Hidden gems in the encrypted world: A list of Web3 gaming projects

Web3 gaming projects that are hidden gems

Games are usually the killer app on new platforms, with over 3 billion video game players in the world today, and 250 million of the younger generation becoming lifelong players. Since its birth, an energetic consumer ecosystem has developed around video games, which are also a huge social network with significant stickiness. As one of the main forms of entertainment in the digital age, games are creating enormous value. In the world of Web3, games have always been seen as a potentially important application area.

According to a survey by Bain & Company, the value of the gaming market will grow by more than 50% to over $300 billion by 2025. As consumers’ demand for games continues to grow, players’ requirements for the gaming experience are also increasing. The combination of games and blockchain technology provides players with a brand new gaming experience. Currently, more and more games are using blockchain technology to achieve player ownership of game roles and accessories, as well as better virtual experiences.

In May 2022, a16z, a giant in cryptocurrency venture capital, announced the launch of its first game fund, Games Fund One, with a total size of $600 million. After one year, the fund has made 25 investments. The statistical data shown in Cointelegraph’s blockchain gaming report in March 2023 also demonstrates the growth and potential of Web3 games: in addition to a large amount of funding and game projects, Web3 games accounted for 49% of all on-chain transactions in 2022, and daily active users increased by 60% from 2021 to 2022, showing the growth of Web3 game user base and significant potential relative to other tracks.

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There are many ways to classify games, including interactivity, playability, and scalability, as well as the attributes of Web3, such as decentralization. For example, Web3 games can be divided into three types from low to high according to their degree of decentralization: optional on-chain games, semi-chain games, and full-chain games. Optional on-chain games are essentially traditional Web2 games + NFTs derived from game IPs, which are not real Web3 games. Semi-chain games are a common form of Web3 games, which store player assets on the chain, but actual game operations are still performed off-chain. Semi-chain games solve the problems of validating asset ownership and asset programmability, with a focus on items and property in the game. Full-chain games are truly decentralized games that use blockchain to replace traditional centralized game servers, storing all player data on the chain and indexing and writing it, giving games persistence, anti-censorship, and community-led development.

In this article, veDAO Research Institute will select 3 highly distinctive categories from different game classifications to classify Web3 games and take stock of 9 high-quality Web3 game projects.

Traditional Web3 games

Traditional Web3 games refer to most common P2E (Play-to-Earn) games. They typically have features such as general interactivity, simple graphics, P2E effect as the core, and strong community-driven nature. They are one of the common forms of Web3 games and belong to semi-chain games from the perspective of decentralization. Compared to Web2 games, these Web3 games have low playability, so they mainly attract Web3 users. Just like how 8-bit pixel style games still have a large number of players after the emergence of Unreal Engine 5, the playability of a game includes not only interaction and graphics, but also narrative and community participation; this is especially true in the Web3 field: game players can even participate in the construction of the game.

AI Rein

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/1e5934ca90af2076a3c8ddfcc2c9d0172fde2199df2f3896980a64d1ed14610a

AI Rein is a global NFT project in Japan with the theme of A.I. future world. It has unique AI Motion technology that allows NFT holders to control their avatars in the metaverse through a computer front camera. The first NFT series of AI Rein is PFP of future A.I. world citizens. AI Rein also plans to launch a blockchain-based 2D pixel style game that allows players to experience A.I. technology in a virtual world full of adventure and challenge. Players can earn rewards by staking their AI Rein NFTs, which can be used in the game.

Chainers

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/626575bee4711fe1e2a9f73905cda8a79445fea9e218bdff97c3df7a7c9c797b

Chainers is a metaverse game dedicated to NFTs and community-driven development. Players can access the game for free and are also encouraged to create and contribute to building more content. Chainers is positioned as “Play, trade, and create”, where players can experience, socialize, interact in the game, and create to earn income. The fun and economics of the game are synchronized.

Degen Zoo

Detailed information: https://app.vedao.com/projects/234d57693297726641da10821ee0faf36f17e4117fb78c09d67f5ae3665813d5

This game is built by DAOMaker founder Chris Zaknun and former MakerDAO developer engineers, among others, with a budget of only $20,000 and plans to complete development in just 30 days. The game is inspired by the CryptoZoo NFT scam, and Degen Zoo hopes to prove the incompetence of CryptoZoo founder Logan Blockingul and ridicule such scams that deceive investors in the metaverse game with a small amount of funds and a short amount of time. In addition, as a charity game NFT project, all profits from the project will be donated to endangered animal charities. One of the purposes of the project is to raise awareness of animal and nature conservation and to teach players what happens when animals are killed or species become extinct through games.

3A Grade Game

A 3A game is a game with high development costs, long development cycles, and high resource consumption. This track is very similar to public chains, which require relatively long periods of time to see real results. For ordinary investors, as long as they board the 3A game early, they will generally have relatively good returns in the future. At the same time, 3A-level Web3 games will be a blockchain project with great potential for breaking barriers, and as long as the teams of such games are serious about cost control and product development, they will eventually deliver a truly playable, quality, and Web3-compliant 3A game, and Web3 may attract a large number of Web2 users.

