Top Play-to-Earn Games for PC and Mac 2022

Below are a few of the best of the best for 2022. Let us know in the comments what you think, and what we missed or got wrong!

Axie Infinity

Each Axie is represented by a non-fungible token (NFT) and has its own particular makeup, composed of different abilities, traits, and body parts. Players can interbreed different Axies to generate stronger ones.

Created by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis and backed by renowned companies such as Ubisoft and Samsung, Axie Infinity has a large user base of over 2 million.

The team behind the project is currently working on a metaverse expansion called “Project Kingdom.” The upgrade will expand the gameplay and enable users to buy virtual land, build cities, harvest resources, and battle for territory.

Illuvium

Players delving into the Illuvium universe will explore extraordinary alien landscapes in search of over 100 unique creatures, known as Illuvials. Beyond capturing and collecting Illuvials, there are numerous incentives to train and fuse them together to create the strongest team possible.

Each Illuvial is a deadly beast in its own right. Sharing different characteristics that make them distinct in battle, Illuvials belong to one or two classes (Fighter, Guardian, Rogue, Psion, Empath) and share specific elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Nature).

One of the distinguishable features of Illuvium is its graphical prowess. Powered by the Unreal Engine 4, Illuvium features beautifully crafted sci-fi scenarios and photorealistic graphics. Also, compared to other play-to-earn titles, Illuvium stands out due to its more mature and aggressive art direction.

The gameplay is highly strategic but requires little time from players, as Illuvium is an auto battler. Gamers can participate in the adventure mode, focusing on exploration and capturing Illuvials, or in the battle arena, where they can compete and wage bets against other players to level up and earn rewards.

The team behind the project comprises over 75 members with extensive experience in game development and other fields. Some of the most notable team members include co-founders Kieran and Aaron Warwick, brothers of Synthetix’s founder Kian Warwick.

DeFi Kingdoms

Both the map and heroes take a unique pixelated art style, paying homage to retro gaming and old-school arcades. The backstory of DeFi Kingdoms is also rich in fantasy, taking inspiration and certain expressions from ancient cultures and scriptures like the Vedas.

Originally built on the Harmony (ONE) blockchain, DeFi Kingdoms has since evolved into a multi-chain protocol. The project has recently developed its own blockchain, DFK Chain, in collaboration with Avalanche (AVAX) and its subnet technology.

Crabada

Teams of three hermit crabs, known as “Crabadas,” can be sent on quests to mine resources or loot them from other players. While looting offers higher rewards in less time when compared to mining, it also involves higher risks as the crabs may come back empty-handed.

Several Crabadas from different factions live in the ancient hermit-crab kingdom. Crabadas have their own strengths and weaknesses, depending on the faction they belong to, in conjunction with six different body parts that also define their attributes, skills, and mining limits.

Upcoming expansions will introduce land ownership and new game modes, including PvP (Player versus Player) and PvE (Player versus Environment) tower maps. The new battle system will force players to create balanced teams with different Crabadas filling the roles of tank, support and full-damage.

Gold Fever

Taking place in a deep jungle setting filled with dangerous animals and harsh weather conditions, Gold Fever pits players against each other in the search for riches. Divided into two factions, the Adventurers and the Tribals, gamers must battle to both extract and protect their gold.

Gold Fever’s graphics are among the most advanced of any blockchain-based game. By leveraging the power of the latest Unreal Engine 5, Gold Fever ensures photorealistic and expertly crafted character models, buildings and landscapes.

The game also stands out due to its intricate economy, which leads to interesting options in terms of gameplay. The economic system comes complete with its own item-crafting system, together with the ability to work different jobs or provide services to other players.

NFT buildings take this concept even further. Shops, airfields, and stables can all be purchased by players and act as in-game businesses. Those who invest in these NFTs will be able to generate a source of passive income by selling services and goods to other players.

Although Gold Fever is a play-to-earn experience, it is also free-to-play. Players can still experiment with the game and have a chance at earning without any investment. The game also features three different tokens, each one adding its own utility to the economy.

Gods Unchained

Similar to traditional digital card games such as Hearthstone, Gods Unchained is all about collecting different cards, building the strongest deck possible, and earning rewards by winning matches against other players.

Each and every card is a unique NFT, displaying different stats and levels of rarity. All cards can easily be bought, sold, or traded on the marketplace. Because the parent company behind Gods Unchained is Immutable X, the layer-2 scaling solution also used by Illuvium, there are zero gas fees when trading cards on the NFT marketplace.

Although the battle system is fast-paced and easy to pick up, it takes a long time to fully master the strategy. Players must assemble a deck of thirty cards and use it to reduce the health of their opponent’s “God” to zero. Every “God” possesses a distinct ability, and the ranked PvP system ensures players with comparable skill levels are matched against each other.

Similar to Gold Fever, Gods Unchained is both free-to-play and play-to-earn. Users can start from scratch with a free deck and start earning without needing any initial investment. With deep lore and two full expansions already out, Gods Unchained is planning the release of its third expansion, “Mortal Judgment,” in April.

