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As of October 2022, there have been over 1950 released blockchain games. Of the released games, 547 remain active, having at least one functional wallet in the past 24 hours, according to DappRadar’s data tracking.
One key consideration for many gamers is the blockchain network used by the game. Examples include Ethereum, Polkadot, and the Binance Smart Chain. How could the play gain traction if the network in question is impractical?
I’ve been exploring the world of blockchain since 2018 and have been exploring crypto games since late 2020. I’ve seen many crypto games come and go. While I rarely get in on the action until the game has been properly established, I’m sure many of you share the exact sentiment of wanting to invest in relatively safe projects, considering the volatility wrought about by the crypto world.
This guide will show you, as a gamer, where you can start looking for the next big thing to start playing and some considerations you’ll need to have before you choose a network to start investing in. Let’s talk about the best blockchain networks that crypto games are built on.
Bottom Line Up Front
The BNB Chain is the most popular blockchain, given its ties with Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. The network can provide quicker transactions than Ethereum through its Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. It was heralded throughout 2021 for proving itself a viable alternative to the Ethereum network, giving its users a more stable environment with manageable transaction fees.
The coin is also considered one of the best utility tokens, as it allows for usage beyond the Binance ecosystem. Today, it could serve as a payment method for services, including credit card bills, online purchases, travel, and leisure expenditures.
My Top Picks At A Glance
We’ll get into the ins and outs of each currency in a bit but for now, here are my top picks at a glance.
- BNB: BNB is probably the best option for those looking to build a dApp, given it’s one of the top utility tokens backed by one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.
- Ethereum: Ethereum is popular due to its history. It runs outside of a company brand, unlike BNB, though it is in a current transition to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism in Eth 2.0.
- Polkadot: Polkadot is great for those who prioritize interchain operability in their network.
- Solana: Solana uses a POH, Proof of History, model to create a reliable order of transactions and events. This system has allowed it to become one of the fastest blockchain networks.
- Klaytn: The best option for those looking for an alternative to BNB, where the network brings in a major player in Kakao to build, design, and develop the platform.
Selection Criteria
If you’re a developer looking to build a blockchain game or simply a gamer looking to participate in GameFi, then these are the things that you should look out for.
1. Platform Speed
Any blockchain developer or user would look out for one key specification is TPS or transactions per second. This will vary depending on the chain you’re using. Bitcoin can handle seven transactions per second, Ethereum can handle 25, and Solana up to 29,000.
Speed, however, shouldn’t be the only criterion. Blazing-fast transactions could come at the expense of platform security.
2. Platform Security
Platform security is another top criterion I had to include, given that security is an attribute many points out as a primary benefit for the transition to decentralized finance. Blockchains may have been created to be a much more secure method to store and share data. Still, different levels of security exist, given each platform’s cryptographic methods.
When looking at a blockchain network, double-check their consensus mechanism, how the records are verified in the network, how frequently network updates are pushed, how they verify their users, and any other mechanisms to ensure the safety of your finances.
3. Transaction Fees
Despite being operated by DAOs, transaction fees exist to incentivize and reward the validators who process the transactions (in a proof of stake mechanism) and protect the network from spam attacks and hackers.
Transactions on a network don’t magically happen – they have to be cross-referenced, verified, and double-checked by the nodes on the system to ensure the safety and security of the platform.
4. Network Adoption Rate
The network’s adoption rate is significant as it provides insight into the popularity of the network chain. It tells us how many users it has and the level of support it gets from the community around it.
With more users, networks will be better able to attract brands that invest time, effort, and money into building their meta experience on the network.
With more investment comes better technology. Having the capital to fund development will increase the available functionality of a token and introduce new use cases for businesses. Improvements like these create a positive development cycle, rising network adoption, and cash infusion.
Ethereum
Ethereum is the first blockchain network to demonstrate that blockchain technology extends far beyond cryptocurrency. It has use cases and applications from decentralized computing capabilities to NFT-based games.
Ethereum is a secure public blockchain for high-value transactions, with many institutional investors providing financial backing to continue development and increase its chances of mass adoption.
Being one of the first blockchains also comes with its detriments, as Ethereum can only handle up to 30 transactions per second, leaving it with the longstanding reputation of having massive delays in transactions. Network congestion leads to scalability issues that have resulted in skyrocketing fees aside from the delays above.
Another core issue is Ethereum’s possible centralization, given its current proof-of-work consensus mechanism that may be exploited by large mining pools that have an outstanding influence on the overall consensus. This is one of the reasons why Ethereum is moving to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism that will also reduce Ethereum’s ecological footprint by over 99%.
From a developer’s perspective, Solidity may be more difficult to learn than other languages like Java or Python. Its syntax is similar to that of C++, though, so if you have experience, you’ll already have an advantage. Aside from that, Eth’s popularity means it has large amounts of support from the community behind it. This benefits developers as it means extensive documentation on the development platform exists.
