Are crypto games worth the hype?

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In little over a decade, digital currencies have managed to make the transition from an outlandish concept criticized by many and supported by few into a worldwide phenomenon that has captured the attention and imagination of millions of users from all across the world. Nowadays, using crypto exchanges such as Binance to check the price of Bitcoin and trade digital assets has become common practice. 

Slowly but surely, digital currencies and the technology that powers them have expanded their reach, going beyond the limited sphere of tech and finance and permeating many other industries. And gaming is one of the sectors that has fallen under crypto’s spell. This association led to the emergence of crypto gaming in recent years – a combination that many deem successful considering that both crypto and gaming are forward-thinking and fast-developing industries with innovation at their core. 

In fact, crypto games seem to be shaping up as one of the biggest trends in the video game industry as the idea of bringing blockchain technology and digital currencies into the gaming realm becomes increasingly more appealing to a growing number of consumers. But as usual, there are also plenty of naysayers out there who are not particularly thrilled about this emerging gaming model, labeling it as a fleeting fad or even a potentially dangerous activity. 

So, let’s find out what’s behind all this buzz so you can decide for yourself if crypto games are worth the hype or not. 

What is crypto gaming? 

The term “crypto games” designates a new gaming genre that encompasses all games involving crypto or blockchain technology in one way or another. Therefore, crypto games can take various forms as the sector is still expanding with new and exciting games and innovative features being added all the time. 

What sets crypto games apart from traditional ones is decentralization. As you may already know, conventional video games are fully centralized. This means that everything players do and earn in a game is owned by the developers and can only be used within that specific game universe. Users have no say in how the game evolves and their gaming experience is limited by these restrictions. 

Crypto games, on the other hand, break these boundaries by proposing a decentralized gaming model based on blockchain technology where players get to own their in-game items and experience (XP), and can also use them across a variety of other projects, adding a new layer of complexity and interactivity to the gaming sphere. Everything a user acquires by playing a crypto game, be it characters, skins, weapons, tools or XP, becomes their property and can therefore be traded, sold or transferred to a different gaming platform. 

Most crypto games also give players the opportunity to earn rewards in the form of digital currencies or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the in-game actions they perform. This is called a play-to-earn model, and although earning money by playing is not exactly a new concept, the idea of introducing blockchain and crypto in the mix is quite innovative. 

Different strokes for different folks 

If you want to play crypto games, you’ll obviously need to buy cryptocurrency to get started. You can do that by opening an account on a crypto exchange and buying the crypto you require. The process is fairly simple as there are multiple beginner-friendly exchange platforms that you can choose from. 

Then, you’ll have to decide what kind of games you want to play. Given that crypto games are still in the early stages of development, it’s difficult to separate them into distinct categories. However, if we were to make a broad classification of blockchain-based games, there would be two main categories: games that are entirely built on blockchain technology, where every action that a player makes is recorded onto the blockchain, and games that only utilize blockchain-based digital assets like cryptos or NFTs, which players can sell or trade. Regardless of category, all these games have decentralization at their core, giving players more control over their in-game experience.

Crypto games can also be classified based on their features and the activities performed by players. Thus, we have the following categories:

• Collectible games – probably the most popular type of crypto games at the moment, collectible games offer exactly what it says on the tin: they allow players to collect a variety of animated characters that they can train and trade within the gaming universe. 
• Role-playing games – in these games, players assume the role of a character in a virtual setting, allowing them to earn crypto or NFTs as they advance through a quest or a mission. 
• Open-world games – these games give players the possibility to explore and immerse themselves in virtual worlds where they can use a range of digital assets for different purposes such as buying land, building houses, interacting with characters and so on.  

Although we don’t have much data that could help us measure the popularity of crypto gaming given their novelty, the statistics that have been compiled so far reveal that this new genre is rapidly gaining ground in the video game industry, with Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity and Splinterlands being among the most popular crypto games at the moment. By the latest count, these three games combined attract over two million users each month. This figure is likely to increase since crypto games have a much broader customer base, attracting not only gamers but also people who want to cash in on this hype. 

As digital currencies continue to move forward, stepping closer to mainstream adoption, crypto games might follow a similar trajectory and reach a higher level of acceptance in the years to come, which would enable them to compete with traditional video games. However, there is only one way to figure out if crypto games are worth your time and attention and that is by paying. So, feel free to give crypto games a try and share your thoughts on the experience with others.