Good, Bad, and Ugly of NFT games
Behind a bright smiling face is a sinister plan. NFT games started out to be a simple game that helped people earn some extra cash, but with its high-risk format, is there something nefarious hidden to us at plain sight?
NFT games utilize the play-to-earn movement to gain popularity. Players of these games have reaped the benefits of the game. There were accounts that it funded their children’s education and young individuals to buy land. A short disclaimer: it is good to remember these games are a long haul and not an easy money scheme.
The first game I want to focus on reminds me of Pokemon, where you have to pick your first pokemon out of the three available. I was a Bulbasaur fan and I thought wouldn’t have been nice to get all three at once? The game heard that question and when you start the game you need to buy 3 creatures called Axie, and the game is called Axie Infinity.
1. Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is a battling game where players can collect, breed, raise, battle, and trade non-fungible token-based creatures called Axies. It is a block-chain based trading game, which means players have to purchase cryptocurrency to begin playing the game. The first step of Axie Infinity is to buy the best team you can afford. There are a lot of videos online that teach people how to find good deals and filter out the choices to get the best ones.
The second step is to play the game and with the play-to-earn concept of the game, there are three ways to earn on the game: SLP farming, buy and sell Axie, and Breeding Axie. The SLP farming is in the adventure portion of the game where you complete a quest to earn a limit of 100 SLP per day. SLP stands for a small love potion and it is the currency code for the game. Any player can exchange their SLP for real money just check the rate for every SLP in the currency of your country. The buying and selling of Axie on the marketplace, the Axies are an investment and you can always sell your Axie to buy a better one. The last is the breeding of Axie which is risky because you are not sure what kind of Axie you can and with part parts and cards they possess.
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Those are all the smiles from Axie infinity.
Upon further understanding of the game, the Axie community has developed “scholarships” that allow existing players to rent their NFTs to new players. The earning are split among the players and it is the responsibility of the NFT wonder and community manner to recruit, train, and mentor the player. The basic concept of the scholarships is that NFT owners allow other players to borrow, use and enjoy their assets without giving up their private keys. However, the practice is strictly prohibited and actively monitored by the community leaders.
I wondered why the scholarships were being monitored until I realized that this is a multi-level marketing scheme, the ugly. The definition of a multi-level marketing scheme is to encourage existing distributors to recruit new distributors who are paid a percentage of their recruits’ sales. The existing NFT owners of Axie Infinity are recruiting new players and although both are paid, the rent fee allows the NFT owners to pay a percentage of their recruits’ sales.
The second game is a way for me to fulfill my dreams to become a farmer. Although, it sounds like too much work, playing the game is close as I can get towards that goal. This game is called Town Star.
2. Town Star
Town Star is a farming game created by the same creators of Farmville. Its blockchain gaming style is even better than Farmville, as items in the game are NFTs that can be resold on the Opensea marketplace.
Guide to items:
Currently, there are two servers: the free server and the weekly competition server. Both are free to play; however, the difference between the two is the reset and prizes. In the free server, there is no prize given, while as on the weekly server prizes are given for the top 100 players. Although, the free server gets reset every month and the weekly competition server resets every 5.5 days. To start playing, players have to first secure a Gala account (Gala Games), as the main currency of the system is Gala. The game begins with picking an area of the map to start your town. It's a good tip that you are close to the town, as the town delivery service will cause less damage. The way to earn money is similar to Axie Infinity where you can earn money if you are in the top 100 of the weekly tournament held. When you win a prize, it will be placed in your Gala Account in your treasure chest and there is a referral reward. If you want to get the prize money out, you must have Etherium.
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Town star is fairly new compared to Axie Infinity but it doesn’t mean that the bad has been avoided. If you watch YouTube videos of people explaining Town Star, they would tell you to press the link to get a Gala games account and to use a referral link. It will enable both parties to earn 100 Galas.
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How is this a bad thing you may ask? Let’s put it like this, “people A” are the circle of people that used your referral code. When the “people A” will refer other people, and you can get the percentage of the referral earned by the people A.
They say cats are protectors in ancient Egypt. If that were the case, I hope my money will be protected and grown if I invest in the last game, CryptoKitties.
3. CryptoKitties
CryptoKitties is one of the first blockchain games that went alongside any explanation for NFT and blockchain. It is backed up by smart contracts. The game is focused on breeding these Kitty to create a rare variant that can be sold on the blockchain, as an NFT. The most interesting feature of Cryptokitties is their kitten class, where they teach the users how the game works, and they would recommend to breed kitties from the same generation. The most interesting fact is the kitties made in Generation 0 cost the most so if this goes on until generation 100, if you bought one during Generation 5, you will eventually receive there will be great returns in the future. In order to earn on CryptoKitty, there are three routes: the buy and sell of kitties, sire kitties, and breed kitties. In order to start the game, you have to BUY at least ONE CryptoKitty or buy TWO CryptoKitties. The path of purchasing ONE CryptoKitty would lead to the choice of “sire.” If you go for this “sire” route, you have to pay additional Ethereum to allow it to breed with other player’s CryptoKitty. On the other, with two CrytoKitty, you can “breed” them together. The creation of the kitties will allow you to buy and resell the CryptoKitty for money. You can even let someone mate with your kitty at a certain price. It is good to remember that the value of the kitty drops each time it breeds and the rarity of the kitty will change everyday due to the population increase of new kitties.
As the oldest of the NFT games, it is still relevant today because there are still individuals that trade with the Kitties but on a different platform, like OpenSea.
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Strangely, there is no bad done for the CryptoKitties but there should be some improvements in the game. Such as a filter for the kitties and “save kitty for later” to keep track of certain kitties, as an interest index.
Conclusion
NFT games brings benefits for the player in the game, which is a good thing. The bad thing about the game is the players who exploit the possibilities of earning money through scholarships for Axie Infinity and referral income for Town Star. At first glance, the process benefits both parties but the ugly thing is how it is a multi-level marketing scheme that lets existing players recruit new players and get paid from the percentage of the recruit's earnings.
