What are NFT games? The 10 most popular and promising NFT games in 2024

With the rise of blockchain technology, NFT games are becoming an appealing trend in the world of video games and investments. By playing NFT games, you will participate in an exciting universe and have the opportunity to own exclusive assets with real value. So, what exactly is an NFT game? Let's discover it now with Gate!

What is an NFT game?

NFT games are video games developed on a blockchain platform, where NFTs play a central role in the gameplay mechanics and in its economic system. This is a special niche within the cryptocurrency gaming industry.

The NFTs in the game are tokens that represent the game's assets issued by it, allowing players to demonstrate ownership of the elements they possess.

When did NFT games emerge?

In 2012, Yoni Assia introduced Colored Coins on the Bitcoin blockchain, marking the beginning of a new era of decentralized tokens. Colored Coins have many similarities with current NFTs, allowing users to exclusively own digital assets.

In 2017, CryptoKitties was born and became the world's first NFT game, allowing players to create unique virtual cats. The most attractive cats could be sold for high prices, leading to a boom in this game, but it also caused congestion on the Ethereum network. However, the appeal of CryptoKitties diminished over time.

The next NFT game to be born was Axie Infinity, developed by a group of Vietnamese and quickly became a global sensation. This game not only allows players to participate in matches but also to earn money while playing. The success of Axie Infinity fueled strong growth in the NFT gaming market and attracted millions of new users.

What are the characteristics of NFT games?

NFT games generally have three distinctive characteristics:

• NFTs cannot be divided into other units. Each NFT represents a unique asset in the game, which cannot be replaced or copied.
• NFTs provide verification and identification functions. Each NFT has a unique identifier, which helps authenticate the ownership of the asset. This makes NFTs an attractive option for collectors who want to own exclusive and high-value items.
• Some NFTs have an extremely high rarity, which increases their value in transactions. However, if this rarity is not maintained, the value of NFTs could collapse. Each NFT has a transaction history recorded on the blockchain, providing transparency and helping buyers better understand the product's origin.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing NFT games?

1. Advantages

NFTs in games offer numerous excellent benefits. They represent the ownership of digital assets for players and allow them to interact with monetized games and applications.

• Ownership: Players have the right to directly own and use the assets they possess. These assets are often derived from special in-game items and are stored on the blockchain.
• Uniqueness: Each NFT has its own characteristics and no two NFTs are identical on the blockchain. This creates scarcity and a unique value for each asset.
• Interoperability: NFTs can enhance interactivity across a variety of games and platforms. This not only improves functionality but also increases the value of the NFTs owned by users, making the liquidity source of NFTs more “abundant”.

Moreover, the economic model of NFT-enabled games is often designed to help players obtain a valuable source of income. Therefore, play-to-earn game models are increasingly attracting players, especially in saturated traditional gaming markets.

2. Disadvantages

• NFT games can stop working suddenly: The NFT gaming industry is still in its early stages of development, so risks are inevitable. When an NFT game is discontinued, the game's NFT assets become worthless, as they only have value when they can be traded in the market.
• Many players participate with the intention of making money: The development of NFT games has attracted many players who wish to make profits. Even developers may be drawn to the financial potential of NFT games, leading to the creation of games that do not meet users' expectations.
• Many factors influence the value of an NFT asset: The value of an NFT asset depends on many factors, including rarity, the popularity of the game, community interest, and information related to the game's characters. Additionally, the value of NFT assets can also be affected by fluctuations in the currency market, making investment more difficult and risky.

The 10 Best NFT Games to Earn Real Money in 2024

1. Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is one of the most prominent NFT games, famous for its play-to-earn model and has become an icon in the current Play-to-Earn gaming market. The Axie Infinity development team always strives to update and improve the game, expanding the ecosystem to maintain its appeal and competitiveness.

Axie Infinity is a monster fighting game where players form teams of adorable monsters called Axies to participate in battles. You can start playing for free or invest a small amount to own and upgrade your team of monsters.

It is important to highlight that Axie Infinity has developed a mobile version that is compatible with Android and iOS operating systems. This helps to increase the utility and expand the popularity of the game to a larger number of players.

2. Pixels

Pixels is an NFT farming game with a pixel art style, developed on the Ronin blockchain and has attracted over 900,000 players. In this game, players engage in activities such as farming, completing quests, processing ingredients, and interacting with other players in the vast world of Pixels.

Pixels offers two main ways for players to make money:

• Tenants: allows other people to rent your NFTs to play. You will receive passive income based on the productivity generated by other players, along with a fixed rental fee.
• Play, sell materials, and complete tasks: players can earn tokens $BERRY and $PIXEL by playing, selling materials, and completing tasks.

Pixels adopts a dual token economic model, where $BERRY and $PIXEL have an unlimited supply. This creates an independent and flexible economic ecosystem for players.

