Web3 Fun: Exploring the Web3

So, you want to start playing Web3 games? 

We can’t blame you. They’re fun, addictive, and are a good first step to understanding the complex technology of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  

They also stand out for several key reasons. Among them is the concept of true ownership, i.e. players having the means to verify that an in-game item actually belongs to them; the Play-to-Earn model  whereby Web3 games reward players with cryptocurrency or NFTs for their in-game achievements. And interoperability, meaning that assets can be transferred from one game or platform to another. 

That sounds good, but which games should you play? 

We analyzed the market and picked three games from two camps: the biggest and the most famous ones. 

And the ones that appeared not that long ago but are already gaining traction in the community. So, let’s deep-dive and prepare for an extra pick at the end. 

Axie Infinity  

When it comes to Web3 games, several titles stand out. One of them is Axie Infinity. Developed by Sky Mavis, it enables players to collect, breed, and battle creatures called Axies. These are unique creatures that players can recreate, allowing them to inherit certain traits from their parents, including body parts, abilities, and stats, before embarking on their battles. 

The game has a Play-to-Earn model, with people earning Smooth Love Potions (SLP) tokens while playing. They can be spent on breeding new Axies or converted into money on exchanges. Due to these payouts, the game became especially popular in countries like the Philippines and beyond. 

The game’s native coin Axie Infinity is performing well on the markets in 2024. According to Coinmarketcap, it's trading at $7.68 at the time of writing. However, it has seen considerable fluctuations during 2024 and is nowhere close to its all-time high of $ 164.34 reached on 5 Nov 2021. 

Axie Infinity’s price dynamic in 2024 Source: Coinmarketcap.com

After peaking at $12,68 on 13 March 2024, it plunged to $4.32 on 7 August and is now slowly recovering.

Meanwhile, Smooth Love Potion is trading at $0.005485 at the time of writing. Its price dynamic is similar to Axie Infinity’s. Notably, its peaks are higher than that of Axie Infinity, even though the coin is worth much less.

Smooth Love Potion’s price dynamic in 2024 Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Decentraland 

Welcome to the blockchain-based metaverse of Decentraland where players can purchase, develop, and trade virtual land and assets in the form of NFTs. 

Decentraland’s site Source: decentraland.org

Officially launched in 2020, in October 2024, Decentraland has gained considerable traction over the years and unveiled the beta for its 2.0 revamp, introducing new features and opportunities for players.  

Different users, companies, and communities own parcels of virtual land that are divided into regions and districts. The idea is to provide users with different experiences and explore a variety of communities. Or even attend digital art fares. Some artists even use the platform to sell their digital artwork, which is why, between March 26 and 29, the 5th edition of Decentraland Art Week was held. 

Despite all this popularity, the game’s native coin, MANA, isn’t performing too well, especially compared to Axie Infinity. 

Currently, it's trading at $0.6176 after plunging to $0.24 on 6 August with the overall dynamics appearing to be mixed.

MANA price dynamics in 2024 Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Splinterlands 

This game is likely to capture the hearts of all players who are into digital collectible card games, representing a variety of different creatures, summoners, and magical spells. Some of them, as you can tell from the picture below, are not too friendly-looking. It has maintained a strong player base, with over 130,000 daily average unique active wallets in 2023.  

Each card offers its own set of actions like flying and healing and stats like attack, defense and more. There’s also a degree of rarity at play. 

Splinterlands’ logo Source: next.splinterlands.com

Operating on the Hive blockchain, it has native cryptocurrencies like DEC (Dark Energy Crystals) and SPS (Splintershards) as part of its Play-to-Earn model. 

DEC in particular, is used to buy card packs in the Splinterlands marketplace. Meanwhile, SPS is used by players and community members to vote on proposals related to the development of the game, influence future updates, and shape the direction of the platform.

Splinterlands’ cards Source: next.splinterlands.com

The DEC coin’s worth, however, leaves a lot to be desired. At the time of writing, it is trading at $0.000822 after a negative dynamic throughout the year.

DEC’s price dynamics in 2024 Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Meanwhile, SPS is available for $0.01042 at the time of writing, showing a highly negative price dynamic in 2024, effectively going on a downward spiral. 

SPS price dynamics in 2024 Source: Coinmarketcap.com

And to the less well-known ones 

Now that we’ve explored the most famous options, let’s take a look at what other fun Web3 games are out there for you to enjoy 

My Neighbor Alice 

Welcome to a place “where anyone can buy and own virtual islands, collect and build exciting items and meet new friends” called My Neighbor Alice.

It’s inspired by successful games like Animal Crossing and combines the best of the two worlds, i.e. a fun narrative for regular players who want to enjoy the gameplay experience and an ecosystem for players who want to collect and trade NFTs. Even if they have no idea what an NFT is. 

The game focuses on Alice and her friends – Björn the Bear, Beekeeper Bob, Ivan the Merchant and Shipwright José. “By interacting with neighbors and helping Alice with her duties and daily activities, players earn a reward that can be exchanged for in-game items that they can use on their lands,” the whitepaper reads.

