Several metaverse games have recently become famous as the world prepares to welcome and incorporate what most people refer to as ‘the future of the internet. This creation will combine several virtual worlds that outlive the games.
Developers have, in turn, shifted to play-to-earn games, allowing users to own NFTs and real estate in the universe. The rebrand of Facebook to Meta Inc also drew the attention of different companies to the metaverse, meaning that these games have many possibilities soon.
Even though the concept behind the metaverse games is relatively new to even some of the most seasoned gamers, it is worth trying. This article will look at some of the best metaverse games you can try, complete with a breakdown of the features, pros, and cons. Take a look at the following :
1. Sandbox
Sandbox is one of the most famous play-to-earn metaverse games at the moment. It comes complete with a virtual world where one can create, own and capitalize on the different monetization prospects while gaming, thanks to its SAND tokens.
Based on the Ethereum Blockchain, Sandbox has an impressive design and offers excellent gaming experiences. Therefore, it has appealed to many gamers and garnered several players despite being in the early stages of development.
It has managed to shift people’s interest from some of the existing games, such as Minecraft and Roblox, thanks to its ability to offer actual ownership to creators through non-fungible tokens. It also reards those participating in the game’s ecosystem, which may explain why it owns a whopping 7% market share.
The most distinct feature of this game is that it allows players to develop their games inside the metaverse. It also gives users an excellent experience developing content through smart contracts and blockchain.
Further, this game has a VoxEdit tool that allows users to create assets to be uploaded, published, and sold. It is also worth mentioning the Sandbox Game Markeer, which offers users an impressive experience.
Strengths
- It has a decentralized protocol that makes buying, selling, and trading different assets easy.
- Offers a range of products to help users.
- Anyone who owns tokens can take part in governance.
- It has a well-informed community.
Weaknesses
- The SAND token has a significant economic restriction.
- It has a narrow target audience owing to its limitation.
- It is not fully developed yet
2. Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is another popular play-to-earn Blockchain game that you can try out. Unlike Sandbox, this game was unveiled in 2018 but only came to the limelight recently, when the metaverse and NFTs became trending topics of discussion.
One of the reasons this game garnered popularity is its place in the Philippines during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. After the massive loss of jobs, people took to Axie Infinity to earn NFTs, which they later traded for good returns. Most people believe that it is the highlight of the NFT gaming industry.
It is with noting that the basis of this game heavily draws from Pokemon, given that each Axie of digital collectibles is a creature having unique features. The game allows people to battle with other Axis and, in the process, win and earn rewards. Even though it has a market cap of $9 billion, Axie Infinity is still growing.
Like The Sandbox, Axie Infinity also has its token, popularly known as AXS or Axie Infinity Shard.
Strengths
- It has a solid ecosystem and economy
- The cryptocurrency used in the game has values based on fair market prices.
- It is constantly growing
Weaknesses
- The NFTs are prone to overvaluation.
- The NFTs can be hyperinflated.
3. Decentraland
You must have come across the word Decentraland in your NFT or metaverse research. This is one of the best real estate NFT games that qualify as a play-to-earn game. It was the first game to allow people to own land in the metaverse through cryptocurrency and decide what to do with their plots. However, purchasing land has become increasingly difficult as demand has skyrocketed.
One of the main reasons Decentraland is a darling among many is that it is not as complicated as other play-to-earn games. It allows gamers to use their creativity to make good money. It also permits the creation of in-game items that can be traded for money.
Decentraland usually pops up in metaverse discussions because it allows people to use VR headsets when gaming and managing their plots. Players are also empowered to interact with others, which is one of the main aims of the metaverse. Its currency or token is MANA
Strengths
- Its token, MANA, has several use cases.
- It is constantly upgraded
- One can auction NFTs or sell land for MANA
Weaknesses
- Lacks engaging content
- Poses the risk of cyberattack
4. Sorare
Do you love sports? Do you spend most of your time at your console playing FIFA 21? Sorare is the best play-to-earn game for you if you want to get accustomed to the metaverse. This game allows you to build your team using real money. It is, therefore, quite different from fantasy football.
