Turn your gaming time into an investment by playing some of the best NFT games in 2023! NFT games integrate blockchain technology into conventional gaming designs, allowing gamers to make money by playing or through passive royalties from in-game transactions.
The key to finding a great NFT game is to analyze their tokenomics and see if the community is buzzing about the game. Kickstart your research with this article, where you’ll find the top 7 play-to-earn (P2E) games that have great development teams and are fun to play!
Disclaimer: This article is meant for educational purposes only. By using the information provided here, you agree that it’s just the author’s opinion and does not constitute any investment advice.
7 Best Play to Earn NFT Games in 2023
Here’s a quick list of the best NFT games that we look into in this article:
- Wizardia – one of the best turn-based battlers with RPG elements.
- Silks – the first derivative P2E game that combines a unique metaverse with real-world counterparts.
- Illuvium – one of the best P2E adventure games with an AAA-rated blockchain gaming experience.
- The Sandbox – a unique metaverse where you can build and monetize your own games.
- The Walking Dead Empires – an MMO survival game set in the world of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
- Guild of Guardians – a mobile role-playing NFT game with huge potential to explode.
- Gods Unchained – the best NFT game for digital card trading.
Let’s analyze those crypto games in more detail!
1. Wizardia – one of the best turn-based RPG battlers
Wizardia is a P2E turn-based battler with RPG elements such as character progression, crafting, and artifact upgrades. You can obtain and upgrade wizards – represented by NFTs – and use them in battles to uncover the magic in the game’s metaverse.
With NFTs at the very core of Wizardia’s world, it’s super easy to generate revenues for players and investors. Its utility token is $WZRD, and you can spend, earn, or exchange it inside and outside the game.
Wizardia is built on three gameplay pillars:
- Turn-based combat
- Player-decision-driven game evolution
- Upgrade-based character progression
Wizardia also has a very active and enthusiastic community of 125,100 Twitter followers, 150,700 TikTok followers, and 61,910 Discord members, to name a few channels. So no wonder its early investors’ NFTs are selling fast!
At the moment of writing this article, the sixth round of Wizardia’s Arena Genesis NFTs is now live and almost sold out on wizardia.io. Only one more NFT sale round remains, so if you want to earn automatic staking rewards before the game’s launch and generate passive royalties, you better act fast!
To check how much you could be earning once the battles start, see Wizardia’s projection calculator here. If you're not sure if you're ready to invest in the game, you can also try Wizardia's practice mode—it's 100% free! Once you know the ins and outs of gameplay, you can switch to the real game and be more confident in reaping serious rewards.
Wizardia also displays their full team behind the product so you can be sure of transparency which is a key factor to check before buying into the game. Wizardia’s board of advisors includes Danny Wilson from Illuvium, and they have a lot of investors already, which proves how bullish people are about this crypto game.
2. Silks – the first derivative P2E game
Image source: Twitter
Silks is another brand new, exciting NFT game with lots of attention among crypto enthusiasts. It’s the first derivative P2E metaverse that mirrors real-world thoroughbred horse racing.
The mission of this crypto game is to democratize thoroughbred racehorse ownership for the masses. One of the game’s co-founders is Troy Levy, the CEO of Tropical Racing, a thoroughbred horse breeding and racing company that is also the lead investor and partner.
In Silks, players own their own digital horses (NFTs) that have their counterparts in the real world. These digital horses correspond to one of the top registered 1-year-old thoroughbred racehorses in the U.S and share similar characteristics.
NFT horses track their real-world twins’ bloodlines, on-track performance, and training progress. As your real-world counterpart wins a race and breeds real offspring, you earn token rewards (Silk’s cryptocurrency, $STT).
Since the game is based on a P2E economy, you can acquire, collect, trade, and interact with the NFT horses. Besides competing with other horses, you can also use the game’s currency to buy and develop land and horse farms, and other digital assets.
The creators have recently raised $2 million in funding and plan on acquiring more funds in the upcoming months of writing this article.
The first NFT offering – the Silks Genesis Avatar collection – was released at the end of April and consists of 10,000 unique Silks Avatars.
3. Illuvium – one of the best P2E adventure AAA games
Image source: YouTube
Created on the Ethereum Blockchain, Illuvium is a collection and auto-battler fantasy NFT game, set to release on PC and MAC in Q1 2023 (the beta version is already here). It stands out from other blockchain games by being the first AAA P2E crypto game. The team behind Illuvium has worked on such games as Bioshock and Batman: Arkham Knight, known for their super-high quality.
Illuvium is an open-world exploration that begins after a catastrophic crashland on an alien planet. Players need to fight for survival, catch Illuvials (the game’s NFTs – legendary beasts that live in the wild), and conquer the wilderness in this graphically advanced sci-fi adventure.
Besides catching Illuvials, players need to complete other daily quests to acquire various items. All of these in-game collectibles are NFTs. You can also mint the NFT Illuvials by merging two Illuvials to create a new, more evolved beast. The more powerful Illuvials you’ll mint, the more money you’ll be able to make by selling them.
You can also earn $ILV tokens on Illuvium by entering a battle arena and tournaments with other players. If you’re not an experienced player, you can also wager on matches and be rewarded with $ILV tokens for the correct choice.
