Top 5 Upcoming NFT Games to Watch Out For

In my previous article, I featured 20 Play-to-Earn NFT Games, and these are probably just the low-hanging fruits out there. In this article, I will introduce to you the biggest upcoming titles that will shake the world of NFT gaming quite literally.

Why? Because these games are so well-made (mind you, still in development) but they can already rival big titles currently in the market. And the best part is, once these games fully launch, you can start earning real-life money from them.

There’s no better introduction to this topic than to just jump right in and see the games for yourself, so let’s go!

1. Illuvium

Illuvium is an upcoming game that is considered as the first AAA blockchain game, and rightly so because of the game’s mechanics, graphics, and overall presentation. It is one of the most highly anticipated open-world fantasy games built on the Ethereum blockchain. And did I mention that it’s also Play-To-Earn?

Gameplay

The way the game works is similar to Pokemon. You can capture Illuvials, the game’s monsters, and fight with other monsters or players. In place of a Pokeball, Illuvium uses Shards. And instead of a turn-based format, the game is played in an auto-chess battle sequence. All you have to do is to strategically place your Illuvials on the battle’s board, and the game will commence.

So, if you are familiar with Autochess or Teamfight Tactics, then you already have an advantage. Check the official White Paper for more info.

Here’s another view of how the gameplay’s UI will look like:

Also, initially, the game will feature 100 unique Illuvials that players can capture. But as the game progresses along, more Illuvials will be released into the wild for players to encounter, battle, and capture. These Illuvials also have their evolution forms of up to 3 (so far) like Pokemon.

Illuvials have their own elemental affinity and class, which makes strategizing more exciting and fun.

For example, available affinities in the game are: Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Nature. Fire beats Nature, Nature beats Water, Water beats Fire, and so on. It’s like a game of Rock Paper Scissors.

And when it comes to class, the basic ones are Empath, Psion, Guardian, Fighter, and Rogue.

So, an Illuvial can be a Fire affinity Guardian, and right now we can only assume that that simply means it is focused on defense with skills reminiscent of fire. And so on, you get the idea.

And of course, the game is still in development and things might still change.

Main Features

• Features several revenue sources – from aesthetics like skins to in-game item purchases, crafting, selling captured illuvials, selling farmed materials.
• Wager – bet on battles.
• The game in itself is FREE to play, but if you would like to earn through the game, you will need to invest a little amount – last I saw this is around $50, but this can still change.

Roadmap

• Closed beta will be on December 2021 to Q1 of 2022.
• Mystery auction before launch for early adopters on Q1 2022.
• Open beta launch on PC in Q4 or Q1.
• Mobile launch in 2022.

2. Sipher

Because of the threat faced by humankind due to pollution, dwindling resources, and other world-ending catastrophes, scientists have developed a new universe called Sipheria, where Sipherians migrated to in order to help build the new universe and thrive as its new inhabitants.

At the moment there are only 10,000 Sipherians. This is just a fancy way of saying that 10,000 Sipherian NFTs have been minted already and are being traded actively on NFT marketplaces.

If you’re not one of the people who bought your first digital character (or NFT character called Sipherian), then you’ll probably have to purchase it at a higher price on some marketplaces, or wait for when new Sipherians are released.

For the curious, read Sipher’s official White Paper here.

The cool thing about it? The first 10,000 Sipherians are of the Inu race. That’s right, they are inspired from the popular dog breed in Japan, Shiba Inu. Just take a look at these adorable pups:

Gameplay

There are 3 main ways to play the game, but the exact details are yet to be released.

The first one is through Expeditions. You can send your character on expeditions across the universe where they will proceed to accomplish different quests. As compensation for clearing quests, you will receive items, costumes, minerals, and the like.

Second one is through PvE or Player versus Environment. This is what many gamers are familiar with, playing against in-game Non-Playable Characters or NPCs, usually in the form of monsters. Third is by playing against other players, or PvP.

Through all of these, players can earn items and in-game currency, of course. And the best thing is, these items can be sold in the Sipher Marketplace once it’s up and running.

