rewrite this title How to Make a Good Play-to-Earn Game

Blockchain games share many similarities with traditional games. However, this relatively new game genre also has distinct differences. At Metaveverse Planet Business Network #3, Uğur Güzel from Azerion shared the secrets to making a good play-to-earn (P2E) game, comparing them to traditional titles.

The requirements for making a good game vary depending on the genre. When it comes to play-to-earn games, one must consider investors in addition to players. Here, the “investors” are, in fact, the players themselves, which distinguishes them from traditional models. Therefore, developers aiming to create a good game must first decide “who” they are making the game for.

Traditional investors, familiar from previous systems, evaluate a game’s money-making potential. In P2E games, this old rule still applies, with a few new additions. Understanding that players are also investors provides developers with a significant advantage when creating a blockchain game.

Play the First Crypto-Built Universe Game, Earn Real Money – Metaverseplanet.net

Who Should You Make the Game For?

In some cases, we observe games that are relatively unenjoyable generating very high revenues. This primarily stems from developers creating games according to the desires of traditional investors. Developers who understand the values considered by investors create games they believe will pass all performance tests. When the game genuinely passes these tests, it can attract investors’ attention and receive investment.

Seeing such successful, revenue-generating games, other developers try to follow a similar path. Işık Işın warns developers against falling into this trap. The success of games lacking good game mechanics, content that can keep players engaged, and a strong player community (depending on the game type) is usually temporary. Even if these games secure investments, they often fail to achieve success, disappointing both players and investors.

Making Games for the Player

It’s quite challenging for games made solely to impress investors to achieve long-term success. So, what does “making games for the player” mean, and how does it impact success?

Işık Işın states that one of the most crucial elements for a game’s success is developing it to genuinely appeal to the player. Drawing from her career in the gaming industry and experience at Azerion, she lists the requirements for making a good game and satisfying players:

The game must possess strong core mechanics. Game mechanics are divided into sub-genres, and core mechanics form the gameplay. The most fundamental purpose of a game is to have enjoyable gameplay. Otherwise, who would spend hours playing or consider making a purchase within the game? It’s important to remember that “fun” varies from person to person. Some players enjoy action games, while others might prefer horror games.The game must have a non-boring core loop. The number of core mechanics in games is generally small. If you look at many games, you’ll see these fundamental mechanics constantly repeating. This is called the core loop. If players feel like they’re doing the same thing repeatedly within this loop, they will likely get bored. Developers need to enrich this loop and prevent players from feeling bored.The game’s economy must be balanced. Even single-player games have an in-game economy. When thinking about an economy, you shouldn’t necessarily only consider things like money, gold, or diamonds. You can think of an economy in its simplest form as resource/input expenditure/output. When viewed this way, everything in the game affects its balance. Elements like energy and health, necessary to continue playing, are essentially renamed in-game currencies. The difference in play-to-earn games is the inclusion of an external source into this economy. Işık Işın elaborates on this point.

Integrating NFTs and Crypto Elements into Play-to-Earn Games

We mentioned that an external source is integrated into play-to-earn games. What we’ll discuss here isn’t a technological integration, but rather how crypto elements should be placed within the logic of a P2E game.

In blockchain games, NFTs are used for various purposes. Sometimes merely “profile pictures,” NFTs are also used as in-game items in many games. The benefit a player receives from owning an NFT becomes a significant motivation for them to continue playing the game.

Işık Işın emphasizes that NFTs and crypto elements must be well-placed within the game’s core loop at this exact point. NFTs that have no in-game utility rarely gain traction among players. To give an example, in the famous play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, the Axies directly influence how much revenue players earn from the game based on their rarity. This situation leads to NFT Axies being highly sought after.

The Balance of Time and Experience in Games

Regardless of its genre, the golden rule for making a good game is establishing a balance between time and experience. If users don’t receive a sufficient experience in return for the time they invest in the game, they won’t play it. An unplayed game means a dead game.

Maintaining the balance between time and experience in games is crucial. How this balance is achieved varies depending on the game genre. It’s important for games to deliver on what they promise. For example, in a play-to-earn game, if a player doesn’t earn a sufficient amount of revenue for the time they spend, they won’t play that game. On the other hand, it’s not possible for all players to earn high revenues, so a balance must be struck here. This also applies to other game genres. If a player doesn’t find the expected tension in a horror game, or doesn’t feel sufficiently excited in an action game, they won’t want to waste their time.

What are your thoughts on the crucial balance between player enjoyment and investor appeal in the P2E gaming space?

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