When the play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games were introduced into the market, gamers and game developers hated them. GDC’s 2022 industry survey found that over seven in ten game developers were uninterested in incorporating crypto or NFT elements into game development. Yet, celebrities and athletes embraced the change.
There were some contrary forecasts as well. In the same year, 2022, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian predicted that Play-to-Earn gaming would become the dominant gaming model within the next five years. Valued at roughly $5–$7.8 billion currently, the P2E gaming market is expected to grow more than fivefold, surpassing $26–$38 billion over the next decade.
What is The Play to Earn Model? What Does it Offer?
Play games and earn money. That is the simple idea of play-to-earn. When the gaming and decentralized finance industry merged, the thrill and benefits it offered became unimaginable. By deploying blockchain, Gamefi lets users trade in game assets and make profits.
Apart from holding the attention of gamers, the P2E games offer digital ownership & economic rewards. Most of the ecosystems come with marketplaces to help their users to find value.
Thus, the Gamefi industry not only offers the adventure of survival or fighting a battle. It also provides real monetary value.
After a thorough market research, we have curated a list of 10 popular play-to-earn crypto games.
Top 10 Play-to-Earn Games
Play-to-earn games are transforming the gaming industry by leveraging blockchain technology to build decentralized virtual worlds where players have true ownership of their in-game assets. From battling opponents and completing quests to competing in tournaments, staking assets, and trading on marketplaces, players have multiple ways to earn rewards in play-to-earn games.
In this blog, we have compiled a list of the 10 best blockchain gaming platforms that are popular and reward the community as well.
1. Axie Infinity
Sky Mavi, Trung Nguyen, and Aleksander Larsen founded the game Axie Infinity in March 2018, after getting inspired by the success of CryptoKitties. The game reached its period of glory during 2021, and there were many factors associated with its growth. The primary reason was the COVID-19 pandemic that hit in 2021.
Alongside the NFT boom, ICO boom, and the crypto market boom, massive adoption was created and drove the interest of the public into the digital asset systems. This became another reason for the rapid popularity of Axie Infinity, and we have kept it as our top pick among the available crypto games for its engaging gameplay.
Axie Infinity is a digital pet-battling game that holds the traces of the Pokémon series. Players collect fantasy creatures called Axies, which are NFTs that can be owned, traded, and sold. Here, players need to win PvP battles, complete quests, breed axies to create new ones, and trade axies in marketplaces to earn rewards.
Initially, the game was launched on Ethereum in 2018, but later migrated to the Ronin blockchain, a gaming-focused sidechain developed by Sky Mavis to provide faster transactions and lower fees for players.
2. The Sandbox
On the second item on our list, we have Sandbox, which has over 2 million registered users across the globe. It was founded by Arthur Madrid and Sébastien Borget in 2012, and in 2018, the game was acquired by Animoca Brands and transformed into a blockchain-powered metaverse platform.
While most blockchain-based games offer a play-to-earn model, The Sandbox follows a create-to-earn model, where creators can build and monetize their own experiences. Buying, selling, and developing LAND to create unique experiences can reward the players.
3. Pixels
Pixels was launched in 2022 by the studio Pixels and gained a significant traction after its migration to the Ronin network. The founder and CEO of this farming game is Luke Barwikowski. Like most other crypto gaming projects, Pixels also started to get its shape during the COVID-19 period. The most interesting fact about the founder, Luke, is that he started to code at the age of 12.
Currently, the web3 game has over 1 million daily active users. The most engaging aspect for the players is the social and progression-based gameplay loop. While players gather resources, complete quests, and build farming lands in the in-game economy, the platform focuses on rewarding users with high rewards.
This platform also lets users have social interactions, trade resources, and collaborate on activities.
4. Gods Unchained
Players who are already familiar with Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering could understand the gameplay of Gods Unchained with ease. The game itself was developed by an Australian blockchain development company, Immutable, founded by Robbie Ferguson, James Ferguson, and Alex Connolly.
Gods Unchained came into focus during 2018-2019 and is one of the earliest blockchains that entered the space. The free-to-play blockchain trading card game (TCG) was built on the Ethereum blockchain. In the in-game economy, players need to choose one of the six gods and build a deck containing 30 cards. Each card’s health starts with 30, and in battle, the ultimate objective is to reduce the god’s health to zero. Players can use mana to play creatures, spells, and abilities.
