Web3 and crypto-based gaming saw a significant demand in the past cycle with the surge of the play-to-earn games. 2025 promises to have even better and funnier blockchain games, starting with three notable gaming projects developed on Solana (SOL).
The problem the industry faced back in 2020 to 2022 with blockchain games is that, due to an impressive market demand, many game developers rushed to launch their product as fast as possible to navigate the hype and capitalize with related tokens. With that, the blockchain gaming industry was soon flooded with poorly designed games and tokenomics, besides some clear rug pulls.
Recently, the market saw a similar phenomenon with memecoins, especially based on Solana and launched via Pump dot Fun. Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance founder and former CEO, called the memecoin-manya “weird”, urging a focus on utility, as Finbold reported.
Promising blockchain games for 2025
In this context, blockchain game developers have been silently building and launching better designed products, preparing for 2025.
For example, we reported in October about Off The Grid, a crypto-based game that succeeded in a mainstream gaming store. Off The Grid was built on Avalanche (AVAX), a prominent Solana competitor in the cryptocurrency space.
Moreover, projects like the recently launched AI Nexus, featured on the Mario Nawfal Roundtable last week, unite the artificial intelligence growing narrative with gaming. AI Nexus was built on MultiversX (EGLD), another promising layer-one (L1) competing for market share with Avalanche and Solana.
As the new year starts, crypto users, and gamers already have high-quality options to watch and play, leveraging the technology. These games can use the free-to-play, play-to-earn, and pay-to-win models, offering a variety of entertainment solutions.
3 Solana games to watch and play
Finbold selected three out of a list of ten Solana-based games from a Solana Foundation’s list shared on December 27.
Nyan Heroes
First, Nyan Heroes is a third-person team-based hero shooter featuring Nyan Cats piloting deadly mechs. The game is currently in the “Early Access” phase on the Epic Games Store. Gamers can sign in for alpha playtests in 2025, as show-cased by BellabooTV.
Nyan Heroes (@nyanheroes) featured at top of thread is a third-person team-based hero shooter featuring Nyan Cats piloting deadly mechs.
It’s currently in early access – add to your Epic Games Store wishlist to try out the next alpha playtest!
s/o @bellaboo_tv for the clips pic.twitter.com/zDI7yEWn2X
— Solana (@solana) December 27, 2024
Photo Finish™
Second, Photo Finish™ is a fairly unique game with an unprecedented experience. Notably, it is the first real-money horse racing game on the App Store, running its own Solana-based economy.
In Photo Finish™ gamers can collect and breed NFT-based virtual horses, exchange these horses in an open market, and bet on horses in virtual races for a share of the racing prize.
Photo Finish™ (@photofinishgame) is a virtual horse racing game where players can:
– Collect & breed virtual horses
– Exchange digital horses in an open market
– Make picks on horses in virtual races for prizesIt’s the first real-money horse racing game on the App Store. pic.twitter.com/7a1FxQyque
— Solana (@solana) December 27, 2024
BR Infinite
Finally, BR Infinite is one of the most-mentioned games in the comment section, also using Solana for a unique experience. The Solana Foundation describes this game as a “first of its kind Real Money Shooter.”
Essentially, gamers need to deposit funds to play the game, earning the other player’s deposited fund when killing them. So, if a player joins the $1-server, they must deposit this amount and will earn one dollar for each kill. All running on the Solana blockchain and using Solana-based tokens.
BR Infinite (@BR1INFINITE) is a first of its kind Real Money Shooter, where you put up funds to play and earn real money for every kill — offering players a path to turn their gaming passion into a career.
In the $1 Server: Pay $1 to enter & earn $1 for every kill (minus fees). pic.twitter.com/iCwvaLjoX1
— Solana (@solana) December 27, 2024
However, the players must understand that they could lose significant amount of money when interacting with finance-based games. The last cycle was marked by significant losses in play-to-earn games, requiring caution.
For those who are simply looking to have fun, the blockchain gaming world already offers free-to-play alternatives, leveraging entertainment over financial incentives. Some, like GenoPets, will mix the virtual experience with real-world functionalities and are worth watching and playing in 2025.
Featured image from Shutterstock