Main Features

• There will be a total of 4 races, starting with Inu (dog), followed by Neko (cat), Buru (bull), and Tori (bird), all of which are named after their respective Japanese words.
• Each Sipherian will have their own programmable emotions, starting with 5, and more later on.
• Aside from the main races, there will be sub-race traits called BioZ, Cyborg, or Cozmic, which are ultra rare NFTs with only 1500, 1000, and 500 each respectively.
• Completing a set of costumes will open a set effect, which grants unique bonuses.
• Block Genesis is the first world Sipherians can play on, and more will be released for expansion.

Roadmap

• October 2021 – Launch of the web portal for the mini-game, along with breeding (initially only 10,000 Sipherians are available, but through breeding, more will be available for purchase).
• October 2021 will also mark the launch of the new race Neko (cat).
• November 2021 – Launch of the merchandise gift store, sale of new race Tori (bird), and actual gameplay demo trailer.
• December 2021 – Sale of Buru race (bull), launch of $SIPHER token for staking.
• March 2022 – Launch of actual playable demo and land sales of Block Genesis.
• June 2022 – Version 1 of PvE is launched, and the first world Block Genesis will open for the public.
• September 2022 – Launch of new races called Tokage (lizard) and Doragon (dragon).

3. Star Atlas

Star Atlas is one of the games that I am excited about. Being a space nerd myself, I can imagine exploring the universe through a game…and what more, I can own badges (for rank) and ships. It’s also possible to own lands, but in the case of Star Atlas, they are more like platforms or space stations.

Anyway, there are still a lot of things that are unknown at this point, but one thing for sure is that this game is very ambitious. It aims to monetize the time players spend in the game, fully own assets, and the like.

The official White Paper and Economics Paper can be found here.

Gameplay

The gameplay, per the developers, and with what we know for now based on the interviews and blog posts they have released, starts with players going on a journey across the universe…or in the case of blockchain games, the Metaverse. There, players can compete for resources, fight, trade, and basically rule for domination or peace.

The exact mechanics on how this can work is still not clear, but there is a heavy emphasis on the game’s economy. One big thing is players can build their own cities, run their own economy in the game, and convert those in-game assets into real-life money.

Main Features

What we know so far for certain is players can choose between 3 factions:

• ONI region – a consortium of alien species.
• Ustur sector – a group of sentient androids.
• MUD territory – a group of humans.

Aside from that, each spaceship can engage in space battles, do interstellar travel, dock on space stations for trading, resource resupply, and many more.

Ships can also be customized for deep space travel, for combat, and many more.

And perhaps one of the things that I am looking forward to in Star Atlas is player governance of the game, where players actually have a say on the game’s direction.

Roadmap

• Phase 1 (launched September 7, 2021) – instead of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) they are going to offer GAO (Galactic Asset Offering) in which people can purchase game assets through the Star Atlas Marketplace.
• Phase 2 – Launch of the MVP – a browser mini game. At this point, the game is still not fully playable, but trading and other in-game revenue will commence.
• Phase 3 – Launch of more game assets like shipyard sales, more ships, crews, and components.
• Phase 4 – Launch of the full game, and at this point all assets purchased prior will be usable according to their intended purpose.

The exact dates of other phases are still yet to be announced.

4. Guild of Guardians

If you are familiar with fantasy RPG games like Diablo or Path of Exile, then you will find Guild of Guardians to be a very comfortable game for you to play.

In Guild of Guardians (GoG), you can build your team of heroes so you can challenge dungeons and quests to win resources and items. You can also use these resources to craft items, “craft” heroes, and trade or sell them for real money.

Read the White Paper here.

Gameplay

As mentioned above, it is inspired from fantasy games like Diablo, Dungeons and Dragons, and Path of Exile (I only used this as an example since it’s popular right now, but in reality PoE is also inspired from Diablo).

Anyway, the way the game is played is through a team of heroes. Your team will enter dungeons to fight monsters like orcs. You can earn rewards from accomplishing quests or defeating dungeons, as well as through gaining loot from monsters.

The game developers are looking into incorporating 3 main attributes for each hero: Factional, Class, and Element.

Factions:

• Empire
• Glade
• Horde

Classes:

• Warrior
• Ranger
• Mage

Elements:

• Water
• Earth
• Dark
• Light
• Fire

And each hero or items are separated into 4 levels of rarities: common, rare, epic, and legendary. Get a glimpse of what you can get on their official store.

