to-Earn models.
NFTs are unique digital collectibles on the blockchain. They can be used in games as characters, consumables, and other means of exchange.
When making transactions with in-game NFTs, always be sure to transfer them to a compatible wallet and watch out for scams when sending NFTs to a user or marketplace. Please read the rules of your NFT game carefully and learn about all possible risks.
NFT games are most often based on Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain (BSC) . In games like CryptoBlades and Axie Infinity, players fight each other using collectible characters, while in Sorare, they collect collectible cards.
Binance offers NFT Mystery Boxes that allow holders to own NFTs of varying rarity. Some of the boxes are part of collections developed in partnership with NFT games.
The popularity of CryptoKitties at one time gave impetus to the development of new NFT games and the Play-to-Earn model, which allows you to make money on game progress.
Today, the Game-Fi industry combines finance with gaming and opens up different ways for players to make money. Now users’ income depends not only on the ability to win, find or create a rare collectible worth thousands of dollars. Instead, players can experiment with multiple game models across different themes that aren’t limited to collectible animals.
What is NFT?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital cryptographic token on the blockchain that is a unique item. NFT has many uses: it can be a digital asset in a game, a crypto art collectible, or even a real-world object like real estate.
Non-fungible tokens have solved the long-standing problem of creating a decentralized digital system for collecting and owning items in a world where everything can be copied.
NFTs are non-replaceable: each token is unique and cannot be identically replaced by another. For example, you can exchange 1 bitcoin ( BTC ) for another absolutely equivalent BTC, but there are no such identical NFTs. Even if an NFT art object is released in multiple versions, the metadata of each non-fungible token will differ, like a numbered series of fingerprints.
How do NFT games work?
NFT games are different from simply storing crypto-collectible items in your wallet. They use non-fungible tokens in their rules, mechanics and interactions between users.
For example, your unique character or avatar can be NFT, just like digital items that you find during the game. You can exchange or sell your tokens to other players for profit, as well as earn tokens in the modern Play-to-Earn model (more on that below).
How is NFT implemented in the gaming environment? In order for NFTs to be replaceable, created and used in the game, developers create smart contracts with the rules for the use of such tokens. Smart contracts are self-executing pieces of code stored on the blockchain.
For example, in CryptoKitties, a small number of core contracts structure the game. The most famous of them – geneScience – defines the random mechanics of generating new cats. Initially, the developers of the game kept its code secret, so interested players even created tools to analyze the likelihood of certain traits in cats. This helped users increase the chances of obtaining a rare and more valuable breed.
What are Play-to-Earn NFT games?
Play-to-Earn NFT games generate income for the time spent in the game. The longer the user plays, the more tokens, and sometimes NFT, he can receive, while the earned tokens are often used to create in-game items.
Earnings on game progress are considered to be more stable compared to the profit from random NFT drops. The Play-to-Earn model is especially popular in low-income countries as it allows users to generate or increase income.
One of the most famous Play-to-Earn games is Axie Infinity . To start the game, users need to purchase three Axie creatures or receive a free scholarship from another player. After recruiting your first team of creatures, you can complete tasks and pass challenges to earn Smooth Love Potion (SLP) – an ERC-20 token that can be exchanged on cryptocurrency exchanges .
SLPs are used in the game economy to breed new Axies. Axie Infinity has become especially popular in the Philippines, where many users make a living with it. Thanks to Axie Infinity, many get from $ 200 to $ 1000 a month, and some even more – it all depends on the market price and the time spent in the game.
What are in-game NFTs?
In-game NFTs are another way to generate income in NFT games. Instead of a fungible ERC-20 token (like SLP at Axie Infinity or SKILLS at CryptoBlade), you get non-fungible tokens in the form of collectibles. This is a traditional way of making money from NFT games, and the value of collectibles can be based on their appearance, rarity, or utility.
CryptoKitties is an example of a game based on collecting in-game NFTs. It is important to understand that income in such a model depends on the luck of the players. For more balance, the new NFT games offer a mix of Play-to-Earn and in-game NFTs.
How can you make money in NFT games?
The amount of possible earnings in NFT games depends on the mechanics of a particular game and market demand. Users earn cryptocurrency or NFT in games that other players can buy.
To generate income, you need to sell NFT on the market, exchanges or auctions, while the value of certain tokens depends on their rarity or use in the game. These two factors make it possible to use games for speculative purposes.
