Your Ultimate Guide to NFT Gaming: Is It Profitable and How To Get Started

Have you been thinking about NFT gaming? Maybe you’ve played a few games and are interested in learning more. Or perhaps you’re enjoying NFT gaming and want to find a way to turn it into an additional revenue stream.

If you’re curious about NFT gaming, this guide can help you get started, learn how to monetize your hobby and answer your questions about NFT games.

What Are NFTs?  

Non-fungible tokens are, essentially, a form of digital currency made to represent art, music, merchandise or other assets. Fungible, in terms of currency, means interchangeable. So a non-fungible token means that digital asset is not equally interchangeable with another asset, digital or non-digital. GOBankingRates.com explains it best when they describe fungible assets as things like gold bars, stocks or U.S. currency. You can trade one $20 bill for another $20 bill and neither party will have gained or lost anything from the deal.

On the other hand, many collectibles, cars, diamonds and artwork all vary slightly. You cannot trade one diamond for another diamond in a completely equal exchange, although both diamonds may have approximately the same value. That is because each gemstone is unique. Likewise, two pieces of artwork may have the same value today, but one could appreciate and one could depreciate due to a number of factors. Artwork creates a very good analogy to NFTs, since NFTs are often used to represent art.

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What’s the Difference Between NFTs and Crypto?

Although you can buy NFTs with cryptocurrency — and many people do — crypto and NFTs are not the same. Cryptocurrency is fungible, since you can trade one Bitcoin for another in an equal exchange. With NFTs, all the value lies in the token being unique and original.

There are also some other similarities between NFTs and crypto. For instance, most NFT games are played on the Ethereum blockchain and Binance Smart Chain. You can use the same digital wallet that holds your cryptocurrency investments to store your gaming NFTs. And you can use crypto to purchase NFTs in your favorite NFT games.

While cryptocurrency is considered part of the world of DeFi, or decentralized finance, NFT gaming exists as part of a concept called GameFi, or the merger of finance and gaming.

What Does NFT Mean in Gaming?

The concept of NFT gaming, is that it connects the gaming experience to unique digital assets that can be won, purchased or otherwise acquired within the game world.

NFTs in gaming may come in the form of:

• Memes
• Gifs
• Emotes
• Artwork
• Clothing
• Player Skins
• Characters
• Avatars
• Game consumeables
• Game Assets

You can store your gaming NFTs in a digital wallet — just like cryptocurrency, trade them with other players or use them to enhance your game enjoyment — just like collectibles in the real world!

How Do You Play NFT Games?

NFT games vary as widely as any other video games. Some are based on completing quests, some are based on battles and some are games of chance. Some operate like tactical card games in the spirit of Magic: The Gathering. Others, like AdoptMe and CryptoKitties, are based on collecting, raising and interacting with animals.

Etheria, widely considered the first NFT game, introduced in 2015, is a real estate investment game based on trading digital land as NFTs. In 2021, someone purchased a plot of land in Etheria for 70 ETH, worth roughly $130,000 USD at the time, according to NFTExplained.info. There is clearly money to be had — and spent — in NFT gaming.

The popular CryptoKitties, introduced in 2017, allows the player to collect, breed, care for, and buy and sell digital cats while also playing games and completing puzzles. Because they are NFTs, every cat represented in the game is 100% unique. As of June 29, 2022, there are more than 2 million CryptoKitties owned by players around the world or available for sale.

To play an NFT game, you’ll need to access the game through your mobile device or computer, and often invest a “stake” in the game by paying in cryptocurrency. From there, make sure you know the rules of your individual game and, most importantly, have fun.

Earning Profits from NFT Games

If you think any gaming advertisements that claim you can earn income just by playing are scams, that’s not true. While scams are out there, NFT gaming can be a viable path to earning money through gaming.

There are several ways to earn a profit through NFT gaming. You can choose play-to-earn games, which are some of the most popular NFT games available today. In these games, you earn rewards by completing challenges, defeating levels, villain characters, or even just by playing more frequently. The assets you earn, including NFTs, cryptocurrency, or player skins, can be traded in to unlock more rewards or sold for cryptocurrency.

Some play-to-earn games are free to begin, while others require you to purchase a stake in the game to start.

Alternatively, you can play games like CryptoKitties, where you can earn in-game NFTs that have value only within the game. Then, you sell the NFT cats for cryptocurrency — in the case of CryptoKitties, Ethereum, which you can then sell like any other investment for U.S. dollars or hold onto it if you feel it may appreciate. As with any crypto investment, investing in NFTs and converting them to crypto is highly speculative and you could lose money as easily as you could earn money.

You can also earn money by creating your own NFTs and selling them in games like CryptoBlades and Cryptovoxels. You can also play in the metaverse neighborhood of Decentraland. You can create objects, wearables or collectibles and earn royalties from sales.

When you’re playing an NFT game, you will also likely have an opportunity to trade your NFTs. Remember, since NFTs are non-fungible, meaning two NFTs are not worth the exact same value, you may lose or gain on a trade. However, you can trade NFTs to get other objects or items that can help you progress in the game, or you can earn high value NFTs by trading them for objects other players need.

If you plan to trade NFTs, it’s important to understand the value of what you hold. NFTs vary in their value based on how rare they are, their specific attributes, or how useful they might be in the game, as well as their inherent appeal to players.

Are There Any Free NFT Games?

While many NFT games require you to pay to begin to play, some free NFT games exist. You can still earn NFTs that may have real-world value in these games. Splinterlands is one of the most popular free NFT games. It is a collectible card game where players can win rewards from playing tournaments or completing quests — all with no upfront fees to get started.

Womplay.io has a full collection of NFT games that allow players to win points or cash.

Gods Unchained is another popular, free NFT game where players can earn and trade in-game assets. Gods Unchained levels the playing field by matching up players of similar rankings, while some play-to-earn games give players who can purchase the rarest or most powerful cards have an advantage over other players.

Conclusion

If you already enjoy gaming, NFT gaming can be a way to earn extra cash or get started with cryptocurrency investments. All you need is a computer or mobile device, a digital wallet to store your winnings and access to a crypto exchange if you decide to trade in your NFTs for crypto or cash.

It is possible to lose money or to lose your NFTs if you play, but if you start with free NFT games, the stakes are fairly low. In most cases, the more you play, the better you will get and the more you can earn. If you’re looking to earn some spare change, and don’t mind taking a risk, NFT gaming might be worth exploring.

Information is accurate as of June 29, 2022.