What Are Play-To-Earn Games? Here Are the 10 Best Crypto NFT Games of 2022

Play-to-earn games reward participants with digital cash or non-fungible tokens. In recent years, these blockchain-backed games — also known as P2E — have gone mainstream, becoming a core component of nearly every metaverse out there, with each platform boasting its own form of cryptocurrency to pay online gamers for their time commitment.

Earning currency that has real-world value while having fun is one of the main reasons why play-to-earn games have become so popular. Creating NFTs that can become a profitable asset is another.

10 Best Crypto NFT Games of 2022

There are a variety of play-to-earn games available in 2022. Here’s a closer look at ten of the best ones.

1. Axie Infinity

This trade-and-battle play-to-earn game is based on “Axies” — Ethereum-minted NFTs that players can collect, breed, raise, battle against and trade with other online users. There are many different types of Axies to choose from, and the possibilities for customization are endless. When a player battles other users and wins, they earn Smooth Love Potion tokens that can be sold for Axie Infinity Shard tokens, which are the main utility tokens for the game.

Axie Infinity boasts about 1.48 million daily active users. To show how lucrative this game has gotten, Axie Infinity has been fueling a digital economy based on crypto assets in Southeast Asia, specifically in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Roughly 82.1 million AXS — 30% of the total supply — are in circulation as of June 27, 2022, while a single AXS is valued at about $15.72.

2. Decentraland

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform that allows players to construct their own 3D world, buying land and developing it within the platform. Once a player buys land, they can create anything they want with it — from building a separate game to opening an online store that’s open for business. A player can also pay other users to keep their land secure while they’re offline.

To get started with Decentraland, a player needs to have an Ethereum wallet to be able to buy and store the platform’s MANA currency. They can then begin participating on the platform.

Around 1.85 billion MANA coins are in circulation as of June 27, 2022, and a single MANA is valued at a little more than $0.93.

3. Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds is a futuristic sci-fi adventure play-to-earn game with a simple premise: play, mine and upgrade to create an immersive gaming experience. It revolves around NFT alien species that a player can capture and use to mine or find different items. The more a player upgrades, the greater the odds of winning.

The official cryptocurrency of the Alien Worlds game is called Alien Worlds and it trades under the symbol TLM. A player can use the TLM token to trade NFTs with other players or win battles and missions. Players will also need mining tools, land and TLM deposits to get started.

A single TLM coin is valued at $0.02748 as of June 27, 2022, with only 26% of the total supply of TLM coins — roughly 2.61 billion — in circulation.

4. The Sandbox

This blockchain-based game lets users build, craft and survive in its blocky metaverse. Users playing The Sandbox can buy SAND in-game currency tokens to build a house or a castle or to go on quests to earn more tokens. Combining creativity, strategy and survival skills, The Sandbox encourages players to actively participate on the platform, buying and selling NFTs. The more items players build, the higher the level they can reach.

Roughly 1.26 billion SAND — 42% of the total supply– are in circulation as of June 27, 2022, while a SAND token is valued at around $1.18.

5. Zed Run

Zed Run is a horse racing play-to-earn game that allows users to curate different horses — as NFTs — that they can buy, sell and trade with other players on the platform. Users can also breed new horses or upgrade them to make them stronger.

In this play-to-earn game, users race their horses to earn rewards. Each horse has its strengths and weaknesses, and players can upgrade them to make it easier to win races. They can also bet on other players to earn money.

As of June 27, 2022, Zed Run does not have its own crypto coin. Instead, it’s backed by the Ethereum blockchain, meaning all game-related winnings and sales are paid in ether. However, a Zed Run native token is about to be launched. The rollout is coming in stages, beginning with users currently holding Zed Run NFTs. They’ll receive Zed Run tokens via AirDrop, with long-term holders getting top priority.

6. Blankos Block Party

Blankos Block Party is a multiplayer party platform where users can play mini-games and complete quests to collect moola, or MLA, the in-game currency. Users can also buy Blanko Bucks with a credit card.

In this game, partner artists create unique assets called Blankos, which are NFTs that offer special in-game abilities. Players can buy, sell and trade their Blankos for different perks. Considered one of the best “earn games,” Blankos Block Party allows users to earn NFTs while having fun and also allows them to trade their coins for other cryptos through external exchanges.

While there’s a total supply of 740,000 MLA coins available, there is no information on how many of them were in circulation as of June 27, 2022. An MLA coin was valued at $0.005894 on that date.

7. Gods Unchained

This blockchain-based play-to-earn game allows users to collect NFT cards to compete against each other. The game revolves around powerful beings known as “Gods,” each of which possesses a unique ability. The in-game currency, GODS, can be used to buy these cards and can be earned by defeating other players in battle.

Roughly 23.7 million GODS coins, which is about 5% of the total supply, are in circulation as of June 27, 2022, while a single GODS is valued at around $0.5412.

8. My DeFi Pet

My DeFi Pet is a play-to-earn game where users raise virtual pets. They can buy sell, and trade these pets on the game’s blockchain-based marketplace. They can also create unique NFTs of their pets by customizing pet features, including color, fur patterns, eyes, monogram style, head shape and wings. This game operates on KardiaChain and Binance Smart Chain.

The in-game currency, DPET, can be used to buy items on the game’s official website or to trade NFTs. The DPET coin can also be used to buy clothes, food and other items for virtual pets in the marketplace.

A single DPET was valued at $0.1522 as of June 27, 2022, with around 16 million DPET coins in circulation. The maximum supply is 100 million.

9. Star Atlas

Star Atlas is an astronomy-based play-to-earn game where users can explore space and trade NFTs of planets, stars and other items. Each planet or star has unique features, making them all different from one another in the game. Players can also discover new worlds by traveling at warp speed around this virtual galaxy.

This blockchain-backed game relies on two tokens: the ATLAS, which is used in the game as a utility token, and the POLIS, which is a governance token. Players can earn POLIS by staking their ATLAS tokens.

Roughly 2.2 billion ATLAS coins, which is about 6% of the total supply, are in circulation as of June 27, 2022, with a value of $0.006687 per token. Around 21.6 million POLIS coins, which is about 6% of the total supply, as well, were in circulation during the same period, with a single POLIS valued at $0.3845.

10. CryptoBlades

CryptoBlades is an RPG-style NFT game released on Binance Smart Chain in April 2021. Players start by purchasing SKILL tokens, which are the game’s native currency. They use their SKILL to purchase characters and buy and forge weapons. Winning battles against enemies earns players more SKILL, which they can withdraw, sell on the secondary market or use to purchase more in-game assets.

SKILL tokens are worth $1.93 as of June 27, 2022. Out of a maximum supply of 1 million tokens, 88% are currently in circulation.

Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of June 27, 2022.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Are Play-To-Earn Games? Here Are the 10 Best Crypto NFT Games of 2022