Pros |
Cons |
A secure public blockchain for high-value transactions |
Transitioning to a proof of stake network |
The popularity of the Ethereum Platform |
The longstanding reputation of delay in transactions |
Ethereum has many large institutional investors incentivized to increase the value of the blockchain network. |
Solidity, the native language of Ethereum, may be difficult to learn for beginners |
|
Scalability Issues |
Polygon
Remember when I noted earlier that certain coins could carve out smaller niches, given Ethereum’s scalability issues?
This is where Polygon comes in.
Polygon provides a solution to Eth’s scalability issues as it handles transactions on a separate Ethereum-compatible blockchain. It is of a layer two construction built on top of the Ethereum chain that provides lower gas fees and higher transaction speeds. Because Polygon is a sidechain, however, this means that Polygon is dependent on Ethereum, and with Ethereum 2.0 coming out, there’s not much detail yet on what this means for Polygon.
Unlike Ethereum, however, the network already relies on its Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. But it’s more than just a side chain; it equips the developers with tools that can help scale Ethereum with ZK Rollup chains, Optimistic Rollup chains, and so much more.
However, while reliant on Ethereum, it remains a separate blockchain. To spend ETH currencies on Polygon, you’ll have to bridge it to the Polygon network.
To sum it up, it’s Ethereum, but cheaper.
Pros |
Cons |
Provided Solutions To Ethereum’s Scalability Issues |
Ethereum dependent (Eth 2.0 is still a threat) |
Existing Proof of Stake Network |
High competition amongst scaling solutions. (ex. Polkadot ) |
Layer 2 construction |
|
Ethereum but with lower gas fees and higher transaction speeds. |
|
Polkadot
Polkadot was built to connect the crypto world. The key word here is interoperability, the idea that different blockchains can be linked in a trustless fashion. The project aims to connect various chains available and improve the efficiency and scalability of blockchain networks.
Other networks operate as independent entities from one another. This makes it extremely difficult to send data between chains. This inability to work with other networks removes the overall goal of decentralization and scalability. I suppose one decentralized independent system can monopolize the financial markets, but right now, none of the existing options can do everything we need to do perfectly.
Polkadot comes in as a solution to allow developers to launch parachains that can bridge existing networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Pooling security groups within the networks, Polkadot increases the overall security of the chain. However, this doesn’t mean Polkadot is impervious to hacking, as interchain operability may also create weaknesses among the bridges. A famous example was the Acala dollar, which was supposed to be a stablecoin, which crashed to below 10 cents and lost over 90% of its value when hackers minted 1.3 billion tokens for free.
Pros |
Cons |
Interchain operability |
Prone to Hacking Attacks |
Proof of Stake Consensus Mechanism |
High Competition from Solana, BNB, and WAX |
Solana
Where Polkadot was designed to help different blockchains exchange information with one another, Solana was intended to bring in rapid transactions with minimal transaction fees specifically. You know, the entire purpose behind cryptocurrencies?
Solana is a blockchain platform that was specifically designed to host decentralized apps. The Solana whitepaper describes a theoretical upper bound of 710 thousand transactions per second on a standard gigabit network. The only limitation is hardware constraints such as CPU/GPU, memory, and bandwidth.
The speed is a result of Solana’s proof of history consensus mechanism that records time for the past transaction to cross-reference against past transactions to speed up the validation process.
However, the lack of apparent resources also means that, occasionally, stability issues arise due to resource exhaustion. If you pair this issue with Solana’s inflationary supply of coins, you might want to rethink picking a blockchain game on the Solana network.
To be precise, Solana has no fixed supply of coins and will introduce a beginning inflation rate of 5-10%, though some sources have pinpointed this number to a specific 8%. Year on year, Solana outlines that they’ll be looking to reduce this inflation rate by 15% until it stabilizes to around 1-2% in the long term.
Whether this disinflationary inflationary model will work, we have yet to see.
Pros |
Cons |
Theoretical 710,000 transactions allowed per second |
2021 crashes called for instability |
Gas Fees are typically less than 1 cent |
Started at 15% inflation |
Rising Popularity |
|
BNB
Now let’s talk about one of the most popular smart chains available on the internet: BNB.
BNB is used to support operations on the Binance exchange and largely facilitate a wide range of utilities, including new token trading. Because it’s heavily centralized to the Binance exchange, many developers and gamers who truly want something decentralized may opt for another coin. This level of centralization has also made Binance a target for regulators around the globe, including several countries such as the UK, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Ontario, and Malta. Regulators are outlining a full ban of the exchange from operating within their boundaries.
