NFT Games: What They Are, Why They Failed, and What’s Left in 2025

When you hear NFT games, video games that use non-fungible tokens to represent in-game items like characters, weapons, or land. Also known as blockchain gaming, they were sold as a revolution where you could actually own your progress and get paid to play. But most of them didn’t deliver. Instead of earning real value, players got stuck with digital junk that lost 90% of its value—or vanished completely.

NFT games relied on two big promises: play-to-earn, a model where players earn crypto tokens by playing, and NFT airdrop, free tokens or items handed out to attract users. The TopGoal x CoinMarketCap NFT airdrop gave away 10,000 football-themed NFTs in 2022. It looked huge. But after the hype faded, those NFTs became worthless. No one wanted them. No one traded them. That’s the pattern. Most NFT games never built real gameplay—they built speculation. Players weren’t there to play. They were there to flip tokens. When the price dropped, the players left. And the games died.

It’s not all gone. A few projects still have active players, but they’re rare. The ones that survived focused on actual fun, not just token rewards. The ones that failed? They had no team, no roadmap, and no reason to keep playing after the airdrop ended. If you’re looking at an NFT game today, ask: Is this fun to play? Or is it just a way to get free crypto? If it’s the latter, walk away. Real value comes from engagement, not airdrops. Below, you’ll find real case studies—what worked, what crashed, and why you should never trust a game that promises easy money.