Play these games, level up, complete quests and become eligible for a crypto airdrop!
Play-to-airdrop has become a new meta for games in the Web3 community, as game studios look for innovative ways to reward community members, attract new players and distribute their crypto tokens. With the rise of NFTs and crypto in video games, the play-to-airdrop campaigns could become a new marketing standard in the games industry.
For decades gamers have been playing games out of passion. They test early builds of games in development, and provide feedback to the developers. These gamers build communities that exist on top of video games, and organize social events, guild activities, tournaments and so on. However, generally the only people becoming better off the back of all this community activity are the Bobby Kotick’s of this world.
In Web3 these relationships become much more intertwined. Communities and gamers have an incentive to participate, communicate and give feedback. This incentive comes in the form of cryptocurrency or NFT rewards. When it comes to game economies, this business model is often referred to as play-to-earn.
However, there’s a new trend in Web3: play-to-airdrop.
What is play-to-airdrop?
Play-to-airdrop is a token distribution and user acquisition campaign to kickstart the launch of a cryptocurrency. Participants become eligible to receive a cryptocurrency based on their in-game activity.
Web3 games, NFT games, blockchain games, whatever you call them, they always offer interesting opportunities to win, earn and own digital assets. In most cases these reward distributions are part of the game economy. When these items have demand, they gain value, and players can therefore sell them on the market. It’s all part of the economical layer of a video game’s ecosystem.
However, play-to-airdrop works slightly differently. This distribution mechanic is meant to find the most dedicated players and reward them accordingly. Players who farm, craft, beat monsters, and level up their characters, become eligible for these airdrops. Very often, a play-to-airdrop campaign means the kick start of a game economy. Because after the play-to-airdrop campaign, the initial distribution of a crypto token has been completed.
You could argue that a play-to-airdrop campaign serves as the start of a play-to-earn economy.
Projects and games with a play-to-airdrop campaign
Various Web3 games have announced play-to-airdrop campaigns. We will try to list them here, but keep in mind that it’s likely that more projects will embrace this distribution technique. This list is updated on a regular basis.
Play Kuroro Beasts, earn KURO airdrop
TreasureDAO’s Kuroro Beasts will release their KURO token early in 2024. They will distribute the token to users who are active in the ecosystem, and who hold and stake their Beasts. However 7% of the KURO distribution will go to players who actively engage with the game. You can earn points through in-game tasks, specific game events and social media activity. The more points you earn, the bigger your share of the KURO pie.
Play Pixels, earn PIXEL airdrop
Players can already earn BERRY tokens by farming and completing quests in Pixels. However, the team will launch a long play-to-airdrop campaign for PIXEL, their governance token. PIXEL will also unlock certain mechanics in the Pixels game world, for example breeding certain limited edition pets. The PIXEL play-to-airdrop campaign is expected to arrive in January, but the team will officially announce the event 3 days before launch.
Play Nifty Island, earn ISLAND airdrop
The metaverse world of Nifty Island is built through the bear market, and allows anybody to claim an island and build an engaging experience, a cool game, a social hub, or a museum filled with NFT art. However, on 17 January they will launch a huge play-to-airdrop campaign for their ISLAND token. Players can earn ISLAND by playing the game, and those who hold certain NFTs can receive an earnings boost. Those who hold Nifty Island Palms will get an extra boost.
Play Games with Saga, earn SAGA airdrop
The Saga blockchain has announced a play-to-airdrop campaign for their SAGA token. Saga aims at attracting game developers and gamers alike, and through their incubator program 80% of the involved developers are building games. While most play-to-airdrop campaigns are about one particular game, the SAGA play-to-airdrop campaign spans various games, including but not limited to Generative Dungeon, Rogue Nation, Tally Up and Another World. Top finishers on the leaderboard for each of these games, will be eligible for the SAGA airdrop when mainnet goes live this Spring.
Play Farcana, earn FAR airdrop
The third person arena shooter Farcana will have a play-to-airdrop campaign for their FAR token. Gamers will need to play the game and complete missions to become eligible for the FAR token airdrop. Missions are like social quests, involving making accounts, social media posts etc. The amount of FAR you earn, depends on the effort you’ve put into these quests.
Play MixMob, earn MXM airdrop
Even though MixMob has already done a presale of their token, at the same time they also launched a play-to-airdrop campaign. The closed beta kicked off on 9 December, and players can earn a share from a pool of MXM tokens. In addition, the soft-currency SUDS, that players use in the game, can also be staked, earned and exchanged for MXM.
What’s more?
Do you know about more play-to-airdrop games? Join our community on Discord and share the alpha with us. We will update this article on a regular basis to make it easier for you to discover these play-to-airdrop campaigns.
If you’re looking for more information about blockchain-powered games, we’ve listed some resources below.
