How to Find Promising NFT Games and Avoid Scams

A guide to finding good web3 games and avoiding scams in 10 steps

So you decided to look into NFT gaming and play-to-earn games on the blockchain. Is it really possible to make money just by playing? Is it still possible during a market crash?

Once you start getting into web3 gaming, sometimes you get more questions than answers. So I want to help you with a series of articles on the topic.

Rug pulls

Possibly the first thing you come across after starting your research is an abundance of scams, rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes. What is that?

Rug pulls and pump-and-dumps are similar in meaning. It describes a project that drives up its value with marketing to attract investors. Then the founders sell all their assets, dropping the value to zero and leaving investors with nothing.

Do your own research

How to avoid scams? You might hear a lot of advice to (do your own research). But how do you DYOR when you just entered the scene? Below are 10 things we suggest you start with.

1. Look up the founders. Check their previous projects. Are they being truthful about their background? Were any of their projects scams? How did they deal with their previous projects failing? If they just left without saying anything or providing any meaningful resolution — it’s a red flag.

   
   

2. Check their investors. Are there any big names? Google them.

   
   

3. Join their Discord server. If a gaming project doesn’t have one — it’s a red flag. See what the community is talking about. How are the developers responding if at all?

   
   

4. Are there players in the community who build game strategies or are there only investors waiting to cash out when the time comes?

   
   

5. See if they’re delivering on their promises stated on the roadmap. If they aren’t — are they providing explanations and support to their community or are they staying silent?

   
   

6. Check their token activity. Is anyone buying their tokens? Does the price change a lot? You can check that on CoinMarketCap, for example.

   The truth is, the cheaper the token stays the better. Low game token prices mean that the GameFi project was designed as a game and not as an investment opportunity.

   https://twitter.com/Moonstreamto/status/1540062155914891264?s=20&t=ocC7HtXDqLILu1kDkjx8Nw

   
   

7. Check what blockchain the game is on. Some blockchains have higher gas fees and slower processing times — that will become important during gameplay. Ethereum has high gas (at least before the Merge), Ethereum’s Level 2 chains have low gas fees.

   
   

8. How easy is it to start participating? Is it too expensive?

   
   

9. Check prices on OpenSea, how successful are they? Do they have 10k NFTs and have sold only 10 of them?

   
   

10. See if the project has any blockchain activity. Are they all words and Discord/Twitter (a.k.a. off-chain) giveaways and do not have any blockchain development going on? There’s a big chance they want to sell you tokens/NFTs with no actual in-game utility.

    
    

Look for on-chain loyalty programs, leaderboards, airdrops, minigames, in-game items, and consumables.

Think of web3 games not as an investment but as an actual game. When you can tell that the developers put emphasis on gameplay, on the fun players are supposed to be having — that’s a good sign.

If you want to get rich fast — there’s a higher chance of investing in the wrong kind of project that overpromises and flops after launch.

Stay tuned for more articles on how to enter and participate in blockchain gaming. If you found this post useful, leave a comment, and share it with a friend! I’d really appreciate that.