If having some level of centralization is fine with you, then know that the Binance coin also acts like a discount coupon that gives traders a discount on trading fees whenever they trade on the Binance exchange and serves as fuel to the Binance Smart Chain, a parallel chain specifically created for smart contracts and dApps.
I mentioned earlier how Solana’s inflationary model might raise some alarms for potential users; BNB looks to solve this problem through burning. Binance has a unique burning policy where the organization will use 20% of its profits to get BNB tokens and burn them to reduce the total supply until 100 million coins have been left.
And, of course, popularity is a key advantage that BNB has over many other cryptocurrencies.
Its popularity stems from its being the brainchild of one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges and its capability to offer fast transactions at low fees. BNB can process up to 1.4 million transactions per second at a fee of 0.1% for all traders.
As a developer myself, I think the average gamer wouldn’t understand how vital a network’s popularity is when you’re developing something. Regardless of whether or not BNB is the best network for games, its popularity means it has community support and a wide array of docs to help prospective developers.
Pros |
Cons |
Allows up to 1.4 million transactions at0.1% transaction fees |
Limited to the Binance Exchange (heavily centralized) |
Unique Burning Policies |
Regulatory worries from countries |
Extremely Popular |
|
Klaytn
Klaytn is one of the newer cryptocurrency platforms on this list. It is owned by Kakao, the South Korean internet company with various products including KakaoTalk, its web browser, and other mobile game platforms. It’s centralized, yes, but Kakao already has a huge customer base and partner companies that might be interested in other integrations within the blockchain.
They’ve also announced a series of apps designed specifically for Klaytn developers so we can see exciting improvements in the ecosystem.
However, this doesn’t come with its woes, as Kakao has announced that it also might take on transaction fees on top of the gas fees that users will need to pay to converse within the system. This means that dApps developed outside of Klaytn will be at a disadvantage considering that it will reduce profits from token sales.
Pros |
Cons |
Kakao has a large customer base in South Korea |
Not popular outside of South Korea |
Kakao is developing a series of apps specifically for Klaytn |
Transaction fees = Gas Used * Base Fee |
Potential for key partnerships within the South Korean ecosystem. |
|
|
|
WAX
WAX is a blockchain network that allows up to 8,000 transactions per second. No, this isn’t a theoretical number – this is what its design capacity allows it to do now.
Lower blockchain fees are a plus for WAX, which charges 2 percent of the sales price no matter how low. While this is higher than the 0.01% of BNB, it offers a unique solution to other blockchains (ahem, Ethereum) that could charge as high as $100 per transaction.
One criticism I have for WAX is that it requires you to stake some crypto in your CPU for access to the network. While giving you staking rewards, this is simply an extra step that increases the barrier of entry for potential WAX users. However, it does remove the need for transaction fees and serves as a deterrent for bad actors because you can’t use the network if you don’t invest in it. Malicious actors are then deterred from working within the system unless they pay their way into it.
Pros |
Cons |
Up to 8,000 transactions per second |
Requires you to stake WAX in your CPU before you can use it |
2% Transaction Fees |
|
Top NFT games like Alien Worlds have been built on this network. |
|
Tips For Prospective Blockchain Gamers
Picking the right blockchain platform isn’t everything. As a gamer, you should consider many other considerations before diving headfirst into a game.
- Identify the type of games that interest you: Your first consideration should be gameplay. An NFT game is entertainment first, income generating activity second. If you don’t enjoy the gameplay, then you likely won’t play enough to turn a profit.
- Understand the tokenomics of the game: Every cryptocurrency has a unique tokenomic structure that plays a key role in identifying price if you don’t understand the tokenomics of the game.
- Roadmap and development: When crypto crashed earlier this year, many projects were left unfinished. When checking out crypto games, ensure that you pay special attention to the roadmap and development team. Are they still on track? Are their social media accounts active? When are they releasing their next update?
- Community Support: Aside from a development team, ensure that the project you’re looking at has growing community support. The market is where crypto projects derive their value, and the more people support a project, the higher demand for its assets. As a potential blockchain earner, you should consider this one of the most BASIC things. Is the project headed toward adoption?
FAQs
Question: What is the best blockchain for gaming?
Answer: Because of the many factors that go into blockchain games, we can’t crown blockchain as the best. However, the network that ticks off the most boxes right now has to be the Binance Smart Chain, as it remains one of the top utility tokens with a wide range of advantages over other digital coins.
Question: What are the most popular blockchain games?
Answer: DappRadar has a list of the most popular blockchain games right now. At the time of this writing, the top games by the number of unique wallets are as follows:
• Alien Worlds
• Splinterlands
• Games
• Farmers World
• Benji Bananas
Question: Why are blockchain games popular?
Answer: Blockchain games are popular as they allow individuals to earn money simply by playing them. Whether completing tasks, staking money in the ecosystem, or simply sending time in the game, a user can receive tokens that can be invested or converted into real money.
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