In the recent rise of the crypto industry throughout the last two years, many strides have been made in light of crypto gaming. Whilst it currently seems like there's new gaming projects launching every other day, there are a few that seem to be consistently making waves within the realms of crypto Twitter. To give you an idea of what is out there, this guide rounds up a few of the newest, most promising, and exciting blockchain and crypto based games.

1. Moonray

Moonray Gameplay
Image Credit: Moonray

The first title in the list may actually surprise you, as this visually stunning wonder of a game is actually in development on Bitcoin, utilizing the Stacks (formally Blockstacks) ecosystem.

The as-yet unreleased game has been in development since 2021 and support in the community is extremely strong.

The team behind the game managed to raise over $200,000 dollars towards the games' development via crowdfunding platform Republic. Not only does the game look aesthetically pleasing, but it is on course to set a precedent as the first metaverse title built on Bitcoin, via the Stacks ecosystem of course.

They are yet to release their first NFT collections, however a "Pre-sale pass" in the form of a Moonray animated artwork has been listed on OpenSea. The pass is said to include a number of lifetime benefits for any player in possession of it upon the games release.

Visit: Moonray

2. Splinterlands

SplinterLands Starting Screen
Image Credit: SplinterLands
 

This game has been the top game on DappRadar, almost since it's release in 2021. Splinterlands is a turn-based card game featuring NFT player cards, with power and rarity attributes that can be used to value the cost of the card. Splinterlands native token, SPS can be used to buy, trade, or even rent player cards for battle. The secondary token, DEC (Dark Energy Crystals) can be used to purchase in-game items and power ups.

Splinterlands has a very in-depth tokenomics and rewards system, that allows players to earn rewards for battling, completing tasks, ranking in the games' leader board and more. As mentioned above, players can also rent out their character cards for DEC or SPS.

The game is compatible with both Hive and BSC blockchain networks and deposits to the game can be made in a number of other cryptocurrencies as well. The game runs smoothly and is fun for any player looking to find a good turn-based play-to-earn crypto-based game crypto-based game.

Visit: Splinterlands

3. Upland

Upland Logo
Image Credit: Upland

Built on the EOS blockchain, Upland is like playing a giant game of Monopoly... on the real world map!

The point of the game in Upland is to buy, build upon, rent, trade, or sell properties. The properties themselves are actually real properties that appear on Google Streetview. Although players are essentially buying these properties, their purchase does not come with the ownership of the actual property IRL, so don't rush out thinking you can find your next dream home on here!

The initial launch of the game started with just one city, San Francisco. This has now expanded to include eight cities, including New York, Oakland, and Chicago. The team also secured top deals with many NFL teams during 2021, to promote their NFT collectibles for the Superbowl.

Download: Upland for Android | iPhone (Free)

Visit: Upland

4. Illuvium

Illuvium game characters
Image Credit: Illuvium

 

Another visual stunner for the list. This game is like ARK and a number of Pokémon titles wrapped into one. The concept for the game is to be an RPG, with turn-based Pokémon arena style gameplay. The characters themselves are all NFT's with different abilities and traits.

Although yet to release, Illuvium is probably the single most anticipated blockchain game to date. That is judging from their community size interest in the project over time and the ever rising value of their ILV token, which at its height was close to $2,000 per token. The NFT's that they've dropped and released so far have also really taken off, with over 2,000 ETH in traded volume to date.

The Illuvium community is extremely buzzing and full of strong support. Many of the community members have been supporters since the game's concept was revealed in December 2020, and have continued to support the game through multiple crowdfunding rounds and methods.

Visit: Illuvium

5. Space Misfits

Fighter/Alien from Space Misfits Game
Image Credit: Space Misfits

Going under the radar for some time, the Space Misfits team have concentrated a lot on building out their community, who have basically been testing the game for close to a year.

The easy on the eye interfaces and graphics make the game appealing to both a younger and older audience. The multiplayer space exploration game is built on the Enjin Blockchain and incorporates NFT's as collectibles and power ups.

The team has spent an enormous amount of time obtaining feedback from their community to keep updating their white paper and vision to align with their players. The game itself is fun to play, smooth and with player guilds now starting to form, thing will get very interesting.

Download: Space Misfits for Windows (Free, in-app purchases available)

Visit: Space Misfits

Play and Earn With NFT Games

To recap, the best crypto and blockchain games you should look at are:

  • Moonray
  • Splinterlands
  • Upland
  • Illuvium
  • Space Misfits

A list of honorable mentions could be included, but that wouldn't be fair without dropping some info on those games. The thing is, crypto and blockchain games are still relatively new and developing, so expectations are often exceeding capability from players right now. This is expected to change quickly, as more AAA companies enter the space.

Some gamers also have an issue with crypto based games, due to their contentions with the crypto industry on a whole, following the NVIDIA GPU shortage.

That being said, if crypto games excite you as much as it does us, stay alert for new games announcing in the space.