For the past few weeks, I have been attempting to make money online through various different means to supplement my current income. I have always fallen into the category of a gamer. I've played a multitude of video games across the past 27 years or so, since the age of five. Some of the games I was good at, others not so much - looking at you Grand Theft Auto Online. The below is a collection of my thoughts and reflections on my attempts to make my gaming sessions a more productive financial experience with a total $25 initial investment. 

More recently, after becoming more interested in the idea of investing, I have been looking at ways to generate a form of passive income. Whilst I am yet to find a suitable opportunity within my own means, I have taken a look at Play2Earn games on various platforms. Some of the games require significant investment and this seems to be the stumbling block for many. Investment always has its own risks of course and whilst you might stumble on the next Axie Infinity at the right time, you can often find your latest investment franchise to be a dud.

Axie Infinity is a good example of a game that performed well and established its own following during a period which was was quite taxing financially. For the Western World, taking home five dollars a day may not be an achievement whilst playing video games but to other parts of the world playing that game became the basis of a good livelihood allowing people to feed their family. The impact of real earning potential over time has led to a massive increase in the cost to get involved in Axie Infinity. What started as a very simple and relatively small investment to obtain three Axies became a much more considerable effort and one which now gate keeps those who do not have a good amount of immediate cash funds to invest. I found myself on the outside of this particular gate. 

Play2Earn games have learned over a short time that this can be a challenge and in order to resolve this issue, scholarship opportunities have sprung up offering a way for you to work for a manager. Someone who delegates resources your way in order to enable you to both to earn a cut, typically with the manager earning the greater fee. These opportunities can be very competitive. So I started to look into a range of games promoted online. I started by researching investment in blockchain games and this is a simple summary I ask myself prior to an investment.

How to know if the game is for you?

As a result of this, several games have begun to spring up across various blockchains enabling savvy investors and players from different backgrounds to find an additional income. The biggest questions for each time you look at an investment should be-

• Is now a good time to invest in this?
• Can I afford to lose everything I have invested?
• How long until I break even?
• Is this a high skill or low skill requirement in order to make a return?

The games below are in the order that I have tried them. 

Thetan Arena 

Thetan Arena is similar to League of Legends and has an established player base. There is a limited earning potential for each NFT and the game rewards those best at the game. I found it requires a high win percentage in order to make a solid return, let alone a profit on your investment. With the limited number of earning matches on a a purchased NFT, it is entirely possible that after investment you could make zero return due to your low skill at the game. Whilst it is possible to play Thetan Arena for free and earn your way up the rankings, I can personally attest that this is a lot more difficult without an established team, transitioning from League of Legends or other similar games. From a micro economy perspective, Thetan Arena has really struggled to make its native token really worth something and as a result has faultered compared to other games.

Townstar

I found that Townstar has a fairly high entry cost, small earnings per day based on the lowest potential earning NFT. A rewarding option for those with more extensive resources and a range of NFTs in the game's ecosystem. The game is fairly simple and after learning timings and developing a strategy, you can more or less automate the game quite easily to make a fairly passive income, assuming you have the initial funds to begin. Gala Games have developed their range of games and appear to be looking into Music integration. Overall seems a good ecosystem to get involved with but Townstar was not a game that I could enter with my limited range of funds.

Pegaxy

Pegaxy has recently been high profile as the potential to earn $18 (at time of writing) in a single race, in the Crypto world, doesn't stay unnoticed for long. As a result an influx of bots renting out the Pegas (fancy horses) has made it near impossible for someone investing a small amount like myself to get into the ecosystem. Whilst Pegaxy have taken steps to block bots and the market for renting Pegas has become much easier to find yourself earning, I have been unable to find a Pega successfully. The price to purchase a Pega has changed drastically over the last couple of weeks and as a result there are a number of people who will find their investment will need to be more long term in order to break even.I would still like to explore this option at some point but without a scholarship, this will not happen any time soon.

Splinterlands

Over the past few weeks, I have been playing Splinterlands every day, completing my daily quests and earning DEC as I play. Whilst you need to have some success to rank up, it is possible to make a reasonable income which can depend on both your skill and luck. Whilst the game will never be able to replace my day job- due to my real lack of skill- I can honestly say that making money has never been as fun. Sure it is not the same rush of excitement you might experience in Pegaxy, but smashing skulls with your latest epic The Forgotten One card can still feel rather good. The barrier to entry in Splinterlands is a $10 purchase of the spell book and your overall card power level. This book will allow you to access daily quests and earn some basic credits and even cards, using the most basic cards. These credits can be used to purchase cards and packs, or rent better cards with more card power. However it is also possible to find people willing to delegate card power to you in order for you to be able to earn DEC for every win. I was lucky enough to be delegated card power and this helped me to catapult my earnings a short way. Whilst my best luck has been drawing a $24  legendary card from a $4 pack. I have not been so lucky with my other pack luck in the game. Overall, I am at a net positive with the card on its own and the DEC faucet has helped me to generate enough DEC to rent  the remaining appropriate card power to Silver 3- where the earnings become potentially much better. Overall, my earnings in Splinterlands vary day to day and are currently less than a few cents a day. However, it is the lucky card drops that make the time most worthwhile. 

Free Crypto Faucets

Faucets- Crypto faucets are often looked at as scams and perhaps rightly so. There were some old examples of faucets releasing 0.1-0.5 Bitcoin a number of years ago. Obviously now, the amount distributed has changed but the idea of faucets still remains. I recently stumbled upon one which integrates with the Hive wallet quite nicely and has really helped me get a head start using the Dark Energy Crystal token (DEC). The DEC token is the main token used in Splinterlands, a game that I have ventured into.

Rising Star Game

Rising Star Game- In the past week, while I was working from home, I have been playing Rising Star Game. This game has had me earning consistently every day. Once again the amount I have been making has not been life changing. I have been using this income to build my Hive Account and develop my Splinterlands card power. Rising Star Game is an Idle game that has you busking your way to fame. Throughout your career you need to manage your energy level, skill and ego to earn Starbits. The game uses NFTs to allow independent musicians to be found by more people online. So far the community is growing, they regularly do giveaways on Twitch and the developers are highly active within the community. While the earnings start very small, it is possible with a couple of small, one time, four or five dollar investments to begin making a few dollars a week which is the stage that I am at. Over the past few days, I have made $0.30 a day with minimal effort and up to double that on my more involved days. As I scale up my investment, I am beginning to make even more Starbits and am finding further ways to develop this fairly passive income within the Rising Star Game ecosystem.

Summary

As stated at the start of this article, the purpose of these games was for me to turn my video gaming time into something more productive at home with only a $25 dollar investment pool. Whilst the earnings are not significant, I have been using them to scale up my investments. Over time, I know that this strategy will allow me to develop a small investment fund for me to take a slightly bigger leap. Until then, I will continue bashing skulls in Splinterlands and busking my way to fame all the while earning around a dollar a day for my efforts. Not bad considering I have invested a total of $25 dollars in the above games. 

I'd love to hear your opinions and ways you have considered playing to earn?

Links:

Rising Star Game- support independent music artists using my link

Splinterlands is a card game and if you have not had the chance to try it out, please feel free to use my referral link.

A link to the DEC faucet is here. This is not a referral link. Donators are required to keep it going  and we'd love to have more people join our community led by chansetheguy.