Can I lose money in NFT games?
There is a chance of losing money in NFT games: the exact amount depends on the type of game, its mechanics and the cost of specific NFTs. However, losing money doesn’t necessarily mean cheating: since NFTs are speculative and their value depends on other people’s bets, market demand also affects your losses.
In any case, only invest in cryptocurrency and NFT games as much as you are willing to lose.
Can I lose my NFTs?
Considering the cost of some non-fungible tokens, many holders worry about their safety during the game or during transactions on the blockchain. Regardless of whether you purchased your NFTs or earned them in-game, it is imperative to ensure that they are secure because NFTs can indeed be lost if you are not careful. To minimize these chances, follow the tips below.
There are several ways to lose NFT:
- Transferring NFT from your wallet to a wallet that does not support the required token standard.
- Sending an NFT to a scammer.
- Giving access to your wallet to a malicious smart contract that takes over your NFT.
- Loss of a token in accordance with the rules of the game.
The first three situations can be avoided by understanding the NFT device, blockchain technology, and fraudulent schemes. The rules for safe use of NFTs are just as important as the rules for using PayPal and online banking, so in order not to lose your NFTs, please follow these rules:
- Make sure not to send NFTs to scammers. Tips for identifying potential scammers can be found here .
- Find out what types of tokens and blockchains your wallet or platform supports. ERC-721 and ERC-1155 are the most common NFT token protocols for Ethereum, while BEP-721 and BEP-1155 are the most common for Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Always check that the address is correct and never assume that they are compatible.
- Only interact with smart contracts from projects you can trust. When you allow a smart contract to interact with a wallet, a malicious contract can delete your funds.
- Read the rules of the game carefully. Some rules allow players to trade with each other or use NFT consumables such as items or potions. Read the terms and conditions before playing to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Popular NFT Games
There are many different NFT games, most of which exist either on the BSC network or Ethereum. Some offer more traditional gaming experiences, while others are mainly specialized in collecting NFTs.
Axie infinity
As we said, Axie Infinity is reminiscent of the Pokemon franchise: players can collect creatures and use them in battles Axie Infinity is on the Ethereum blockchain and allows users to generate income from the sale of Smooth Love Potions (SLP), Axie creatures and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). however, SLP and AXS can be traded on the Binance platform.
Sorare
Sorare is a fantasy soccer game where users can exchange collectible images of real-life soccer players.
To play Sorare, you need to assemble a team of five footballers using either free starter cards or paid tokenized cards. Players can level up by earning points for games won, goals scored and other achievements.
Gods unchained
Gods Unchained is an Ethereum-based NFT card game similar to Magic The Gathering and Hearthstone. In it, players collect decks with different abilities and characteristics in order to fight with other users.
For defeating an opponent, you can get in-game items that can be used or sold, and for winning in ranked games, you can earn Flux to create powerful NFT cards. They can be sold or invested in new cards to speed up your progress.
Binance NFT Collections
Binance NFT Marketplace offers Mystery Boxes and NFT Collections in partnership with digital artists and NFT games. Each mystery box contains a random non-fungible token of varying rarity from a specific collection. Mystery box holders can open them, find out the contents or sell them without opening them.
The NFT Collections contain several NFTs and Mystery Boxes dedicated to a specific topic or project. At the moment, some of the most popular collections contained Game-fi-themed mystery boxes. Let’s consider two of them:
- MOBOX collection. MOBOX is a BSC-powered gaming platform that integrates DeFi lucrative farming and non-fungible tokens. The Binance collection contained MOMO NFT Mystery Boxes that had random hashing power on the MOBOX platform. The more hashing power the NFT has, the more valuable MOMO will be in MOBOX games.
- Collection My Neighbor Alice. My Neighbor Alice is a game where users build their virtual world. Although mystery boxes have only contained cosmetic NFT items so far, users still appreciate and exchange them on the secondary market.
Summary
NFT games use digital collectibles and create rules for how players interact with each other’s NFTs. At the same time, different users may have different interests: for some, the gaming utility of NFT is important, others are more interested in their collectible value. While many NFT games are card games, not all collectors play with their decks.
The Game-fi industry has created a new gaming economy, NFT, and changed the way you make money with them: not only luck and collecting, but also the gameplay is important for making a profit.