My Neighbor Alice Source: Source: myneighboralice.com

The game’s native currency is the ALICE token that allows holders to play, invest and also be part of the game. It goes hand in hand with the in-game $BJORN Token and is exclusively minted by players who own a plot of land (or have access to a free trial land) and actively play the game. 

“Players use it for all kinds of things – crafting, trading, tools, and more! $BJORN is what powers a significant portion of the in-game economy of My Neighbor Alice. $BJORN exists so that anyone can play the game, even players that don't hold $ALICE! It helps guarantee smooth gameplay, so that My Neighbor Alice stays fun and sustainable,” the game’s whitepaper reads. 

Despite appealing graphics and a solid whitepaper, both of the tokens are worth close to nothing in the market, with Coinmarketcap yet to verify ALICE token and $BJORN Token being absent altogether. 

Race to a Billion 

According to its own description, this project “merges racing excitement with blockchain transparency, allowing users to predict outcomes of simulated memecoin races using $RACE tokens” and serves as a decentralized platform where you can make precision predictions on meme race outcomes using the native $RACE Token. 

There are four main characters all based on popular figures in the meme and crypto-verse. They include the Shiba Inu dog that’s integral to both the Shiba Inu coin and Dogecoin, the Pepe-the-coin kind of frog, a grumpy cat, and the kid version of Donald Trump who just appointed a crypto-friendly U.S. Security and Exchange Commission chair as opposed to the outgoing crypto-hater Gary Gensler. 

Race to a Billion Source: racetoabillion.com

Its native token $RACE is being offered for sale, with the project looking to launch the $RACE platform, “allowing you to use your $RACE token to predict the outcome of virtual races between your favorite meme characters in the Web3 world.”

While the project is very much in its development stage, it appears interesting so make sure to at least check it out. 

Big time

Humanity is on the brink of extinction.

Sounds familiar? 

Well, aside from it being close to reality, it’s also the central concept of a game called Big Time where “walls of spacetime are collapsing, different eras of history are colliding together, and forces of darkness are coming through the tears in time.”

Enter the ancient and mysterious city where the game’s Evermore Academy gathered the greatest minds and heroes from throughout history. These Batman-like heroes are gathered to wage the definitive battle to “save all of history from collapsing into the void.”

Big time Source: bigtime.gg

The game’s native token is $BIGTIME, and it is a fair launch token, meaning that neither the team nor the investors have it allocated to them. So, the only way to get it is to actually play and get it through in-game drops, rewarding players for their engagement. 

As of December 1, 2024, Big Time Studios announced the launch of a new PvP mode that aims to enhance the game’s competitive aspects and provide additional avenues for players to earn and utilize $BIGTIME tokens. 

The current price of $BIGTIME is $0.2239.

An extra not-so-hidden gem

So we’ve covered three games from each camp. But there’s one more that we feel we want to touch upon before we wrap up.  

Gods Unchained 

Now, you might ask us why we didn’t include this classic in the first camp of games. Well, it deserves special attention.

Last year, we had the privilege to hear straight from the horse’s mouth about what this free-to-play, tactical digital card game that integrates blockchain technology to provide players with true ownership of their in-game assets is all about.

To do that, we talked to VP and executive producer for Gods Unchained Daniel Paez of Immutable, which is the game’s creator. He explained to us that it offers six domains in the game.  

Nature, life, magic, death, deception and war. Each domain has a series of different cards associated with them, as well as cards that they can all share, adding that they all play differently, and feel so too. Each of these gods has a different backstory.But it wasn’t just the game’s plot that was of interest, as Paez also shed light on the concept of ownership that’s essential to the game and that we touched upon earlier turned out to be not so connected to blockchain, as per Paez. 

Here’s what he had to say on the subject:

When I look at ownership in a Web 3 game, it doesn’t initially really have to be on the blockchain. Yet, when players grow these collections and more partners build on top of the same chain, it’ll allow them to compare collections, trade, and lend with one another. That is when they realize that “I can do so much more than just have this in my account. I think that's the power of when we talk about ownership. Ownership for the sake of ownership doesn't mean anything to gamers.

That said, the game’s native token, the Gods Unchained (GODS), is trading at approximately $0.235 at the time of this writing. Its price dynamic over the year is very negative.

Gods unchained 2024 price dynamic Source: Coinmarketcap

Related: Gods Unchained VP Interview: Blockchain Games Will Take Off Soon

Any catch?

After reading this article, you’re likely feeling that Web3 games are the next new thing. Indeed this is so – but only in part. While they offer various new features for all gamers to explore, some challenges remain. 

Among the chief ones is scalability, as all of them are built on blockchain technology, which has yet to resolve all of the issues. In addition to that, there are regulatory concerns as well as the blockchain’s carbon footprint. 

Still, the games offer an enticing opportunity for those eyeing decentralized, player-centric ecosystems, offering new opportunities and experiences for gamers worldwide. So, explore them and find the one that works for you.