After DeFi’s popularity came the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and to the surprise of many, NFTs have been in the limelight and remain in the spotlight with the highest sales volume, taking center stage in early January 2022.
Growing number of unique NFT buyers on Ethereum Source: Delphi Digital
As 2021 became the year of the NFTs, GameFi applications surpassed DeFi in terms of user popularity. According to data from DappRadar, Bloomberg collected:
“Almost 50% of the active cryptocurrency wallets that were connected to decentralized applications in November were used to play games. The percentage of wallets connected to decentralized finance or DeFi-Dapps fell to 45% over the same period after being the leading Dapp use case for months. ”
Blockchain, the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, skyrocketed, sparking a gaming frenzy that’s expected to last all of 2022. Crypto experts and gaming proponents have high expectations for p2e blockchain-based games and there are sure to be a few sleeping giants that will dominate the industry.
Let’s take a look at five blockchain games that could make waves in 2022.
DeFi Kingdoms
The inspiration for DeFi Kingdoms came from simple beginnings – a passion for investing that drew developers to blockchain technology. DeFi Kingdoms was born as a liquidity pool investing visualization, where “gardens” in the game literally and figuratively represent token pairing and liquidity pool mining.
As shown in the game, investors have part of their LP share on a plot of land filled with flowering plants. By linking the growth concept to DeFi protocols within a play-and-earn model, DeFi Kingdoms is giving a twist to “playing” a game.
Aerial view of DeFi Kingdoms. Source: Twitter DeFi Kingdoms
Building on the Harmony Network, DeFi Kingdoms became the first project in the network to ever top the DappRadar charts. This could be attributed to an influx of people interested in both DeFi and blockchain games, or it could be attributed to the recent surge in the utility token (JEWEL) in the game.
JEWEL is a utility token that allows users to purchase in-game NFTs buffs to increase the base value and it is used for liquidity mining which gives users the opportunity to earn more JEWEL by staking.
JEWEL / USD daily chart. Source: Gecko Terminal
JEWEL is also a governance token that gives holders a voice in the growth and development of the project. In the past four months, the token price rose from $ 1.23 to an all-time high of $ 22.52. At the time of writing, JEWEL is down nearly 16% and is trading at $ 19.51.
According to CoinGecko, the JEWEL token price is up about 1.487% from its modest start from $ 1.23 four months ago in September, up about 165% in the last month alone.
Guild of Guardians
Guild of Guardians is one of the most anticipated blockchain games in 2022 and is based on ImmutableX, the first Layer 2 solution on Ethereum that focuses on NFTs. With the aim of providing more access, it will act as a free mobile RPG game modeling the play-and-earn mechanics.
Guardian Heroes Guild. Source: Guild of Guardians
Similar to blockchain games like Axie Infinity, in-game assets can be exchanged by Guild of Guardians. The project seems to be interesting for many players and investors with both the NFT founder sale and the sale Token start generated a volume of almost 10 million US dollars.
The Guild of Guardians (GOG) tokens, which will launch their in-game token in October 2021, are ERC-20 tokens known in-game as “Gems”. Gems are the main features of the game, such as: B. New in-game NFTs that interact with the marketplace and are available to earn while playing.
GOG monthly price promotion. Source: CoinGecko
Over the past month, the Guardians’ Guild token has seen strong growth, hitting an all-time value of $ 2.81. Although the token is nearly 50% below its all-time high at the time of writing, there are a few Members of the community look forward to the possibility of staking and liquidity pools, which are features that will help stabilize token prices.
Galaxy Fight Club
Imagine doing a Proof-of-Picture (pfp) NFT and turning it into an avatar to fight other fighters in a galaxy far, far away? Galaxy Fight Club (GFC) is a blockchain game that switched its gear from a 10,000 avatar collection to the first cross-brand, cross-platform PvP fighting game where players can fight with their collection of avatars.
GFC focuses on interoperability and places special emphasis on its original fighters, but allows other avatars to fight for the opportunity to earn rewards.
Artist’s impression of the gameplay in GFC. Source: Galaxy Fight Club Avatar
The game is expected to appear on the Polygon Network and will feature various themes from various partner collections such as Animetas and CyberKongz that incorporate its cross-platform goal. GFC plays with SuperSmash Bros. nostalgia, except that you fight for loot keys to open loot boxes instead of simply wiping out your opponent.
GFC is currently in beta testing and is facing minor setbacks, including a delayed IDO. To date, it is not clear when public access will be available, but many are hoping for a rollout in the first quarter of 2022.