Overall, Illuvium is seen as one of the most decentralized NFT games. You can participate in the governance of this game, and your $ILV token has earning power from all future games that Illuvium’s team will create. With the total maximum supply of $ILV being only 10 million $ILV tokens, $ILV is a scarce token, so if you’re interested in playing this game, hurry up!
4. The Sandbox – build and monetize your own games
Image source: YouTube
The Sandbox is a community-driven gaming platform where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences using $SAND – the main utility token of the game’s metaverse. $SAND is built on the Ethereum blockchain, and there’s a finite supply of 3,000,000,000 $SAND.
The Sandbox world consists of LANDS. These LANDS are parts of the game’s metaverse, owned by players and used to create and monetize their gaming experiences. Mind that there will be a limited amount of LANDS available – 166,464 in total. Players can use them to create multiplayer experiences, create housing, host games and offer social experiences to other players.
There are three main components to the sandbox:
- VoxEdit. It’s an NFT creator that allows you to craft, animate, and export voxel art (think of it like pixel art but in 3D). You can use these voxel-based NFTs (they can be creatures or items) in the game or sell them on The Sandbox’s marketplace.
- Marketplace. Here you can search and buy the best creator’s assets with $SAND and use them in your LAND. And since the game exists on a blockchain, this is just one of the places where you can buy and sell the game’s NTFs.
- Game Maker. You can download The Sandbox’s game maker and make your own game or try other people’s games. Coding is not required! You can then monetize the games you create.
So, with the Sandbox, you can earn in three ways:
- Play games and earn rewards
- Build games and monetize them
- Create assets and market them.
Just like Illuvium players, $SAND holders will also be able to exercise their voting rights on key decisions of the game’s evolution.
So, how hot is this crypto game? Suffice to say that Snoop Dogg has been developing his Snoopverse in The Sandbox, where he’s planning to host exclusive parties. One NFT collector has spent $450,000 for a LAND in the Snoopverse, next to Snoop Dogg’s NFT house. Will you be the next Snoop’s digital neighbor?
5. The Walking Dead Empires – an MMO survival game for TWD fans
Image source: YouTube
Based on a massively popular TV show, “The Walking Dead,” The Walking Dead Empires is an MMO survival RPG game where players need to fight and survive against the undead.
How to earn with this crypto game?
- Buy and own land to set yourself up against zombie hoards.
- Earn rewards and upgrade your land when other players fight, kill, buy or sell upon it.
- Work as a team with other players and earn crypto as you go, and test your survival skills.
Here are the three key components (3Bs) of The Walking Dead Empires:
- Build – scavenging for supplies and constructing your base to survive the undead.
- Battle – trying to kill as many zombies as possible.
- Benefit – getting rewards for your accomplishments.
The game’s on the blockchain, and it has P2E mechanics, so if you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, go ahead and check more information about this crypto game. It’s your chance to own a piece of your favorite show!
Plus, it’s a super high-quality game developed by Ember Entertainment, an independent game developer. They have created multiple highly polished mobile games, including the massively popular Empire Z, so the gameplay of The Walking Dead Empires should not disappoint.
6. Guild of Guardians – the best mobile role-playing NFT game
Image source: Stepico.com
Guild of Guardians is a mobile RPG fantasy game where players can turn their gaming hours into NFTs. Players create their team of “Guardians” and challenge others in a guild to earn tradeable rewards.
What’s exciting about this collectible game is that it’s free to play! At the beginning of the game, you get a free hero—which can’t be sold—and use it to travel the dungeons. As the game progresses, you can collect several similar heroes and combine them into a more evolved hero and sell it for the game’s token – $GOG.
You can make money in Guild of Guardians in a few different ways:
- Combine existing heroes
- Mine resources and sell them
- Get rewards for reaching the leaderboards
- Get rewards for completing daily tasks
The game is currently in its first release stage, which means you can already start collecting founder heroes. NFT gaming enthusiasts are already very bullish about Guild of Guardians! Over 200,000 players have already pre-registered on the game’s waitlist, and $1M worth of prizes were given away.
Guild of Guardians also has a big social media following with over 29K followers on Facebook, 123.7K – on Twitter, and over 104K members on Discord.
The game is owned and published by Immutable, one of the world’s most prominent VC-funded blockchain gaming start-ups.
7. Gods Unchained – the best NFT game for digital card trading
Image source: Usethebitcoin.com
If you’re into trading card games, Gods Unchained is the best NFT game for you in 2023. Created by Chris Clay, a game director who has such games as Magic: The Gathering Arena in his portfolio, Gods Unchained is a free-to-play tactical card game and already has two expansions – Trial of the Gods and Divine Order.
Gods Unchained is a game that gives players complete ownership over their in-game items. Players get a free Welcome Set of cards created to help new players understand the game and how each god works. As you work your way through the ranks, you will collect rare cards, build your deck, and sell your cards to other players.
How popular is this game among NFT enthusiasts? It has already attracted more than $52M in card exchange, so it’s safe to say gamers are pretty excited about this blockchain gem.
Conclusion
All of the games in this list are superb, but if you’re still unsure which one you should try first, go with Wizardia! It has everything you need in a play-to-earn game: you can battle it out with other players and enjoy the RPG elements (character progression, crafting, and artifact upgrades). Early investors can also generate passive income for life from Wizardia by owning its NFTs. Check it out here!
Julija Paškevičienė
Julija is a freelance content marketer. Specialized in content writing, social media, and finding the best dog memes, she helps businesses get their message across and create content that sells.
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