Hello Hive, it's been a while since my last post. I am still actively gaming in the crypto world but my focus had switched to another game. My mind was completely blown by this game and it had completely changed my routine in crypto gaming. Heck, it had changed my understanding and definition on "play to earn".
The following paragraphs are going to sound like some bullshit Youtube gurus get rich scams, but what I said is genuine and true to my experience and others I have known from playing this game.
To put it simply, Axie Infinity is the king of play to earn and I have seen absolutely zero games that can reach its level of earning potential and ROI in the crypto gaming world as of now. I am sure there could be some others with great earning potential like Sorare, F1 Delta Time, and etc, but among all those I have played, Axie is king.
It changed my crypto gaming routine because it is too profitable for me to devote time to others. I have seen put the majority of my time on Axies and play other games more casually. I had "soft-quitted" others too, just so I can focus on Axies for now.
Profitability
So, the first question I am sure a lot of people will ask is the cost. Yes, indeed, Axie is one of the more expensive games to try out in the cryptosphere. I can't afford it even at a much lower price range 6 weeks ago, but I was lucky to meet some people on other crypto games and he offered me a scholarship.
An Axie scholarship means that another person (manager) sponsors a team of 3 axies to others (scholar). That allows me and other scholars to grind and earn rewards with no upfront investment. Instead, I will split my earnings with him at an agreed upon ratio. It's like a partnership where one does the work and another pays the money. If you are a Splinterlands player, you would probably know about the scholarships from YGG in recent weeks. It's the same concept and YGG is probably the biggest guild in Axie with like 1,500+ scholars as of now. So, I got a scholarship and I don't need the 0.4 or so ETH to start. *Side Note: The starting budget has since go upward to about 0.65 ETH as of the time I wrote this.*
The next question you might ask is...how's the earning? You did tell me Axie is king. Say I have invested 0.65 ETH into the game, what's the ROI? And how consistent it is to get that back? I had a generous boss and had more resources than a regular scholar could get, so my earning was much better than a regular scholar, but let's go with the bare minimum. Any player who is willing to put in enough time will earn 150 Smooth Love Potion a day. An SLP is currently worth 0.00011110 ETH or 0.233 USD as I type this out, so 150 a day nets you a minimum return of 0.016665 ETH or 34.95 USD per day.
I have played no other crypto game that provides me with a consistent 34.95 USD per day. I am happy to try others if anyone else can provide me with another game they played with this amount of "play-to-earnability". Thus, at a bare minimum, you will get back your 0.65 ETH in 40 days and that's just for solely playing the game and not working the market or breeding, which can be even more profitable.
Of course, these calculations were based on the recent price after a huge spike -- but Axie Infinity has always been profitable. Last December, an Axie was $70 USD and an SLP was around $0.03+ USD. 4.5 USD per day isn't too shabby for a $70 USD investment either.
If you have not heard the news, a lot of Philippines and South Americans are playing Axies, either with their own teams or (more likely) as scholars. The income they earned from this game is more than the average salary of their country -- and with lesser working hours too. Many have since worked this as a side job to supplement their income.
I am from Malaysia and this has been true to me as well. With the SLP price back in April-May ($0.08+- after the Binance launch), a minimum earner can get around RM2,400+-. A scholar with an average split of 50-60% will get around RM1,200-RM1,440. The minimum salary of Malaysia is RM1,200. So, a game that I need to play around 2 hours a day is earning like an 8 hours full-time job, cool.
With the current rate, oh boy it's insane:
This is a tracker/KPI tool used by the manager to check on their scholar. As you can see, my average (and that's before I play that day) earning is 362 SLP, which at the moment is almost RM1 of my place. A bare minimum of 150 SLP for 30 days is RM4,500, which is almost the average salary of a chartered accountant. Shit, in my state, that's a salary attainable only after 10+ years of work or in the highly paid industries.
Gameplay
Okay. After getting the profitability out of the way, you might wonder: if it's fun to play? Of course, not everyone is going to like it but to me, its gameplay is pretty solid among all the crypto games out there. Let's be honest here, some "crypto games" aren't really games, they are just "crypto thing" with minimal gameplay tagged in and marketed as "game". It's like you are just putting random stuff between two pieces of bread and call it a sandwich. Technically, all of them are sandwiches, but not all of them are tasty. Axie is as tasty as BLT.
If you enjoy PVE gameplay, then Axie will disappoint you at the current alpha state - lands are coming on Q4 this year, so you might be in for a treat then (assuming no delay) - but if you are a fan of PVP, oh man you are in for a treat. Axie has a system that's like a mix of turn-based card games and Pokemon battles. Every Axies have four skills (like Pokemon) but you have to draw the cards to play them. There are energies, type resistance/weakness, and all kind of team composition to try out and learn. If you enjoy any sort of 1v1 PVP game, from Street Fighter to Gods Unchained, give Axies a try.
ut Axies is not just about battling. Breeding can also be very fun for many players, and that's not just due to the earning potential (even though I am sure it's a big part of the motivation), but "trying to breed a perfect Axie" is also a gameplay of its own. It can be as addicting as opening cards in all the mobile gacha games. The genetic and breeding system will take a long time to explain, but essentially, you are trying to inherit the genes you want and it's all about taking chances. If you have read my previous article on Hive about sport simulation games, you know I love horse racing games and breeding is a huge part of the enjoyment there. Trying to breed the next big thing in the horse racing world is a never-ending thrill. Axie breeding isn't as unpredictable as that, but it feeds into the same desire.
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And that's for a game that is still in alpha. There are so much more to come for Axies and you should try to get it early if you have even just a tiny smidge of interest. Things could get even higher in price in the future.
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All images are screenshotted by myself.
And thanks for reading!
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Interested in crypto gaming? Here's the list of games I have dabbled in:
Axie Infinity
(ETH - Get a little bit of Pokemon and Monster Rancher in this pet breeding and battling game)
Neon District
(ETH - Can you thrive in a dystopian cyberpunk world in this turn-based RPG?)
Splinterland
(HIVE - Collect monster cards and duke it out in this fantasy card battler.)
Rabona
(HIVE - Hattrick in cryptospace? You got it, Football Manager!)
Exode
(HIVE - Ambitious space colonization simulation game, a game for the gamers with indepth gameplay.)
Rising Star
(HIVE - An idle game where you try to become the brightest star in the music world. Don't miss it if you are an indie musician looking for exposure!)
Holybread
(HIVE - A casual idle RPG to scratch your fantasy itch with minimal time investment)
Alien World
(WAX - It's now just a mining simulator, but mores are coming in this sci-fi universe)
RPlanets
(WAX - Stake your WAX NFTs for rewards and invent new elements!)