Solana has been surging once more currently, rising 22% during the last month and once more nearing the latest excessive set in December—and it has skyrocketed from the sub-$10 mark it hit in late 2022. And if you happen to’re trying to fill your pockets with much more Solana, then why not earn extra by taking part in video games?
Quite a few play-to-earn video games are primarily based on Solana, and both reward gamers with SOL itself or one other token inside the Solana ecosystem, which might be swapped for SOL at an trade. In a few of the examples under, you’ll must buy an NFT to allow in-game earnings—however it is perhaps price it if you happen to’re planning to play a bunch.
Listed below are six notable play-to-earn video games which you can play in the present day to earn tokens and stack SOL, and keep tuned as we plan to broaden this record with newer titles over time.
Ev.io
What would have made the basic Quake III Enviornment even higher? Incomes money whereas fragging foes, in all probability. Effectively, that’s principally what Ev.io serves up. This web-based sport takes the old-school area first-person shooter (FPS) format and provides the flexibility to earn cryptocurrency whilst you play, which solely amplifies the sense of frenzied competitors.
Ev.io is completely free to play, though you’ll want to purchase an NFT if you wish to earn the in-game “e” foreign money that may be cashed out for SOL. Fortunately, we’ve put collectively a information on the best way to get began with incomes within the sport. Additionally, Ev.io has given out the Solana meme token BONK, as effectively, so there’s been loads of incomes potential.
Stepn
Transfer to earn—easy sufficient, proper? Stepn took the concept of exercise monitoring apps and ran with it (pun meant), pairing crypto rewards as a approach to inspire gamers to get on the market and log their jogs and jaunts. Whereas the Stepn hype has fallen sharply from the early 2022 peak, you possibly can nonetheless earn the GST reward tokens on Solana by taking part in.
You’ll want to purchase NFT sneakers within the sport to get began, nevertheless, however placing slightly pores and skin within the sport would possibly inspire you to up your train routine and finally rack up extra SOL.
Aurory
You’ll sometimes must personal NFTs to earn Solana-based AURY tokens in Aurory, a Pokémon-inspired role-playing sport that runs throughout Solana and Ethereum scaling community Arbitrum. As a weblog publish explains, Aurory gamers earn in-game (off-chain) sub-tokens by battling their Nefties NFT creatures, that are then robotically transformed to AURY tokens and awarded to gamers.
Extra lately, Aurory has marketed AURY rewards for profitable matches within the Blitz player-vs-player (PVP) mode. And NFT house owners may also stake their property to earn AURY rewards, as effectively. There are a number of methods to earn in one in every of Solana’s most outstanding video games.
At the moment, as of this writing, Aurory has launched limited-time public entry to its Seekers of Tokane sport expertise by way of the Epic Video games Retailer, timed with the launch of a particular “Dracurve’s Awakening” in-game occasion. For the occasion, Aurory is serving up $50,000 price of AURY rewards—together with $35,000 for NFT house owners, and $15,000 for different gamers. The promotion, which will even dole out free NFTs, is operating via February 26.
MixMob
“Race-to-earn” sport MixMob mashes up racing video games and card-based technique into a novel concoction—and it is one which serves up token rewards to gamers. You possibly can earn SUD tokens for taking part in, plus there are alternatives to wager tokens on different gamers’ matches.
On February 1, MixMob launched an airdrop for its MXM governance token to reward NFT house owners, in addition to gamers of the sport’s incentivized beta. Token rewards look to be a key a part of the general MXM expertise, so there’s compelling motive to get entangled forward of potential future drops.
Star Atlas: SAGE Labs
Whereas developer ATMTA steadily builds out its epic imaginative and prescient for the full-fledged model of sci-fi simulation Star Atlas, it launched an on-chain Solana internet sport known as SAGE Labs that lets early gamers plug into the identical form of open financial system with a less complicated interface.
And there are sizable rewards to be claimed. Late final yr, Star Atlas served up Golden Ticket tokens to gamers, which may very well be entered in drawings to win crypto tokens and NFT in-game objects collectively valued at a complete of $1.35 million. You’ll want some SOL or ATLAS in your Solana pockets to play since every thing is dealt with on-chain, however the potential rewards are substantial.
DeFi Land
Many early crypto video games had been derided as being DeFi apps dressed up as video games, however DeFi Land embraces that vibe wholeheartedly, pairing a farming simulation expertise with play-to-earn rewards—plus the flexibility to transact crypto tokens by way of DeFi protocols.
You’ll want particular NFTs to unlock the play-to-earn model of the fishing, capturing, and harvest mini-games, in addition to pet NFTs to earn tokens for taking good care of animals. DeFi Land serves up Solana-based GOLDY tokens for these NFT house owners after they play, letting you earn again a few of your funding.
On prime of that, DeFi Land additionally lets gamers have interaction with DeFi protocols that might earn you yield for staking tokens, however watch out—it would appear like a sport, however you’re taking part in with actual tokens.
Editor’s be aware: This story was initially posted on November 28, 2023 and final up to date with new info on February 15, 2024.