By winning ranked matches and trading the rare cards on the marketplaces, players can earn.
5. Decentraland
Decentraland, built by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano, was one of the earliest blockchain games built on the Ethereum network. The development activity of the game began in 2015 and went public in February 2020. It quickly rose in popularity during the metaverse boom of 2021 and currently has over 300,000 monthly active users.
The most exciting part of the game is the ability of the players to create and monetize the virtual experience they create. Not only gamers, but also major fashion brands and artists hosted events and experiences within the platform, using the platform’s flexibility.
The platform’s economy is powered by the MANA token, which is used to purchase land, wearables, and other digital assets. Players have the freedom to customize avatars with wearable NFTs. Decentraland is more of a create-to-earn platform rather than a traditional play-to-earn game. Here, players can earn by buying and selling virtual land.
6. Guild of Guardians
This is the first RPG game that we have positioned in our list. The Guild of Guardians was officially launched in May 2024 and has surpassed over 1 million downloads. The game was developed by Mineloader and was published by Immutable.
As a part of the core gameplay, players need to collect Heroes, called guardians, and build a balanced team of Tanks, Warriors, Rangers, Mages, and Support characters. Completing dungeon raids and boss battles would earn rewards.
Players can enjoy the gaming process by upgrading the heroes and equipment.
7. World of Dypians
Again, we have listed another open-world MMORPG game, World of Dypians, that combines traditional RPG gameplay with NFTs, blockchain technology, and a player-driven economy. Dypius ecosystem was the team behind the development of World of Dypians.
The web3 game was officially launched in November 2024 and has gathered a community of over 2.6 million members across its social channels. The open-world exploration and multiplayer gameplay make the gameplay more interesting to the players.
In the core gameplay, to earn rewards, players need to fight monsters, join clans, collect resources, and complete stories. The gaming platform also distributes NFTs by throwing in in-game airdrops, quests, boss fights, treasure chests, special events, and minting campaigns.
8. Star Atlas
The gaming project was first announced in 2021 and is still in development stages. It was developed by ATMTA, a game development studio co-founded by Michael Wagner, Pablo Quiroga, and Jacob Floyd. It is a massive multiplayer space exploration and strategy game set in the year 2620, built on the Solana blockchain.
The AAA-quality graphics and vast sci-fi universe make the gameplay more attractive. Players can earn through resource mining, trading commodities, completing missions, and selling NFT ships and equipment. The freedom to create your own role in a player-driven galaxy remains an attractive part of the game.
The core gameplay of Star Atlas is about building a space empire through exploration, mining, trading, and warfare. Mining resources, trading assets, building fleets, and competing for territorial control are all a part of the game.
9. My Neighbor Alice
A Swedish game studio, Antler Interactive, developed the game My Neighbor Alice. It was first introduced to the public in 2021, and the first production mainnet version, “Chapter One: A New Adventure,” was launched in June 2025.
The core gameplay involves owning land, farming and crafting, customizing the island, socializing, and trading with other players. The game is built on the Chromia blockchain and uses the ALICE token as its primary ecosystem token, and the community boasts over 159,000 registered players.
Completing quests and missions would reward players with ALICE tokens. Other earning options include trading NFTs, participating in seasonal events, staking ALICE token, farming, resource gathering, and developing and selling virtual land.
10. Illuvium
It is an AAA-style blockchain game and has secured the last position on the list we have generated. Illuvium offers the thrill of open-world exploration, monster collecting, and auto-battler combat. The game was founded in 2020 by Kieran Warwick, Aaron Warwick, and Grant Warwick and was built on the Ethereum blockchain.
In order to provide an immersive experience, it is connected to multiple games, including Illuvium Overworld, Illuvium Arena, and Illuvium Zero. The core gameplay includes exploring the world, capturing the illuvials, building powerful teams, and battling opponents.
Players can earn rewards by capturing rare illuvials, trading NFTs, and participating in battles and tournaments.
Things You Need To Know Before Launching a P2E Game
All the crypto-earning games mentioned above are known for their unique features. If you are planning to launch a P2E game in the digital asset ecosystem, here are some basics that you need to be aware of in gaming. These are basic essential pieces of information that will help game designers and marketers while ideating and launching their games. Depending on the purpose and style you want to go with, you create a combo of features by knowing what exists.
