Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have become a game-changer for strategy-based games in the most literal sense, altering the competitive dynamics to give the best players an opportunity to earn tangible rewards for their efforts.
NFT-based games are different because they’re built on blockchain networks that make it possible to integrate digital assets that can be owned by any player. This has led to the birth of a new generation of “play-and-earn” strategy games, where players can pit their wits against the smartest of opponents and rake in considerable amounts of money in the form of cryptocurrency when they come out on top.
It’s an appealing idea that can be implemented within any gaming genre, strategy games among them. The idea of earning rewards for playing games focused on strategic battles is appealing, as players have to put a significant amount of time and effort into them. The prospect of earning rewards for that effort is, therefore, extremely alluring, so let’s not waste any more time and instead take a look at the best NFT strategy games.
1. LandRocker
LandRocker has emerged as one of the most popular NFT strategy games due to the immersive nature of its gameplay, which involves exploration, resource management, combat and more.
Players are tasked with exploring hundreds of unknown planets located within the LandRocker universe. They take command of an NFT-based Rover that allows them to drive around the surface of each one, hunting for resources that need to be mined. These resources are scattered at random across each planet, and players must race to locate them before their rivals find them first.
Mining allows players to collect valuable materials that can be sold or used to build new products and equipment. Besides mining, players can engage in combat and attempt to liberate hundreds of planets that have been taken over by a hostile alien race. NFTs play a key role in the game, representing both the players’ Rovers and also the weapons they can attach to them. These NFTs can be sold at any time on a decentralized marketplace, enabling players to profit from the game.
Exploration is one of the most thrilling aspects of LandRocker. That’s because each planet has its own set of challenges in the shape of aliens and harsh environments, plus a unique combination of mineral riches, and players must traverse intergalactic space to discover them and start exploiting the resources to be found within. When exploring, players will often come up against alien soldiers who resent their presence on that planet, and it’s necessary to destroy them in order to set up a viable mining operation. However, doing so isn’t easy, as players will need powerful weaponry, and they’ll also need to carefully manage their fuel resources to ensure they have enough. This means getting the strategic balance between mining and exploration just right. Bigger challenges emerge as the player advances to reach more distant planets.
It’s even possible for players to own an entire planet and use it as a source of passive income, by selling mining rights to other players. But beware of the threat of anyone else who tries to take that planet away using military force.
LandRocker’s in-game currency is the LRT token, which is used for buying resources, weapons, and decentralized governance. The LRT token recently became available to buy on the centralized exchange MEXC and the decentralized exchange Uniswap.
2. Banksters
Crypto trading, gamified. That’s the simplest description we can come up with for Banksters, which is an NFT-based strategy game that sees players buy and sell cryptocurrencies in an effort to make a bigger profit than their human rivals.
The game is focused on real-life crypto markets, reflecting their real world values, and players are forced to adapt to the market conditions using the abilities that they slowly learn from playing the game. Banksters attempts to teach players about financial and trading concepts in a way that’s fun and entertaining, so they become more financially literature over time and eventually learn how to trade profitably – an excellent skill to have that can later be put to use in the real world.
Gameplay has three major elements, including Mining, where players can compete various tasks to try and earn in-game tokens. The most competitive aspect of the game is the Investment Runs, which are best described as simulated trading experiences based on real-world data. Players compete against other human traders in an effort to make the biggest profit over a specified period of time, but their NFT trader characters also have certain special abilities that can help them to gain an edge. For instance, the “Elon’s Tweet” ability can be useful, as it emulates something that has happened more than once before in the real world, when the billionaire Elon Musk tweeted about a certain coin in what many believe was an effort to pump its value or dump it.
The Minting element of the game involves creating new NFT Bankster characters that can even be loaned to other players, creating a passive income-generating opportunity.
The rules might be simple enough, but Banksters promises a steep learning curve that will challenge even the most competent market traders, with volatile market conditions creating major headaches at the most inopportune of moments.
Banksters has proven wildly popular and boasts more than 55,000 players globally, with its native BARS token now listed on MEXC, BingX and many other CEX exchange platforms.
War Of Ants
As the name suggests, War Of Ants sees players take control of an entire colony of ants and attempt to expand their empire at the expense of their opponents.
It’s a strategic, real-time player-vs-player game where players will go to war against opposing colonies of ants in an attempt to kill their queen or steal their resources.
The free–to-play version of the game is a straightforward, one-off battle against another human player, but those who purchase an NFT will be able to access the Colony Mode, where they have the chance to create an empire by massively expanding their colony. There’s a lot of strategy involved, with players required to search for resources and food, fight battles against their enemies and design new items that can enhance their powers. Ultimately, they’ll need to raise an enormous ant army to bring the fight to their enemies.
Besides equipping their ant soldiers with sophisticated weaponry, players can also provide them with armor and set up defenses to protect their own colony. That part is essential, for players cannot afford to lose their queen ant, which is the heartbeat of every ant colony.
Players take on the role of queen ant, and can lead raids and invasions on opposing ant colonies in real-time. They can employ various tactics in the shape of customized ant swarms and defensive units. Battles are won either by obtaining the chest of prizes that is strategically located in the middle of each battlefield, or by breaching the opponent’s defenses and killing their queen ant. In addition to the battles, a large element of the gameplay involves searching for resources and colony expansion.
As the players’ colony expands, they’ll obtain more resources and rare artifacts that make them stronger on the battlefield, enabling them to earn richer resources. Certain resources, such as Scrapbits, give players the opportunity to design their own weapons and armor, while the artifacts include weapons such as air strikes and mortars that allow players to bombard their enemies from the skies.
War Of Ant’s native token is the ANTS cryptocurrency, which is set to make its debut via a public sale later in the year.