Splinterlands

The gameplay is rather straightforward with the automated and fast-paced battle system. Each battle only takes a couple of minutes, making it ideal for gamers who wish to have fun and earn without investing too much time.

The ultimate purpose of Splinterlands is to build a solid deck, master the strategy behind the lineup, and climb the ladder by participating in ranked matches and tournaments. The ruleset and requirements change with each match, adding an extra layer of challenge and diversity to the gameplay. Players can also collect daily rewards and level up by completing quests and several other in-game activities.

Splinterlands has two types of cards: Monsters, which do the actual fighting during battle, and Summoners, which use magic to conjure monsters and assume one of six factions. These factions, known as “Splinters,” determine the type of monsters summoners can call upon – be they composed of fire, water, earth, life, death, neutral, or dragon elements.

Pegaxy

Pegaxy revolves around racing mecha horses, called Pegas, which are direct descendants of the mythical Pegasus. The PvP mode allows groups of 12 players to race against each other, with the top three winners being rewarded with VIS, the native utility token of Pegaxy.

Although Pegaxy is an auto-racer, with winners being determined based on luck and the characteristics of their horse, the team behind the project aims to update the gameplay. In the future, player skill will be a fundamental factor, as it will be possible to take manual control of a Pegas. A transition to full 3D gameplay is also in the works.

All Pegas are unique NFTs that can be bought, sold, rented, or bred. Each race has its own elemental nature and different types of food and equipment can be used to temporarily modify their attributes.

One of the greatest selling points of Pegaxy is the fact that it is free-to-play. Anyone can join and start racing and earning without needing to invest or buy any Pegas. A trustless and transparent renting model also allows seasoned players to lend their Pegas and receive a portion of any winnings those Pegas generate.

MOBOX

MOBOX offers a variety of different earning mechanics by combining gaming NFTs with the best of DeFi, including liquidity pools and several yield farming opportunities. The platform currently lists idle, tower defense, and turn-based role-playing games.

All the currently available games are in-house productions, but the appeal of Mobox will come from user-generated content and games on the MOMOverse. Indie developers can find a home in the MOBOX ecosystem and integrate their games onto the platform.

MOBOX NFTs, known as Momos, can be staked for rewards and are organized in terms of rarity. Furthermore, the NFTs are interoperable, meaning they can be used simultaneously across all games of the MOBOX ecosystem. The NFT creator platform will also enable users to design and mint their own NFTs, receiving perpetual trading fees for their creations.

MOBOX is free-to-play and goes one step further in terms of facilitating adoption, allowing anyone to join with a centralized wallet or social media account.

The team is also building its own network, the MOBOX chain, and has its own incubation fund. Resulting from a collaboration with Binance, the METAfund is aimed at bringing game development to the blockchain and the MOMOverse.

Bold Point

Created by a team of over 20 game developers, Bold Point is the first major in-house production from YAY Games studios. It features a challenging battle system, customizable 3D character models, and an open-world setting primed for exploration.The battles are turn-based but incredibly fast, requiring players to make decisions in under 20 seconds. Rewards can be earned by clearing dungeons and battling hordes of monsters in PvE mode or by facing other human players in the PvP.

Bold Point is one of the few play-to-earn games that has a built-in guild system, allowing players to group and form guilds. Members of these organizations gain privileged access to exclusive quests and can conquer certain regions of the map from other guilds, thus gaining ownership of any assets or resources tied to that piece of land.

Regions also affect the gameplay, applying certain buffs or debuffs to different units – be they ranged, melee, or mages. Another option is to purchase buildings within the regions. These buildings enable the creation of new quests and upgraded dungeons, which generates even more profits for the owners.

Adopting a free-to-earn approach, Bold Point is easy to learn while providing a tough challenge for even hardcore gamers. Its gameplay and high production value have the potential to appeal to mainstream gaming audiences.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this list of top P2E games for PC and Mac gamers. This list is far from definitive and with new projects launching every month and others like Sidus Heroes continuing to iterate and build out their awe-inspiring world, it could change radically by the end of 2022.

The play-to-earn (P2E) industry has had a sobering 2022 to date, with many of the biggest and most promising gaming projects losing momentum and not living up to the hype that they generated at the end of last year.

All is not lost, however, and where others see red, smart crypto folks see the green of opportunity.

Factors such as lower crypto prices, less interest and fewer investors and players to compete with provide an easier and safer point of entry for new participants to start accumulating assets and rewards cost-effectively.

With colder markets, cooler heads must prevail. It is clear that the crypto gaming industry is still in its infancy and will take some time to deliver on its promise, but it eventually will. The majority of blue-chip P2E gaming projects aren’t going anywhere and have ambitious roadmaps stretching well into 2023 and beyond.

Until then, as old hands in the crypto space say, bear markets are for building and accumulating. Happy gaming!