With Sorare, one can use real money in the form of crypto to buy a pack of cards, which are generally based on real players. It supports over 200 licensed clubs worldwide, giving you many options.
Note that these cards have different rarity levels from Limited to Unique and are dependent on the actual player once you have picked them. Therefore, the better the player performs, the more points you get on the particular card.
However, if you intend to buy a Messi card, you better hope that luck will be on your side since it is tough to find one. You can alternatively get other cards.
Strengths
- Endorses by famous footballers such as Gerard Pique
- It operates globally since it runs on Ethereum
- Guarantees real utility of the NFTs
Weaknesses
- Withdrawals are crypto only.
- You cannot purchase the cards through credit or debit cards.
5. Cryptovoxels
When it comes to the period of existence, Cryptovoxels is in the same league as Axie Infinity. It came out in 2018 and gained more popularity with the growth of crypto gaming. This virtual world allows players to buy lands and several assets through cryptocurrency.
It occasionally lets people sell their plots for money and earn crazy amounts due to increased demand. You can rest assured that assets will sell immediately whenever a window is opened for sale. This game has similar graphics to Minecraft, thanks to its blocky and pixelated appearance.
One of the most outstanding features of Cryptovoxels is that it allows image and photo input. Players can organize and hold art exhibitions for other users to see and buy. It, therefore, offers several avenues for making money as you play.
Similar to other games that we have looked at, Cryptovoxels gamers can make in-game items to be sold to other users. However, note that even though there is high demand for these products, you still have to be creative.
Strengths
- It is simple and, therefore, easy to use.
- Has several avenues for making money
- Allow gamers good art exhibitions
- It has fun editor tools
Weaknesses
- It is a bit buggy.
6. NetVRk
The network is one of the newest games on our list. However, it has excellent reception and therefore looks promising. It comprises the words net, VR, and k, which many users find creative since the metaverse highly depends on virtual reality.
This game also uses VR and tries to resemble Ready Player One in one way or another. It allows people to buy plots of land and make beautiful art which they can use to make money if they sell them.
We hope this project will continue developing as it has incredible visuals, which, if upgraded, may nearly achieve realism. It is also worth noting that NetVRk is affiliated and has partnered with several companies despite being a relatively new project. It allows them to buy ad spaces and sell their goods online, thus ensuring that the users enjoy convenient purchases through crypto and various other options.
Purchase of assets in this project is made using the NetVRk tokens. One can further one income through staking, where it awards stakers a given percentage of profits when they stake their tokens in the network.
It enjoys the global augmented and virtual reality market, which is expected to clock over an $800 billion market cap by 2025.
Strengths
- Has different avenues for making money
- Allows the buying of ad spaces
- It uses virtual reality.
- Has impressive graphics
Weaknesses
- Still relatively new and, therefore, difficult to anticipate
7. Alien Worlds
Our seventh recommendation is alien worlds, a play-to-earn game that has garnered a lot of popularity in the recent past. It is built on the WAX Blockchain and allows players to mine Trillium, abbreviated as TLM, using their NFTs.
There are several offered tools for users that allow mining on different planets. It is also possible to purchase higher quality tools that guarantee more Trillium on your excursions. One of the advantages of this game is that you don’t need an initial investment to start playing. There are default tools and other super-cheap ones for around $1 that users can use to increase their earning potential.
However, note that you will need to click a button after roughly seven minutes for mining purposes. This game isn’t cheap in its entirety since, at times, users must spend more than $8000 to buy land to increase their earning potential. Therefore, even though you will probably start playing with zero investment, you need tools at one point.
In case you are wondering why this is one of the most popular crypto games at the moment, note that it allows people to mine on other planets, thus exposing them to different worlds altogether, especially at a time when people are fascinated with aliens.