Delysium

Detailed information: https://app.vedao.com/projects/731af694a0386db564e9d94af53ab62e7d30f4c6e7c234663f12666f053855ef

Delysium is the world’s first playable AAA blockchain game. It is a truly open world, vivid AI-driven, and fully player-owned MMO game that supports players in creating a variety of personalized physical assets, narrative assets, and native AI MetaBeings. By distributing a large number of AI-driven MetaBeings in the experiences created and owned by players, Delysium is building an immersive, supreme, and dynamically generated open world experience for all web3 pioneers worldwide.

Wildcard Alliance

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/2c454dcb5465f2dd058cb36dd1316ec6bb097094bdf512b24fd76ce39a51c668

Wildcard Alliance is a PVP game combining three types of genres: real-time strategy, multiplayer online competition, and card games, built on the Polygon chain. Its goal is to create a decentralized, autonomous Web3 competitive social platform that brings players the thrill of competition, breaks the boundaries between playing and watching video games, and creates a “easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master” evergreen competitive game. At the same time, it provides players with the pleasure of collecting, making Wildcard a truly caring IP and a community people want to join.

Citizen Conflict

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/653d962198135f16eb556d9125cdceca291023ed032eeff4e27faae324e4d0c7

Citizen Conflict is a free Web3 MMO shooter game, built on Unreal Engine 5 and developed by QORPO Game Studio (formerly known as Crypto Citizen), deployed on the BSC chain. The background of Citizen Conflict is set in a dystopian world of the Ether Island, where every game is fought for survival and valuable loot, including gameplay similar to both road to the world and battle royale. The game itself will be completely free, and to enhance the gaming experience, players will be able to purchase or win in-game assets in the form of NFT digital collectibles, which is optional rather than mandatory.

Fully On-chain Game

Compared to optional on-chain games and semi-chain games, fully on-chain games have lower playability, and the early cold start and ecological positive cycle difficulty are much greater. However, in the mid-term development, community governance and asset inflation will be smoother, and even stronger ecological moats and network effects may erupt.

In a truly decentralized environment, the economic system of a fully on-chain game is driven by players’ actions and decisions, rather than controlled by game developers or central institutions. Players acquire and manage in-game assets and resources through trading, cooperation, or competition. At the same time, players can also participate in game governance and rule-making autonomously, realizing the autonomy of the game world. This player-driven economic system and autonomous game world bring players a richer and freer gaming experience.

BlockingndaFarm

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/172a302a606f04bf42c8f4fc374ce060de878939e2632312cef856f4e7a9dd02

Blockingnda Farm aims to build a fully on-chain, panda-themed game metaverse. Users can profit from the prize pool while participating in each game and competition. Blockingnda Farm is a panda game platform built on the blockchain, where all panda-themed games are built on the blockchain. By providing a real-world simulation of pandas combined with the benefits of digital construction and cryptocurrency, Blockingnda Farm aims to bring blockchain into mainstream gaming to attract both crypto and non-crypto gaming enthusiasts and panda lovers. In the future, players can build their own paradise in Blockingnda Farm, summon more alien creatures to play with pandas, integrate different IPs into the same world view, build their own farm, and choose farmers through decentralized management. Farmers can lock BAMBOO tokens by customizing small animal NFTs.

MetaLine

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/4953ed7734a9db6263eb67401993953ceb8654c4cb7a8abf570af69dde7b9284

MetaLine is an open, transparent, and inclusive world. All information, assets, and game content in the game have been decentralized. MetaLine is a large-scale online game based on Web3, which includes six system modules, including production and trading systems, upgrade systems, port systems, combat systems, NFT systems, and an ecosystem. By cooperating and linking between different task systems, players can establish their own maritime empire and obtain rich gameplay. As more missions are gradually released, the built-in port system also opens the door to more users to enter the metaverse.

Arcadeum

Details: https://app.vedao.com/projects/a2cafe55584d647e71aa26c0adfa242da1a693370188e69bcf23c95beb88e7f7

Arcadeum is a decentralized casino that operates entirely on-chain and is self-regulated, with provably fair though low but competitive casino advantages. A liquidity pool facilitates betting, with depositors receiving losses and paying out winnings through the liquidity pool. With a custom API3 QRNG integration, the random number generation is verifiably fair.

Conclusion

Web3 games have huge potential to bring new possibilities to the gaming world. Game creators should never forget the core priority of games: entertainment. Similarly, earning assets in Web3 game projects is part of the gaming process and should not be the sole purpose for users to participate in the game. Therefore, just focusing on P2E is far from enough for Web3 games. At the same time, to achieve true Web3 games, games need to be built on bottom-up protocols and use token models as auxiliary means to ensure the sustainability of the game economy. In such games, players can truly own assets and be free from manipulation and restrictions by decentralized institutions or platforms in free transactions.

Web3 games are likely to be one of the main ways for Web2 users to enter Web3 in the future, as mentioned in this article about Web3 games. By focusing on creating games with excellent graphics, characters, and engaging stories, and attracting users by the playability of the game itself rather than incentives, a Web3 game ecosystem that can attract players in the long term, with vitality and creativity, can be created to unleash more value from Web3 games and bring a new round of user migration to Web3.

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