What are the Best Play-to-Earn Games in 2023?

Play-to-earn games have quickly redefined what it means to be a gamer and created a new earning model via the game’s economy. What this means in plain English is that gamers can now earn a living by simply playing games!

This revolutionary concept isn’t new and, in fact, was the dream of every gamer several years ago. However, thanks to blockchain technology and NFTs, this concept is now a reality, with different gaming projects leveraging this technology to create exciting games that remit real value back to the player.

What are Play-to-Earn games?

These are games that allow players to earn money by participating in the game. This can be done through in-game activities such as trading, mining, or participating in tournaments. The key difference between play-to-earn games and traditional games is that in play-to-earn games, players own the in-game assets they acquire and can trade or sell them on the open market.

The benefits of play-to-earn games are numerous. For one, they provide players with an alternative income source. With the rise of unemployment and global inflation, play-to-earn games offer a way for people to make money while doing something they enjoy. 

P2E games rose to popularity in 2020/2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, denoted by global lockdowns and layoffs. People had to find alternative sources of income. Most turned to play-to-earn games, which provided an earning model independent of traditional financial systems and, thus, wasn’t affected by the global economic downturn.

However, fast forward to 2023, and the crypto market is now in a bear phase. Even in this bear market, play-to-earn games continue to gain popularity. They are expected to be a driving force in the potential crypto market recovery of 2023.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the best play-to-earn games of the year.

Top Play-to-Earn Game of 2023

• Axie Infinity: A blockchain-based game where players can earn money by breeding, raising, and battling fantasy creatures called Axies. This is one of the big games in the P2E space and has a large active community and different earning models. Primarily, players can make money by breeding rare Axies (as NFTs) and selling them on the open market.
• The Sandbox: A blockchain-based game where players can earn money by creating and selling virtual worlds and experiences. The game is described as a metaverse, an extensive digital environment that connects both the physical and virtual worlds. In the Sandbox, players can create unique experiences and own and monetize assets in different ways, similar to real estate. The game is free-to-play and based on the Ethereum blockchain.
• Decentraland: This is another Ethereum-based metaverse game that allows the players in its world to interact socially, trade digital real estate, or exchange collectibles. Value exchange on Decentraland is powered by its native cryptocurrency, MANNA, and allows its players to vote on changes to the game policy via its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
• Splinterlands: A blockchain-based game where players can earn money by collecting and trading digital monster cards. Splinterlands is a competitive game. Players must collect cards with unique features or abilities, battle other players and win to make money. This approach has carved a niche for itself within the play-to-earn space, now called play-to-win. 
• Illuvium: An Ethereum-powered open-world fantasy battle game that prides itself as the first AAA game on the Ethereum blockchain. Players explore the Illuvium world, battle various creatures, capture them and nurse them back to health. These creatures then become the player’s allies when facing off against other players in PvP mode. Illuvium is still in beta testing and will release sometime in 2023.
• Alien Worlds: This is a metaverse-themed game that allows its players to battle for scarce resources across different planetary worlds. The game comes with its own virtual economy and integrates decentralized finance into its operation. Alien Worlds allow its “explorers” to earn money by playing the game or participating in its DeFi features like staking or its native DAO.

How to verify a P2E Game

P2E games are very attractive options for earning income. However, one must also understand that this sector is still in its infancy. Thus, there isn’t much regulation, which opens up the opportunity for many bad actors.

Therefore, before investing in any play-to-earn game, you must do your due diligence to ensure you are not throwing money away into a bad project or, worse, a scam. There are some key metrics you can investigate to make sure you don’t lose money.

Study the tokenomics of the project you are interested in. What is the total supply of the game’s native tokens, how do they incentivize people to hold or stake these tokens, and what other use cases do they have?

These are some important questions to ask yourself before committing to any P2E project. For instance, an unlimited token supply may not be good due to inflation unless the project has built-in burning mechanisms to eliminate redundant tokens in circulation. Also, staking and holding in-game tokens should provide some reward for the participants to keep them invested. 

We must admit that there is no cut-and-dry recipe for developing a successful play-to-earn game. Hence, the best approach is always the cautious approach. 

Only invest what you are willing to lose.

Final words…

Play-to-earn games are a revolutionary concept that has the potential to change the way we think about the value of in-game items and provide an alternative income source for many. As technology continues to evolve, so does P2E games’ potential to provide players with new and exciting opportunities. With rising global inflation and unemployment rates, play-to-earn games, combined with universal basic income(UBI), could help many people out of work make ends meet.

This is becoming increasingly important as traditional income-earning opportunities become scarce. It’s essential to keep an eye on this growing trend and the potential it holds for shaping the future of the gaming industry as a potential solution to the global economic crisis.