Lastly, this game is highly accessible, which may explain why it enjoys a large user base.
Strengths
- One can start playing with zero investment.
- Allows mining of Trillium on other planets
- It is accessible
- It has a large user base which makes it credible.
Weaknesses
- Requires extremely high investment to earn better profits
- It may fail to appeal to everyone
8. StarCrazy
Do you love animations? Do you want to see animated cats all over your screen? If you do, this is the best pay-to-earn game for you. StarCrazy is built on the IoTex platform and requires users to install the IoPay application, available for Android and iOS devices, to play. The developers also ensured that this game is easily discoverable in their IoPay app, under the Discover section.
The game is about animated non-fungible tokens in the form of cats called stars. Note that each has eight body parts, which are all rare. It further gets interesting as this rarity changes from regular to ultra-rare. The stars also have a digging power christened DigP.
Users love the Star Mine, which allows them to earn GTF tokens. It works so that the amount of tokens you can make depends on your stars’ digging power. You will also get a marketplace where you can trade, sell and place ads on the stars. It also allows you to auction the animated cats or participate in the official auction.
Like the previous game, you don’t need lots of money to start. You will get started for under $60. The good news is that this game allows you to fuse these stars, thus improving their parts’ rarity and digging power.
Strengths
- It is cheaper to start.
- The stars can be fused to improve their rarity and digging power
- Has several avenues for making money
Weaknesses
- The concept is relatively boring
- It doesn’t have high earning potential
9. MicroPets
This is it if you are looking for the best NFT play-to-earn game. MicroPets is a popular game built on the Binance Smart Chain. Players can buy as many mystery boxes as they want and stake their NFTs to get higher annual yields.
One of the pros of this crypto game is that it gives you several mystery boxes to choose from. You can buy a baby create for 2 million PETS, this platform’s token equivalent of $80, which is relatively cheaper. Other crates, such as the Holiday crate, get sold out quickly.
Regardless of the kind, all these crates can receive various rare pets. However, the higher the rarity of a given box, the higher your annual percentage yield. This platform will come in handy if you intend to buy and hold an NFT instead of someone who always wants to trade.
You can easily lock up your crates for 30 days for an increased APY. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that this game best suits ‘lazy farmers’ since you don’t have to interact all the time.
Strengths
- Requires less interaction as all you need to do is stake and unstake
- Its concept is relatively easy.
- Each crate can receive different rarity of pets
Weaknesses
- Beat serves people intending to buy NFTs and forget about them.
- Its concept is not as interesting.
10. CryptoKitties
You have definitely heard of Cryptokitties. This was the first game to be built on the Ethereum blockchain and therefore, set the pace for the recent games that have gained popularity. It was developed by Dapper Labs and published in 2017.
It allows players to buy, sell, and breed cats by imparting the desired unique and indivisible traits, regarded as non-fungible tokens. These CryptoKitties can then be sold in renowned NFT markets such as OpenSea.io.
Users have applauded its concept, arguing that collecting, breeding, and raising digital cats is way more interesting than one may think. Therefore, it is popular among different classes, explaining why it caused congestion in the Ethereum network a month after it was released.
There are two ways of obtaining CryptoKitties. You can either buy them or breed two kitties together. Creating a collection of cats also guarantees you rewards. One of the most exciting aspects is that your cars can participate in catfights once you have a collection, thanks to KittyVerse. Lastly, this game allows you to solve puzzles with other players and therefore qualifies as a metaverse game since the central concept of the metaverse is to link people and, thus, foster and enhance interaction.
Strengths
- It is enjoyable
- Boasts of a broad user base.
- Allows players to breed cats
Weakness
- The Kitties require an ICO when they get babies.
- Breeding and siring become more expensive as the kitties increase.
Conclusion
These are some of the best metaverse games you can play in 2022. You will get a chance to earn as you play. Make sure that you settle for the most interesting since the whole concept of gaming is all about enjoying oneself and relieving stress.
