I joined the cryptocurrency community late. The whole concept of cryptocurrency felt like too much of a gamble, and I prefer to do my gambling at the casino. That changed when my local casino started turning into an arcade. Unless you are a high roller, or willing to spend $15+ a hand, they simply direct you to computer consoles which might be live streaming a dealer. With casinos being less exciting, I suddenly found myself with a budget I was willing to gamble on crypto.
I began looking for crypto based games and quickly found myself confused. These days we are spoiled by free to play games and demos. We can try most games before buying them, or even play free. For traditional gaming, we have lots of micro-transactions, but they are optional. I expected something similar for crypto games and was quickly surprised. Each game has its own onboarding instructions and there are fees everywhere. It was nothing like I expected, and can easily drive off someone who is new to crypto
That feeling is why I wrote this article, I wanted to ease the transition to crypto gaming, since it needs mass adoption to thrive. This is not intended to be a “how to guide”, this is simply a quick introduction to help new users know what to expect.
What is Cryptocurrency? What are digital assets?
If you are reading this, you probably already have a vague idea. Cryptocurrency and digital assets are decentralized online money and property. They are tracked across multiple computers all over the world. It’s how you can actually own a cool item in a game instead of the developer controlling it. If you want more detail, just ask Wikipedia.
How do I begin? Where do I get coins?
This is NOT financial advice. Please do your own research as well.
When crypto was new you could mine for coins. You could set your computer to work and literally make money. In the case of some games you could grind for money instead. While I’m sure there are a handful of places out there where you can grind your way in, these days you usually need to commit some cash.
Although some games allow you to spend cash directly (for a fee), to get cryptocurrency you will often need to sign up with a coin exchange. I use Coinbase. It’s an established company, located in the US, with generally favorable reviews. Depending on your country and comfort level, you should do your own research into exchanges. If you do choose to sign up for Coinbase, my referral link will give us both $10 when you buy or sell your first $100 of cryptocurrency.
That being said, I may have torn out some of my hair during the signup process. It started out straight forward, but as soon as I tried to buy coins it got complicated.
I had to verify my ID multiple times. This involved sending pictures of my license and pictures of myself. I had to link my phone for two factor verification. Then I had to install the app on my phone because they wanted a selfie but my computer didn’t have a webcam. It didn’t help that Capital One thought their transactions were fraud. It was a headache.
As long as you are prepared though, it will go smoother.
- Have your ID handy.
- If you don’t have a webcam, install the app on your phone.
- If you are connecting your debit card, you may want to talk to your bank beforehand to verify you won’t have issues.
What fees will I face?
It was confusing trying to find out the fees as they can differ drastically. For instance, Coinbase has a tiered approach for buying cryptocurrency. They also say they have a debit card fee but I haven’t seen that show up anywhere yet. Then there are the gas fees (on almost every transaction) which I’ll explain later. Thoroughly read your exchanges fee policy before buying. It will impact how much you buy at a time as well as how fast your coins will be available.
What coins do I want?
There are a LOT of currencies out there. Everyone has heard of Bitcoin, but depending on what you want to do, you may want something else. Most games I have looked at use Ethereum (ETH) so I skipped bitcoin altogether and bought that directly. Decide how you will use it first, so you know what you need, and then make your purchase.
I have a bunch of crypto, how do I use it?
As with real money, in order to spend it, you need to put it in your wallet. The actual wallet you need will vary depending on where you want to use it. Most games will recommend a preferred wallet, give the option to use multiple, or accept FIAT (cash) purchases.
These are three wallets that I personally like.
- Metamask: This is probably the most commonly recommended wallet. It installs as a plugin in your browser, is fairly intuitive to use, gives you more control over your gas spending, and has a responsive support team.
- Dapper: This is an excellent ETH wallet to use, I wish it had been around when I started. Currently it is only available as a plugin for chrome. While I haven’t tried it, it lets you bypass exchanges and directly purchase ETH. They also pay your gas fees completely for their partners and 10 free transactions a week for everyone else.
- Enjin: This is a powerful wallet for mobile devices. It has a built in browser so you can use it for web based games which you would normally be unable to use on a mobile define. Additionally, since Enjin is looking to be the gamer’s crypto, there are a lot of games which plan to use it.
Look around and do your own research, the games you want to play may specify a specific wallet, these are simply three wallets I’ve had good experiences with. If you want more detail, ask in the comments, and I’ll see about putting together wallet specific guides.
Wait, what’s this GAS fee?
Honestly, this should have occurred to me before I even spent a cent. The data is distributed across many places and that isn’t free. They aren’t going to pay the costs for you, so instead you have to pay for gas. Every transaction which writes to the chain requires gas. Still, it was a surprise when I tried to sign up for a free Ethermon and free Chain Monster only to be presented with a fee window.
Don’t blindly pay gas!
- Metamask allows you to modify the value. If you are willing to wait longer, and risk your transaction being rejected, you can save money by setting the value lower than recommended.
- Many games give recommended gas rates based on the current network conditions.
- Dapper will pay your gas a certain number of times, and has free transactions with their partners.
- You can visit ETH Gas Station to see the current recommended gas rates
Let the games begin! What kind of games are out there?
I have encountered three main types of games.
- Free to Play Hybrids
- Gas Guzzlers
- Play to Play
Free to Play Hybrids are where I believe the future of crypto games lies. These are the most accessible to new players as everything can be done off-chain. With these games you mint your items onto the blockchain when you want to trade them. There are no required fees before that. They are the next logical step for a F2P game. In fact, you can even find some scheduled for release on steam.
Examples of Free to Play Games:
Gas Guzzlers are games which require you to pay gas fees to play. These fees are usually pennies, but can vary drastically. These games regularly save data to the distributed network as opposed to a game specific database. Your items in these games are constantly updated and can usually be traded without taking any special steps. In fact, if you are an Opensea member (crypto item sale/auction site), you will likely see these items in your account automatically.
Examples are:
- Ethermon (This is a referral link will give us both points towards free in game currency)
Lastly are the Pay to Play games. These are similar to traditional purchased games in that you need to buy something to start playing. Prices range drastically, you may pay anywhere from a dollar to hundreds of dollars. These games will usually have gas fees as well, although some mitigate the number.
Examples are:
- 0x Universe: You need to buy a planet and pay gas fees.
- Battle Racers: You need to buy crates to assemble your race car. (I will receive 10% of any purchases made through this link)
There are MANY more games than I listed here. These are just a small fraction of the games I am currently following.
Sounds great, what’s next?
Now that you have a very basic understanding of what to expect, I strongly suggest researching more on your own. Cryptocurrency can be confusing, but fortunately the community is often very helpful. Most games will have discord and telegram channels where you can talk to the devs directly. I’m just one of the many people willing to help.
Share your thoughts! Ask questions! I’m here for you!
Note: I published an earlier version of this to the now defunct narrative.org blogging site in April 2019. I have since heavily updated it and republished it here.
