What is blockchain gaming? Analyzing the framework logic and layout methods of the hottest tracks in 2024

Understanding Chain Games: From Hot Phenomenon to Core Essence

At the start of 2024, the chain gaming sector continues to heat up. Among the eight projects launched on Binance Launchpool for the New Year, half come from the chain gaming field — from AI companion game Sleepless AI, Layer3 gaming blockchain XAI, farm management game Pixels, to cross-chain gaming platform Portal. This momentum clearly demonstrates the sector’s potential. So, what exactly are chain games? Simply put, chain games are Web2 game mechanics migrated onto the blockchain, allowing players to earn real asset value through decentralized mechanisms.

The reason this sector remains so hot is that it breaks the traditional value closed loop of gaming. In Web2 games, players’ assets belong to the game company; whereas in chain games, players truly own their virtual assets, which can be traded or transferred. This fundamentally changes the game rules for players.

The Complete Ecosystem Puzzle of Chain Gaming Sector

To understand the chain gaming sector, it’s necessary to recognize its ecosystem from three levels:

First Layer: Infrastructure — Gaming Public Chains

Gaming public chains provide the underlying services for the entire chain gaming ecosystem, similar to highways that enable all games to run smoothly. Representative projects include IMX, Ronin, Gala, etc. The investment logic is: the more prosperous the public chain ecosystem, the greater the potential token value.

Second Layer: Participant Organizations — Chain Gaming Guilds

Initially, chain gaming guilds were informal discussion groups among players. But as the Play-to-Earn business model matured, these organizations evolved into profit-making entities. They mainly engage in NFT asset leasing, game boosting, skill training, etc., operating as DAOs and tokenizing their activities. Some guilds even grew into investment institutions, with projects like YGG, GF, Ancient8, etc. When investing in guild tokens, focus on their asset management scale and ecosystem expansion capabilities.

Third Layer: Core Carriers — The Chain Game Itself

This is the layer directly accessed by players and the most numerous and diverse part of the sector.

Game Types Analysis: Choice Determines Revenue

The variety of chain games is extremely rich; almost all Web2 game mechanics have been replicated on-chain:

Mainstream Types

Role-Playing Games (RPGs) are known for their complete storylines, offering immersive experiences. Representative projects: Seraph, Bigtime, Lumiterra.

First-Person Shooters (FPS) emphasize real-time combat and skill, with fierce competition among players. Representative projects: Matr1x Fire, Shrapnel, Xociety.

RPGs and FPS are the absolute mainstreams of the current chain gaming sector, highly competitive, which also means high entry barriers — requiring top-tier teams, AAA game experience, and large funding. Due to the intense competition, these two categories are most likely to produce star projects.

Sub-Mainstream Types

Strategy games (e.g., Heroes of Mavia, Gas Hero, BlockLords) test players’ tactical deployment skills but have a relatively limited audience.

Sandbox games (e.g., Pixels, Hytopia, Sandbox) offer highly open worlds emphasizing creativity over competition.

Niche Types

Casual games (Xpet, Him, Vmates) focus on leisure and lack competitive elements.

Card games (Parallel, Degen Game, Anome) attract players through strategic battles.

These two categories have smaller player bases and limited explosive potential, making them lower priority for investment.

Three Criteria for Judging a Hit Game

Not all chain games are worth participating in. To determine whether a game can become a star project, evaluate from three dimensions:

Funding Scale

The amount of funding reflects market recognition. Generally, projects with over $10 million in funding are not likely to be fundamentally weak, as they have enough capital to ensure game quality. This is the first screening step.

Founding Team Background

In an era of limited innovation, storytelling ability is crucial. Projects with well-known IPs naturally carry a halo — for example, Seraph, a dark-themed chain game adapted from a classic Web2 game IP, developed by the same team, making it hard not to succeed. Such projects are rare. Usually, focus on the team’s experience — at least 5+ years in game development, or teams with significant achievements in Web2 or involvement in hit games, are more reliable.

Game Quality

If the team’s background is average, the game itself must be top-notch, at least AAA level. Developing AAA games is difficult, costly, and requires substantial resources, making it unlikely for projects to rush to launch or abandon midway.

Core Logic

If a game possesses any two of the above three factors, it has the potential to become a hit. Combining this with on-the-ground assessments of gameplay and community enthusiasm, investors can make more accurate judgments about the project’s value.

Comparing Three Ways to Invest in Chain Games

There are multiple ways to participate in the chain gaming sector, each with different combinations of returns and risks:

Method 1: Buying Tokens (Moderate risk, lowest threshold)

The most direct approach — buy tokens after they are listed on exchanges. Since over half of the tokens are generated within the game, secondary market buyers are essentially taking over the profits from players. This method has moderate risk and is suitable for investors who lack time or technical skills to participate directly in gameplay.

Method 2: Buying NFTs (High risk, uncertain returns)

Investing solely in game NFTs without participating in gold farming often offers the lowest cost-effectiveness. While NFTs as primary assets have large appreciation potential, liquidity is a major issue — if the project fails, investors face total loss. Additionally, limited NFT supply caps capital capacity, and the investment threshold is much higher than buying tokens. Overall, buying NFTs is not cost-effective considering risk and reward.

Method 3: Participating in Gold Farming (Highest returns, highest threshold)

This is the method with the highest expected returns and lowest risk among the three. During testing phases, profits are often the greatest due to fewer participants and abundant resources. Early participants can earn dozens of times more, through token issuance, NFT rewards, project revenue sharing, airdrops, and asset appreciation.

However, only a few can achieve high returns. Successful gold farming requires thorough preparation in three steps:

1. Use multi-dimensional analysis to assess the project’s prospects and whether you can profit from it and to what extent.

2. If participation is justified, design the optimal gold farming strategy to maximize gains.

3. Honestly evaluate whether your time investment and gaming skills can meet the goals.

This is why the threshold for gold farming is the highest — it demands strong research capabilities, ample time, and excellent gaming skills. Most investors lack these conditions, which explains why early Ethereum L2 public chain interactions can reach hundreds of thousands of users, while early chain game participants are only in the thousands.

Conclusion

What is chain gaming? It’s not just about blockchain-based games on a technical level; it’s a revolution in asset ownership. For investors, understanding the ecosystem puzzle, mastering project evaluation methods, and choosing the participation approach suitable for oneself are prerequisites for steady profits in this hot sector. Whether you choose to buy tokens, NFTs, or participate in gold farming, in-depth research is always the first step.