Common Tradable In-Game Assets
The core part that distinguishes traditional games from play-to-earn crypto games is the tradable in-game assets. While the in-game economy is set by the gaming developers, the players receive on-chain digital assets as a reward. Here are some common in-game assets.
| Characters | Playable avatars with unique abilities and rarity levels. |
| Weapons & Equipments | Swords, guns, armor, shields, and other gear that improve gameplay. |
| Skins & Cosmetics | Visual customizations for characters, weapons, or items. |
| Virtual Land | Digital plots that can be owned, developed, rented, or traded. |
| Pet | Creatures that assist players in battles, quests, or resource gathering. |
| Vehicles & Mounts | Cars, spaceships, horses, dragons, and other transportation assets. |
| Collectibles | Rare cards, artifacts, trophies, or unique items. |
Different Categories of P2E Games
There are several categories of P2E games, depending on the type of ownership and offering unique gameplay.
NFT Games
Axie Infinity and Illuvium are two popular NFT games. Most NFT-based games’ core play involves collecting virtual land and building items, representing multiple NFTs or letting players mint their own.
In Axie Infinity, the NFTs represent in-game assets. Players can participate in battle and breeding only when they own Axies, which are actually NFTs. After using an Axie in a battle, the player has the choice to trade with another player and earn with it. And a player can also earn Axies as tournament rewards or by participating in the special events hosted by developers.
DeFi Games
It is an extended version of P2E games, where players get the chance to mine, stake, and participate in yield farming. It paves the way for multiplying the assets or token rewards players earn through gaming.
For instance, in the game DeFi Kingdom, players can provide liquidity to the pools. The RPG game is integrated into a DeFi model with fair gameplay. Players can enter the pixel art fantasy kingdom by owning hero NFTs. The gaming ecosystem brings banks for staking, gardens for providing liquidity, and a marketplace for trading tokens.
Farming Games
In the farming games, players are allowed to manage farmlands, gather resources, and produce goods. This is slightly different from combat or exploration games. Here, the players are made to plant crops, raise animals, and earn rewards for the activities. Popular examples include Sunflower Land and Farmers World.
In the Sunflower Land game, players will be provided with a land to farm, where they can gradually build items by collecting resources and producing goods. And it is built on blockchain technology, empowering players to gain rewards eventually, while they play.
NFT Trading Card Games
Though it is partially similar to NFT games, there is a slight difference in the gameplay. In NFT games, the NFTs are used as in-game assets. But here the core gameplay itself involves collecting cards, building decks, and battling with other players. Players hold the ownership of NFT cards, which they can hold, sell, and trade.
Popular NFT TCG games include Gods Unchained and Parallel. Parallel is a sci-fi strategy card game set in a futuristic universe. In Parallel, a faction is a group, race, civilization, or team with its own unique characteristics, abilities, and playstyle. They build decks using character, weapon, and ability cards. And the cards are NFTs that players can use on the battlefield to defeat the opponent, as well as sell and trade.
AAA Web3 Games
They are typically high-budget games built upon blockchain technology that provide an immersive experience through sophisticated graphic design and production quality. They remain a popular type of web3 game due to their high-end gaming quality and sustainable reward mechanisms. Examples: Shrapnel and Off The Grid.
Shrapnel is a first-person extraction shooter set in a futuristic world. Here, the objective is not simply to eliminate opponents but to enter a dangerous area, collect valuable loot, and escape alive. There is also a risk for the players to lose their equipment. The most exciting part of the game is making decisions, where each action has its own impact.
Metaverse Games
Metaverse games are virtual worlds where players can explore, socialize, create content, own digital assets, and participate in a digital economy. Unlike traditional games that focus on specific missions or objectives, metaverse games function more like persistent virtual societies where players shape the experience.
A few examples include Sandbox and Decentraland. Sandbox is a virtual world where buyers can buy digital land, create experiences, and monetize their creations.
Best Blockchains to Launch Crypto Games
In the previous section, we explained what the different types of blockchain-based games are that you can build and provided some live examples for each. While choosing the gameplay is important, it is also equally important to pick the right blockchain for building the crypto game. As a blockchain influences transaction costs, scalability, user experience, security, NFT functionality, and the overall growth potential of a game’s ecosystem.