GCOIN
Each Galaxy Fighter generates between 5 and 15 GCOIN daily, and each fighter started generating GCOIN in October 2021. When a fighter is sold, the new owner inherits the currently accrued GCOIN. GCOIN is likely valuable in the ecosystem as it is needed to aid players with game movements, forging weapons, opening loot boxes, and training and selling second generation fighters.
Despite minor setbacks, an IDO for GCOIN is planned for January 6th on PolkaStarter and is expected to release 4 million tokens for sale at USD 0.50 each and a maximum allocation of USD 500 per wallet. Unfortunately, the project’s KYC and whitelist requirements sat out many residents.
According to Ado, a team leader on the project, “The first $ 1.5 million was bought and sold out in about 15 minutes, followed by an additional hour for the remaining $ 500,000 reserved for Battle Pass holders only needed ”, shows a successful IDO. CA 2,600 unique purses hold GFC fighters, with the top wallet holding nearly 2% of the total collection.
CryptoBeasts
CryptoBeasts is a pixelated digital art game that brings out the retro feel of the original Zelda game. CryptoBeasts is based on the Ethereum blockchain and is a “peer-to-peer system for rare electronic eggs” (for everything first, right?). These 10,000 pixelated colored eggs grant each owner a piece of land in the game’s “Eggland” universe and a DAO vote.
Hatched CryptoBeasts. Source: CryptoBeasts
The DAO operates on a hierarchy in which the number of eggs a player owns determines their status and, strange as it may sound, every decision seems to be calculated in CryptoBeasts. Numbers are worth mentioning as they can determine one’s own status, and Prime Number Eggs offer advantages like extracting more from their native CBX token and they also hatch rare beasts with increased strength.
According to data from Dune analysis, the best-selling rare egg went for 5 ethers, which was valued at $ 9,085 at the time of sale. On December 31, 2021, an in-game tokenomics announcement led to an increase in sales and the current entry point at 0.05 ether is well above the 0.01 ETH mint price in June 2021.
CBX token
While Cryptobeasts claims it’s more than “playing to earn” and more like “fun,” it’s still a blockchain game whose competitive edge also depends on its tokenomics. The native token, CBX, is the in-game token that is designed to be dropped from the air for all rare egg owners.
CBX tokens can reportedly be used and earned in a number of ways, such as:
CBX can also be staked out, which stimulates the HODLing a little longer than intended. The token is expected to power in-game utilities and features such as the purchase of items within the in-game economy for breeding. Similar to Axie Infinity, but not by accident, CryptoBeasts intends to incorporate an academy and scholarship to give larger investors the opportunity to borrow their assets.
Axie infinity
Axie Infinity is the first blockchain game to implement its play-to-earn model and has an established, sophisticated ecosystem with a strong economic model. Axie Infinity is currently seen as the Trojan horse for broader adoption of blockchain games.
3D scene from Axies. Source: Axie Infinity Land 3D teaser
Axie Infinity continues to consolidate its place at the top of the DappRadar NFT rankings, according to its data. As the best-traded collection, Axie Infinity comes to the NBA TopShot, Splinterlands and WAX blockchain “Farmer’s World”, closing $ 563.6 million in the last 30 days.
SLP, AXS and RON
Axies are the NFT used for gameplay and can be bred using SLP, the in-game utility token, and AXS, the governance token. AXS is pluggable, and at over $ 1.68 billion, users are still stuck with a sizable APY, even though the ROI has been reduced to around 86% from over 200% at the start.
The recent launch of the Katana DEX gives players the ability to provide liquidity using SLP or AXS to farm RON.
RON is the ecosystem token and, similar to MATIC, is used as gas charges in the Axie Infinity Ronin sidechain. Axie Infinity is in many ways a digital nation of its own with a real economy.
Like any first market mover, it faces challenges and its recent price correction could be an attractive entry point for investors who were previously priced. With land still to be freed, users may have the ability to craft and harvest resources that other tokens generate.
To date, one of the largest digital land sales in the NFT / Metaverse sector came from an Axie Infinity, one of 75 Genesis lots, that sold for $ 2.3 million.
In alignment with the rapidly growing blockchain game ecosystem, the Sky Mavis team has announced that it has rewritten the core engine from its 2D art style to 3D. The team also announced that “Project K” – code name for part of a game and Lunacia’s kingdom – will be released in phases, each focusing on different elements of the game, from resource gathering to “group strategic gameplay”.
As the concept of blockchain games is gaining broader acceptance and the “Play to Earn” and “Play and Earn” models continue to develop, 2022 will be an exciting year for gamers, developers and investors alike.
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