A Guide to the Best Free-to-Play NFT Games in 2022

Non-fungible tokens are one of the most popular use cases of blockchain technology, second only to cryptocurrencies. By their nature, they are unique and rare, meaning multiple copies of them cannot exist simultaneously, and there can only be one owner. 

In 2021, Verified Market Research (VMR) estimated the market to be worth $11.3 billion and is projected to increase to $231 billion by 2030. I know what you’re thinking; that’s a lot of increase in a short time but guess what, you could hop on the train before it is too late. 

As the NFT space develops, we’ve seen the introduction of exciting projects. In its early phase, NFTs were mostly used for digital art, but now it’s spread out to being used in many different forms of digital items such as music, videos, tweets, and even virtual lands. If there is anything, NFTs can find their footing anywhere, so long as it’s something that a person can own. 

One of the aspects of NFTs gaining fast popularity are Web3 games. Unlike traditional games, NFT games offer a unique experience to its player in terms of ownership and rewards. In traditional games, you spend money to acquire in-game virtual assets like skins, weapons, and avatars which add to the gaming experience. But in the end, these virtual assets or goods stay within the game and have no worth outside. 

Web3 games, on the other hand, give you ownership over the items you acquire while playing the games. To add to that, you can even sell these items for cryptocurrencies which you could later convert to fiat. These web3 games are called play-to-earn (P2E) games. Evidently, you can earn a lot of money while playing these games. And now you must be wondering, how do I get started with this? Relax, we are almost there. 

While NFT games give you a chance to make money by playing, they sometimes require that you pay to start earning. For instance, to play Axie Infinity, the most popular web3 game, you need to buy avatars called Axies which could range from $600 – $3000 in price. If you’re not earning much, that could be a lot of money to let go of at once. 

However, there are NFT games that allow you to play without paying an upfront fee. These are referred to as free-to-play NFT games. Like the paid games, they also allow you to trade characters or tokens acquired while playing the game. Now, if that caught your interest, you need to read more. 

To save you that endless google searches, here’s a list of the best free-to-play Web3 games. 

Gods Unchained

Gods Unchained is one of the most popular free-to-play NFT games. The trading card game, which launched in 2019, has over 450,000 registered and has recorded over $34 million in NFT sales. 

At the start of the game, new users are given a premade starter deck which you will use to compete against other players and climb the ranking. These first sets of cards in the starter deck cannot be transferred or used outside the game. This is because they are not on the blockchain. However, by winning ranked matches, you earn Flux, a tool you can use to forge two duplicate trading cards. Duplicating trading cards creates cards that can be minted on the Ethereum blockchain and sold on other marketplaces.   

It is important to note that the higher your rank, the higher your chances of winning more quality cards. A good feature of Gods Unchained is that, unlike most other games, it ranks you against players who are on the same level as you. This helps to increase the chances of winning matches and climbing ranks. 

Splinterlands

Splinterlands is another trading card game that could interest a lot of gamers. Unlike Gods Unchained, this game is built on the Hive blockchain. 

All players are given base cards at the start of the game, which they use to compete against other ranked players. However, players can acquire more potent cards by winning matches, completing missions, or seasonal rewards. An easier way is buying booster packs or from the game’s marketplace. 

While the game is free to play, players who wish to trade their in-game assets or earn rewards would have to pay $10 to get the Summoner’s spell book. According to Splinterlands, all their in-game assets are unique and limited in number. 

Coin Hunt World

If action games are not your thing, then Coin Hunt World might be the NFT game just for you. To make it more fun, it combines a bit of physical and virtual experiences. However, it is only available in a few countries.

The Pokemon Go-themed game is an exploration game where players scavenge for keys and unlock vaults. The game asks the player a trivia question once a vault is opened, which gets the player in-game assets or cryptocurrency if answered right. 

Gamers who play the game stand a chance to win Bitcoin or Ethereum. In 2021, players earned $1.5 million from the game and walked over 35 million kilometers. If you want to lose weight or stay in shape, you might find the game enjoyable. 

Chainmonsters

Chainmonsters is a Pokémon-themed MMORPG (massively-multiplayer online role-playing game) that runs on the Flow blockchain. In a similar fashion to most other free-to-play games, it allows you to play for free and collect in-game items that could be traded on the marketplace.

While the game has garnered attention, it is still under development, and based on its alpha products, many users consider its graphics one of the best. If this is something you like, now might be the time to hop on before the rest of the world catches up.

Axie Infinity scholarship

Axie Infinity is a top play-to-earn game that requires you to spend before you can be a part of the game. As mentioned earlier in the article, these costs could range from $600 – $3000. However, Axie Infinity scholarship gives a ticket to aspiring gamers to be a part of the game. 

Through the scholarship, gamers who cannot afford the gaming fees could get the characters from users who currently play the game. However, considering the cost of these Axies, it is difficult to find a player willing to part with them. Moreso, it requires a lot of trust between the Axie player and the aspiring gamer.  

Nonetheless, players lucky enough to get into this scholarship setup will get a chance to play the game and earn rewards. These rewards will be shared with the original owner, with the owner taking a significant chunk of it. 

The Sandbox

Last on the list is The Sandbox, an Ethereum-hosted free-to-play game. The Sandbox offers a different gaming experience from every other game on this list. The Minecraft-like game is an immersive 3D metaverse world where users can own plots of land to build and craft new creations. 

Players use an in-game 3D modeling and NFT creation package called VoxEdit to create and animate 3D objects in the game. These in-game creations can thereafter be uploaded, published, or sold on the game’s NFT marketplace.

Another component of the game is The Sandbox Game Maker, which users need to build 3D games inside the metaverse for free. It is also important to note that the game has its native currency, $SAND, which is tradable on multiple crypto exchanges. 

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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.