How To Start Crypto Gaming
Let's assume you've been a gamer your entire life. You've spent much of your leisure time playing video games since you were a kid. During college, you spent your time playing World of Warcraft while your pals went out for a night of partying. When you graduated and started your first job, one of the first things you did was build your PC with the money you had earned. Each gaming genre as well as every platform has been explored, even if only to claim you've done so. Something new is revolutionizing gaming in a totally different way and it has piqued your interest. As a newbie to cryptocurrencies and crypto gaming, you could be feeling lost and uncertain about where to start.
What Exactly Is Crypto Gaming?
Crypto gaming, seen as the next phase of gaming, allows gamers to earn cryptocurrency through a variety of activities. Some games, for instance, provide players with in-game cash that can later be traded for other major cryptocurrencies or used to buy items and characters that could be sold in online markets.
The gaming community now has a new option to get compensated for their time being spent playing games thanks to Crypto Games. The play-to-earn concept has grown in popularity in recent months, so more and more players are embracing crypto gaming communities.
In the blockchain gaming market right now, there are all sorts of games to play, including pay-to-play games that need players to make an initial payment in order to acquire a specific character or at least an item in order to play the game. On the other hand, there are mining games that reward players with coins for creating particular resources or performing specified actions, as well as free-to-play games that you could start playing right now and earn some cryptocurrency.
What Is GameFi?
GameFi is one of the most exciting new crypto phenomena to arise, integrating decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with blockchain-based online games. Unlike so many conventional online games, which use a "pay-to-win" structure and allow users to buy upgrades to gain the upper hand over others, GameFi uses a "play-to-earn" system. Giving players financial rewards to participate and progress through games is the idea behind this notion. In other situations, this has enabled gamers to make a full-time living.
How does it work?
All objects in these types of games are expressed as NFTs – digital tokens used to prove ownership of scarce intangible items. Think of things like plots of land, avatars, costumes, weapons, and gold bars. Once players find and accrue these items through gameplay, many have the option to trade these with others in digital marketplaces for different NFTs or sell them in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Depending on which game is played, users can increase their earning potential by dedicating time leveling up and improving their characters, creating monetized structures on their land that other gamers pay to use, or competing against others in tournaments.
To keep track of what every player owns, all NFTs and cryptocurrency transaction data are stored on a public blockchain. This is a type of distributed, digital record-keeping technology maintained by a global network of computers. Leveraging this technology in gaming provides several benefits, including:
- Players can easily prove ownership of their in-game items.
- There is no single point of failure, meaning players will no longer be at risk of losing track of what they own if the underlying gaming company experiences technical issues.
- Items accrued during gameplay cannot be counterfeited, removed, or destroyed.
- Game-native cryptocurrencies can be sent and received without the need for intermediary settlement, clearing, or custody.
- Some games also include DeFi elements such as staking, where players can lock away certain tokens to earn annual interest, and other rewards they can save to purchase other in-game items or unlock new content.
What would you need to play?
To participate in any of these play-to-earn games, players should accomplish the following:
Setup a cryptocurrency wallet. This will allow them to store their virtual money and NFTs as well as perform in-game transactions. Which wallet you require will be determined by the blockchain on which the game was developed. MetaMask, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency wallet service, will, for instance, work with any GameFi game created on Ethereum.
Buy starter items. All GameFi games are available for free download. Many, on the other hand, demand players to initially acquire characters, native crypto coins, decks of cards, or improvements before they can begin.
Pre-fund your crypto wallet. To buy starter items and advance, you must first pre-fund your crypto wallet with a certain coin. For instance, Cryptoblades needs users to download MetaMask, buy Binance coin (BNB), and then swap it for the game's cryptocurrency, SKILL.
What would you need to play?
To participate in any of these play-to-earn games, players should accomplish the following:
What Are Decentralized Games?
Using blockchain technology, a game could be completely decentralized. As a rule of thumb, these games are based on blockchain principles, which necessitates sending a transaction to the network wherein fees are paid. In terms of Ethereum blockchain, they are usually played through the Metamask extension, TronLink for TRON games, Scatter for EOS Blockchain, and so on. Sidechains are now being used in most decentralized games for an improved gaming experience. Once an action has been taken, the player doesn't often have to pay costs again unless explicitly specified differently in sidechains.
What Are Hybrid Crypto Games?
Those games that incorporate a decentralized economy and NFTs for items, but the game itself is not built on the blockchain, are referred to as hybrid games. A hybrid game, for instance, is if your favorite Steam game incorporates blockchain economy and assets. Although the game itself resides on the company's central servers, the objects and economy are saved on a blockchain.
Our experiences and priorities are unique to each of us. Crypto games, like any other, aren't for everyone. It's a lot of fun to experiment and open your horizons to new game possibilities, but that's only half the enjoyment. So go ahead, gamers, and take a plunge in the crypto gaming waters. It's warm and inviting, and it's brimming with potential.