Pixels Games has been in development for over 2 years and in 2023 it moved to the Ronin network, a platform dedicated to NFT game projects. With strong community growth and player ownership through NFTs, Pixels is attracting the attention of the Web3 gaming community.

3. Shrapnel

Shrapnel is a science fiction shooting game that allows players to own their in-game assets. This is a free multiplayer game, suitable for playing solo as well as in groups.

Designed for fans of the shooting genre, Shrapnel offers a player-based building environment, similar to Roblox, but for adults. The goal of the game is to become the first AAA 3D first-person shooter on the blockchain with an extremely immersive gaming experience.

Players can join Shrapnel for free through the Epic Games Store and from there, they have the opportunity to earn NFTs and token rewards by completing tasks in the game.

4. Heroes of Mavia

Mavia is an NFT tower defense strategy game on mobile platforms, also considered a AAA game with a strong investment in graphics and detailed gameplay.

In Mavia, players participate in a tower defense game similar to Clash of Clans, where they will build and develop a military base on a fictional island called Mavia. Each player will take on the role of the leader of their base, with the aim of developing their infrastructure and army to become stronger.

The game has reached over 1 million downloads on iOS and Android platforms since its launch on January 31, promising to become one of the NFT games with the highest number of players. This shows the appeal of Mavia to the gaming community and its potential for strong growth in the future.

5. Big Time

Big Time is a free-to-play multiplayer action RPG developed by Big Time Studios, with a pre-investment of up to 21 million dollars.

In the game, players can choose one of the six character classes to start their adventure:

• Time Warrior: Specialized in close combat with high damage.
• Chronomancer (Time Mage): Use magic and long-range attacks.
• Shadow Leaf (Assassin): Close combat skills, stealth, and fast speed.
• Quantum Fixer (Support): Provides support and healing to teammates.
• Battlemancer: Uses elements to deal melee damage.
• TechBlade: Combination of Shadow Blade and Quantum Fixer, capable of long-range attacks and healing allies.

In Big Time, players can earn by creating, buying, selling, and trading NFTs with other players, as well as receiving tokens $BIGTIME for completing combat missions.

6. Illuvium

Illuvium, in development since 2020, is an open-world RPG adventure game that combines combat mechanics commonly found in the popular Auto Battler game genre.

Considered the first IBG (Interoperable Blockchain Game) in the world, Illuvium has captured the love of the community thanks to its beautiful graphics and unique development direction compared to most other projects in the market.

Illuvium is built on the Immutable X platform with extremely low gas fees, providing the best experience for players. The world of Illuvium is vast and, as you explore, you will find Pokémon-like creatures called Illuvials. You need to capture these Illuvials to use them in future battles.

The main token of the game is $ILV, which you can earn through matches, in-game activities, or buy on exchanges to use in the game.

Many secrets about the world of Illuvium have yet to be revealed, and the publisher is trying to protect them in the hope that players will discover them for themselves in the future. To play Illuvium effectively, you need to have a certain amount of capital to buy NFT Land and some Illuvials. This will make it easier for you to participate in adventures and battles in the world of Illuvium.

7. Life Beyond

Life Beyond is a third-person MMORPG FPS that puts players in the role of a citizen of the planet Dolos, an alien world orbiting a distant star. During the first alpha phase, players will participate in the cleaning and defense of the lands of the first settlement, facing all kinds of hostile wildlife.

The game uses the token $DOLS as the main currency. During the game, players undertake missions alone or in groups to gain experience and rewards, while also contributing to larger community goals.

There are 4 classes of characters to choose from, each using different weapons suitable for many play styles. Most player assets belong in the form of fungible or non-fungible tokens.

Life Beyond allows players to embark on adventures with friends or alone, completing various challenges and missions. Each new era brings new gameplay, levels, and global objectives.

This NFT game is currently available for PC and plans to be released on other devices in the future. The gameplay of Life Beyond includes many elements such as shooting, exploring, creating, building, supplying, forming a society with an economic system, rules, and many other interesting things.

8. Wreck League

Wreck League is an NFT fighting game project developed by Nway with support from Animoca and Yuga Labs. The gameplay of Wreck League is similar to traditional fighting games like Street Fighter and Bloody Roar. This game has been developed to be compatible with mobile phones and PCs.

Wreck League will integrate four NFT collectibles from Yuga Labs into the game's storyline. There will be two versions of the game: a web3 version that requires players to own a Mech NFT to participate, and a web2 version that is free to play without NFTs. Both versions have the same gameplay but add essential features such as daily quests, a battle pass, and an in-game shop. The web2 version will act as a bridge between the web3 gaming community and web2 players.

What makes Wreck League special is that it is developed by leading companies in the web3 gaming industry and has gameplay available for all players, from NFT holders to free players. This makes the game appealing and provides many opportunities for both communities.

9. The Beacon

The Beacon is a roguelike NFT fantasy game that combines social gameplay similar to MMO and NFT, developed by Treasure DAO (MAGIC), the largest gaming ecosystem on Arbitrum.