Thankfully, there are play-to-earn games that take very little investment to get started. Here is a list of the top 10 games that won’t set you back more than ten bucks.
Here are some games you should start playing right now that won’t break the bank:
Top 10 Free-to-Play Games with Real Money Prizes
1. Splinterlands
One of the most played and most profitable games is Splinterlands. But don’t let that deter you, since it’s also one of the cheapest crypto games out there.
Game of Splintering for Profit and Pleasure
Also see: Kick off Splinterlands right now!
You may get started making money in this game for only $10 by purchasing a copy of the Splinterlands Summoner Book.
After that, you may play a game somewhat similar to the famous trading card game Magic: The Gathering in which you win, collect, and trade NFT cards.
Splinterlands’ governance token, SPS, offers the most potential for profit at the moment. It may be obtained via normal game play and is presently worth $0.069.
There are around 328.38k monthly users and $50,33k in monthly trade volume as of this writing.
Alien Planets 2
This is a space-themed mining game and one of the most renowned virtual worlds at the time. The greatest thing is, Alien Worlds is absolutely free to play.
Alien Worlds Blockchain Game
Also see: Start playing Alien Worlds
In this game, you’ll visit several worlds and perform tasks to earn all types of NFTs. Most of your time will be spent mining this game’s cryptocurrency, TLM.
Even though it’s free to play, you’ll undoubtedly want to upgrade after using the beginning mining tool for some time. Better tools have a shorter cooldown and create a better yield.
Currently, TLM is priced at 0.021$, and there are 731,14k monthly users with a trade volume of around $592,2k.
3. Nine Chronicles
Nine Chronicles is an early access fantasy MMORPG you may play without an upfront payment.
Nine Chronicles blockchain gaming
Also see: Start playing Nine Chronicles
What’s fascinating here is that the game is fully managed by its participants. Learn how to play and win Nine Chronicles.
There are numerous methods of playing it. You may perform objectives, compete with your other gamers, or give your processing power and mine to earn even more.
Check NCG pricing
The current value of the NCG coin is $0.099. There are more than 20k participants every month, and the monthly trading volume is as high as $867,27k.
4. Crazy Defense Heroes
With Crazy Defense Heroes, we have a traditional tower defense game, an improved version of the mobile smash Crazy Kings.
Crazy Defense Heroes Crypto game
Also see: Start playing Crazy Defense Heroes
Like Alien Worlds, CDH is entirely free to play but handles its payout differently from other games. You earn digital assets in this game by reaching monthly XP goals (Avatar experience).
You might spend a lot of time in-game to earn the needed amount of XP to receive the reward, but at least you’ll be having a blast.
The rewards usually come in the form of the TOWER token that’s currently worth $0.0045. At the time of writing, there are more than 9k players per month, and the monthly trading volume is as high as $82.9k.
Check TOWER price
5. League of Kingdoms
Do you like playing strategy games? If the answer is yes, you’ll love League of Kingdoms.
League of Kingdoms blockchain game
Also see: Start playing League of Kingdoms
This RTS is a free-to-play multiplayer experience where you’ll build up the strength of your kingdom, battle other players, form guilds, farm resources, and collect valuable NFTs.
There are multiple ways of earning an income in this game. You can farm resources to sell on marketplaces, but you can also trade land. Additionally, League of Kingdoms allows you to earn passive income by renting out your land to other players.
Check LOKA price
The governance token of this game is LOKA, and it’s currently valued at 0.515$. The community is active, attracting about 2.11k monthly users. At the time of writing, the monthly trading volume is $9.42k.
6. Thetan Arena
MOBA games aren’t prevalent in the blockchain space, so we’re glad that Thetan Arena exists. Better yet, it’s free-to-play.
Thetan Arena mobile NFT game
Also see: Start playing Thetan Arena
The devs behind this game recognized that play-to-earn games could be costly, and because their game is a MOBA, a small player count wouldn’t make sense.
That’s why they give all the new players a free hero to play with. Newbies can use it to learn how the game works and ultimately earn enough in-game tokens to buy a premium hero.
