When crypto first started getting popular, it was inevitable this new type of digital currency would work its way into gaming. After all, one-third of the global population are gamers, while over 42 million of them own a cryptocurrency. With so many gamers being crypto investors, it didn’t take very long for the blockchain gaming market to pick up speed, and it hasn’t slowed down since.

Looking at the market today, there’s a whole host of popular crypto games you can play. Some are extremely popular, like Axie Infinity, while some are slightly lesser-known and more niche. On top of this, there’s also a growing number of ‘crypto casinos’, which are, as the name hints at, platforms that let you play online casino games using cryptocurrencies instead of real money.

To put it simply, crypto gaming has exploded. But because it’s still a relatively new thing, there’s concern surrounding the safety of it all. It can be difficult to know whether games are scams and if you’re putting your crypto assets at risk, so we’re here to break everything down for you.

Yes, Crypto Games Can Be Safe

Crypto games are, for the most part, completely safe. So, when you’re playing, you don’t necessarily need to be sitting there on the verge of a panic attack (whew). Just make sure you stick with officially licensed and reputable sites, otherwise there’s always going to be a risk involved.

Hackers and scammers are present in the crypto gaming space, as well as the rest of the gaming industry. This we know for a fact. So, avoiding them is the difference between having fun and potentially losing your assets to someone halfway around the world.

However, even if you do everything right, these criminals can occasionally find ways to cause havoc. It was only last year in 2024 when PlayDapp, a blockchain gaming platform, had its security breached by hackers resulting in the loss of PLA tokens worth over $290 million. This wasn’t the fault of the players, as PlayDapp is a legit crypto gaming platform, and was simply a security slip on behalf of the platform itself. It at least serves as a reminder that even though the crypto gaming space is mostly secure, its security still has a long way to go.

Off the back of this, what we recommend is you still play crypto games, but keep your investments low. In other words, don’t buy tons of in-game NFTs and tokens. This way, if there is some type of security breach in the future, your losses will at least be minimal. It’s the best strategy to have until the overall security of the crypto gaming industry reaches that of traditional gaming platforms.

How Crypto Games Work

So, how do crypto games actually work? For the most part, it’s simple. You’ll find that the majority of play-to-earn crypto games let you earn rewards in-game, such as tokens and NFTs, which can then be redeemed whenever you feel it. Generally, what you have to do is complete quests, beat enemies, and other similar things to keep building your rewards.

Let’s take Axie Infinity, the game we mentioned a little earlier, as an example. The game is a whole lot of fun, which is why it has over 2.7 million active daily users. Axie Infinity is sort of like the crypto version of Pokemon, allowing you to collect and trade monsters. By winning battles with your monsters, it’s then possible to get SLP (Smooth Love Potion) tokens, an Ethereum-based ERC-20 crypto.

Essentially, crypto games are for people looking to earn real cryptocurrency rewards and trade them. At the same time, the gameplay itself can also be quite fun, so it’s not like people are just playing so that they can earn rewards. Really, it’s a mixture of the two: earn crypto and have fun gaming.

There is, of course, a slight problem when it comes to the quality of some blockchain games. It’s actually something that people complain about a lot on Reddit, with people pointing out that a growing number of crypto games on the market are obviously crypto projects with a poorly designed game on top. Moving forward, what would be awesome to see is that we get the game design first, followed by the integration of crypto.

Crypto Casinos Are Also a Fun Option, But You Need to Bet Carefully

Outside of blockchain-based games, there’s also been an explosion in crypto casinos. These are a little different, as they’re not standalone games. Instead, they’re websites and apps that function just like regular online casinos, except you get to bet cryptocurrencies instead of real money. Some even offer bonuses, like Stake.us.

Let’s say you’re a Bitcoin guy. Inside mBitcasino, there are over 8,000 casino games that accept Bitcoin. So, if you played online slots or blackjack, you might eventually be able to build your Bitcoin collection and withdraw it to your personal wallet. It’s all about winning and knowing when to leave the tables.

As you might expect, this concept has caught on fast. It’s huge and people are hooked, so it was no surprise when crypto gambling generated over $81.4 billion — yes, billion — in 2024. It’s crazy money and shows that gambling itself is moving to a more decentralized place, so who knows what the future might hold for that. Instead of betting US Dollar, we could reach a point where people are exclusively playing roulette with Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

What Are the Best Crypto Games?

There are some great crypto games on the internet. Of course, the main one is Axie Infinity, which lets you collect and trade fun little monsters that can be used to battle against other players. Another option is Decentraland, which is more of a social open world game built on the Ethereum blockchain where players can buy and trade virtual assets, sort of like we do in real life. And then there’s Sandbox, a game that lets you build in-game items like characters, buildings, and more, all of which can be sold or traded for the game’s cryptocurrency, SAND. If you’re stuck on where to start, any of these 3 crypto games are good to go with.

Summary

Crypto gaming has reached new heights over the past few years. It first started getting popular around 2017, which is when blockchain games like CryptoKitties were coming out, and the movement hasn’t really slowed down since. We’re now in a world where more people than ever own cryptocurrencies, so they naturally want to put them to use or build their portfolios even further. One of the best options for this is to play crypto games or sign up with crypto casinos, and it’s something we’re probably going to see a lot more of over the coming decade. It could even reach a point in the future where cryptos become compatible with PlayStation and Xbox consoles, although that’s still a bit far off for now.