Here is a list of the five best blockchains that are primarily used by game developers around the world.
Ethereum
Among all the available blockchain ecosystems, Ethereum is the pioneer in introducing smart contracts and providing various tools for developers to build dApps (decentralized applications). It offers NFT standards, including ERC-721 and ERC-1151, which are essential for digital asset ownership in gaming.
The Ethereum ecosystem also includes L2s, which offer additional benefits for game developers, as they could offer higher processing volume and lower fees, making gameplay faster and more accessible.
BNB Chain
The BNB can attract entrepreneurs by offering cost-effective features for gaming development. It employs Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) consensus mechanism, which facilitates faster block times and lower gas fees. One of the popular crypto games, CryptoBlades, was also built on this platform owing to its unique features.
Moreover, BSC has positioned itself as the ideal L1 platform for gaming applications as it offers high performance, low cost, and a vibrant community. opBNB is yet another powerful platform for gaming that comes at a speed of 5,000-10,000 TPS.
Solana
Founded in 2017, Solana is a high-performance, open-source blockchain designed to support dApps for global scale. The high-speed transactions, low transaction fees, smart contract support, interoperability, and strong security make it one of the best platforms to build blockchain games.
Solana lets developers seamlessly integrate digital assets into the gaming ecosystem as it provides robust support for NFTs and cryptocurrencies. The governance model of Solana gives an edge to gamers and developers by adding a layer of confidence in the game’s fairness and security.
Polygon
Polygon remains the hub for popular blockchain games, including Magic Eden, House of Gaming, and FootEarn via tie-ups. It is known for compounding the benefits of gaming and esports. The firm also provides plug-and-play software development kits for developers.
Polygon has also launched tools like Polygon Edge, Polygon ID, and Polygon Studios specifically for gaming developers.
Flow
Flow provides developer-friendly tools and allows a walletless onboarding process. Flow’s Cadence programming language provides built-in account, object, and access control models, making it easier for developers to create secure and manageable in-game assets such as NFTs, characters, and collectibles. This helps reduce smart contract vulnerabilities while improving digital asset ownership and security.
To Conclude
Though there are many successful P2E games, the story of Hamster Kombat made all gamers get their hands on the telegram-based tap-to-earn model. The humorous story of the game has gained quick attention. It was launched on March 26, 2024, and has reached almost 100 million players in about 73 days. Also, the game achieved over 300 million users in 2024 itself.
The success behind the game can be attributed to its simplicity, ease of gameplay, and the catchy storyline of the hamster being the CEO of a crypto exchange. Anyone with a Telegram account can start playing the game, and it doesn’t require any wallet integration or NFT purchase. And the future rewards and airdrops kept the users engaged for months.
If you are an entrepreneur with a futuristic vision that could revolutionize the gaming industry, BlockWoods could help. We are the veterans of the industry with in-depth knowledge about the gaming landscape and the competition in the crypto world.
Our expert marketers could guide you on how to strategically launch and design your game and simply your journey. Contact us to get a free consultation.
FAQs
1. Are P2E games free?
Most modern P2E games are free to start and allow players to join without purchasing NFTs or in-game cryptocurrencies. Investments are required in some games to unlock certain features or to participate in the in-game economy. Here are some of the play-to-earn games without investment: Hamster Kombat, Decentraland, and The Sandbox.
2. Are play-to-earn games legitimate?
Yes, P2E games are legitimate and operate on blockchain to function in the decentralized structure. However, there are high risks of scams in the gaming industry. Players should be cautious enough to check the development team to know if the gaming platform is safe enough.
3. How do play-to-earn crypto games work?
The gaming part works more like a traditional game, where players can enjoy the thrill and adventure and earn rewards. But the primary difference arises in the real-time value of the in-game rewards. Unlike traditional games, the rewards earned by the players are tokenized in-game digital assets and can be traded and gain monetary value for the users.
4. Can I earn money by playing play-to-earn games?
Some players earn only a few dollars per month, while highly active players who participate in competitive tournaments, asset trading, guild activities, or rare NFT farming can generate significantly higher rewards. The earnings greatly depend on the skills and effective strategies you use during gameplay.
5. What are the best mobile play-to-earn crypto games?
Some of the best crypto games on mobile are Axie Infinity, Guild of Guardians, Pixels, Gods Unchained, and Spinterlands.