Players can use the native token Thetan Coin (THC) to buy in-game items, with its current price going at $0.003.
As of late September, 3.79k monthly players are generating around $35,16k in trading volume.
7. Arc8
Interestingly, Arc8 is not a single play-to-earn game but a collection of 10 mobile mini-games you can play for free. There are all kinds of games, such as card, puzzle, and action games, so you will likely find something you like.
Arc8 Blockchain Games
See more: Start playing Arc8
As for earning rewards, Arc8 has two in-game currencies.
The first one is the credits you earn by playing the games and completing daily challenges. With credits, you can play practice matches and enter sponsored tournaments where you can earn the primary GMEE token.
Check GMEE price
GMEE is currently worth $0.0117. The game attracts upwards of 99,37k users a month, and the monthly trading volume is around 2.25k, at the time of writing.
8. Gods Unchained
Gods Unchained is a play-to-earn trading card game. Think of it as a blockchain version of Hearthstone that you can use to earn digital assets without investing a dime.
Gods Unchained NFT game
Also see: Start playing Gods Unchained
You get a plain deck of cards once you start playing, and as you win more matches, you gain access to more powerful cards. You can also forge new cards out of the existing ones. Gameplay is rich and dense, as you can read in our complete Gods Unchained guide, and one of the reasons for the game’s success.
By entering weekly quests, you’ll also be able to win the GODS token.
At the moment, the GODS token is worth $0.463. There are around 13.81k monthly users, and the monthly trading volume is almost $9,5M.
Check GODS price 9. DeFi Kingdoms
DeFi Kingdoms is unlike other games on this list because it’s a decentralized exchange (DEX) concealed as a play-to-earn retro RPG.
DeFi Kingdoms play and earn
Also see: Start playing DeFi Kingdoms
The average price of a hero NFT is around JEWEL, the game’s native token that’s worth $0.179. Buying a hero isn´t always cheap.
However, you can use the fact that DeFi Kingdoms is a DEX to acquire enough tokens to buy a hero quickly. You just need to have a bit of patience.
You can buy a couple of JEWEL tokens and become a liquidity provider on the platform. Alternatively, you can also stake the token and earn passive rewards.
Soon enough, you’ll have enough JEWEL to buy a hero and start going on quests, so you won’t have to spend more than $10.
At the time of writing, more than 23,65k monthly users contribute roughly $8,46M of the total trading volume.
10. Aavegotchi
For all the 90s kids out there, Aavegotchi will strike a chord. This virtual pet game looks like Tamagochi – only it’s play-to-earn, and the pets are ghosts.
Aavegotchi game virtual world
Also see: Start playing Aavegotchi
The entry barrier is relatively low, as you’ll only need to rent an Aavegotchi to start playing. Every ghost you collect is a pet that’s also a yield-generating NFT. If you ask us, they are unique, completely customizable, and cute.
The native token is GHST, currently priced at $1.19. These pixelated ghosts are quite a hit, and at the time of writing, there are around 5.67k monthly users with a trading volume of $558.36k
Check GHST price
How to start playing crypto games?
Remember that to get the most out of play-and-earn games, you might eventually need to part with some cash. No investment usually means very little profit or time required to grow.
Swapping tokens is essential when investing in or interacting with dapps and gaming ones are not the exception. That’s why at DappRadar you can easily swap tokens on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon.
You just need to get a crypto wallet like MetaMask first. Learn more on how to get started with some crypto to start playing in the video below:
Why crypto gaming on a budget
Crypto games aren’t a rich man’s game. Most of the games on this list are entirely free, so you have no excuse not to give them a shot.
Most of them also allow you to earn digital assets immediately, meaning it won’t take long to start seeing profits.
One thing to note is that while these games might not yield you the most money, most of them are still growing. So, if you strike gold right now, who knows how good of an investment it might be in the future?
Game on and have fun!
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The above does not constitute investment advice. The information given here is purely for informational purposes only. Please exercise due diligence and do your own research.