There are also plans for guilds, pets, equipment, etc., but that is for another article of its own since it will take time to write all of them. Exciting, right??

Roadmap

• Q2 2022 – soft launch of the alpha version. Early users can start voting for features using Gems.
• Q4 2022 – launch of the beta version of the game with additional game modes.
• Q2 2023 – full launch of the game, end of the testing phase, and will include new game modes as well as periodic content release.

One of the exciting things about Guild of Guardians is that they stand by the principle that gamers should not keep on paying for a game, but instead since they are spending time in the game, players should instead have a share of the profits – thus, it’s Free-to-Play and Play-to-Earn!

4. Plants vs Undead

Plants vs Undead is quite literally inspired from Plants vs Zombies, a game that became popular worldwide several years ago. Everyone played this game or has heard of it at some point, and I must admit, I enjoyed it too.

And now, reminiscent to Plants vs Zombies comes Plants vs Undead – a blockchain game that is also Play-to-Earn.

Gameplay

In Plants vs Undead, or PvU, is very much similar to Plants vs Zombies (PvZ), so if you’ve played it before, then you already have an advantage. But for those who haven’t played it, then it basically works like a Tower Defense kind of game.

In PvU, the undead came from outerspace through meteors, and their goal is to spread disease and reach the Mother Trees, which will kill the planet so the undead can finally fully rule it.

As a last stand, Seeds are the final hope of the planet. Players start with 6 plants and a mother tree, which are free. But these are only basic plants with basic stats, so in order to progress more in the game, players will need to purchase seeds or plants using the PVU token, which can also be earned in the game or through the marketplace.

So, to summarize, you will need to place anywhere from 6 to 8 plants maximum on your board to protect your mother tree while the undead advances.

If you successfully defeat all rounds of undead, then you will earn in-game rewards which you can use to trade in the marketplace.

Another part of the game is Farm Mode, which allows players to generate Light Energy, which can be used to trade for PVU tokens. It’s basically just like earning coins passively and while you are AFK.

More in-depth information can be found on their Whitepaper.

Main Features

What we know so far for certain is players can choose between 3 factions:

• Farming mode will earn players Light Energy, which is important so you can earn PVU tokens, which in turn can be converted into real money.
• Each seed or plants have their own elements and traits, so choosing the perfect team will have a huge impact in your game’s synergy.
• It is built on the Binance Smart Chain, which is faster and affordable than other Ethereum-based games (especially when it comes to Ethereum gas prices).
• The developers have mentioned that aside from Survival and Farm modes, there will also be a Multiplayer mode where players can compete or fight with other players.

Roadmap

• Q4 2021 – Lending and borrowing feature for plants will be available in the marketplace, and new plants, mother trees, and lands will be available for purchase.
• Q1 2022 – the first PvP tournament will be launched, with a pool prize of 1 million PVU tokens.
• Q2 2022 – new game modes will be introduced for continuous game development.

Bonus: Axie Infinity

I mentioned Axie Infinity a couple of times before, and since then I’ve played it long enough to give a more balanced view of the game. From my post over a month ago, I mentioned that I bought average-priced Axies, and since then I already gained back what I invested and have been enjoying pure profit for a time now.

But in any case, there have been a lot of updates from the developers and the price of Smooth Love Potion, the in-game token which can be converted into real money, has been playing around $0.06 to $0.08 per token.

It’s not that bad considering this is the price before it blew up around July of 2021. During that time, the price went up to $0.3 to $0.4 at its peak.

The good thing is, the price is currently stable, maybe a bit down if you started during its peak, but for those who are familiar with blockchain play-to-earn games, this is just another cycle.

Is it still worth looking into? Sure! But as with all games that enable players to earn money, always take precaution and only spend money that you are willing to lose!

To End

The era of spending heavily on games without an actual monetary return is coming to an end, and this is backed by the games above that are about to launch. These are games that are built by independent and big game studios with proper funding, proper plan, and clear goals, not just an idea. These games are already here, like Axie Infinity, only this time…on a grander scale.

Are you excited?!