Recently, I have started playing Splinterland, I do find it enjoyable and I like the vision of having additional passive income from the in-game assets. As a result of this, I have started looking for another crypto game to enjoy and invest in. However, what I can see does not look good for an average gamer like me, as I am looking for a game, not an investment option.
Why crypto games are broken for a casual gamer?
I have been playing games for over 20. I do play games on various platforms such as PC, console and mobile, I am not fussy about it as long as the game is good and fun for me. I do also do not mind taking out my wallet and spend a few quids to buy a game or extend its functionality. However, before I spend any money on it I like to see it and play for a bit to check if I enjoy the title.
This approach worked for me with Splinterland. I started the game, played for a season and I have a few games before buying a spellbook and starting collecting and maybe earning in the future. Now I even bought some SPS using my balance in exchange to invest in the title, mainly because I like it and see the potential. I have also tried the Gods Unchained, I can play it, earning some forge tokens, which is a future when Etherium transactions are cheaper, will allow me to forge some NFT cards and play with them or sell them on the market.
Free-2-grind
Unfortunately, I have found a lot( I mean most of the crypto/NFT/blockchain) games where to start I need to get some in-game currency and buy an NFT character/egg/anything to be able to start playing. And again if such character costs around $20 I can consider spending this amount, in the end, it is similar to the price tag on mosts Steam games. However most of the starting items are worth around $200 or more, and I believe that most gamers could not or will not be able to spend it. The problem is even more visible when games would become popular, like Axis infinity, as it should raise the value of NFT's, which is good for the existing players but bad for games.
I want to add that I do not mind the grind if the game is enjoyable for me. I do not mind the ability to speed up the progress as long as it is not pay-2-win.
Why this is bad?
Now, the question is why popularity is bad for NFT games and good for current gamers. I see that a lot of NFT games highlight the ability to obtain NFT and get some value out of them. As a result, you can earn $ from the game assets, and more popularity should increase the price. On the other hand, the higher price without free or very cheap entry is a no-go for most gamers, mostly those who want to enjoy the game and maybe earn a few crypto coins.
Like me, I would like to play Axies, but I do not have $600 to invest and maybe earn it back. In a case, I would have $600 of investing I would invest them into staking or swap or another NFT, so I can avoid spending time to earn. In my head, this kind of practice is not allowing the player base to grow to a substantial size which is a usual sign that the game will fail in the long run.
Conclusion
Most of the currently existing crypto games are following the NFT approach, that is invest and play, but I have seen a few ( Gods, Splinterland, Plants vs undead) which allows starting playing without a large investment with the ability to buy in-game assets by cash or in-game currency. I am truly waiting for PvU to see the gameplay and earning possibilities.
This article was originally published on Publish0x: https://www.publish0x.com/tinyvestment/why-blockchain-games-sucks-xznnmov
I am still discovering these games hehe. Most are free and most you have to pay for.