The King of NTFs, and one of the @DAO Labs #SocialMining community favorites, the @WAX network has a new kid on the blockchain – Pantheon TC, the first high stakes digital card trading game. In this article, we will explore #web3gaming , and its advantages over web2gaming, such as the chance to earn an #NFT​ or a token like $WAXP .

I have always loved games, especially the Adventure type ones with solid story-telling, such as the unforgettable Sanitarium, or the Icewind Dale series, as Fantasy and SciFi will always be my true loves. My students and I took our frustrations with each other over a few hours of Diablo 2, or Medal of Honor, where they killed me too many times to count. The reasons why people of so many ages and cultures play are as diverse as the people who play them, but we all play. That is why it is no wonder to me that the natural progression of the web 3 is towards digital gaming – there is just too much synergy and so many benefits for both the gamer and developer.

One basic aspect of gaming is collection. I have played so many games over the years where a beautiful item or a cute character would become a reason in itself to keep playing. We human beings are by our very nature collectors and hoarders, and we tend to want to hang on to things, despite their utility or lack thereof of certain items. Just look at people who have a hard time throwing out jam jars or plastic bags! We see something in a movie, and want to own it, and voila, the whole merch industry! In games, this natural human tendency translates to wanting to keep certain game pieces, and web 3 allows you to that through NFTs.

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are items like art, collectibles or whatever is or can be created in the game that you can own, each with its unique blockchain identifier. That means, unlike a cryptocurrency, it becomes a unique item, that you can trade, sell or keep for yourself. In a game, that sword that you could take to your grave with can truly become yours, or that creature that you raised from an egg will forever be there! This opens up so many avenues of growth, and so many ways of interacting between games and ecosystems, that just thinking about the potential is mind-boggling!

So, before we look at one of my favorite web 3 games, I would like to set out exactly what advantages gamers find in Web 3 games as opposed to Web 2:

1. True Ownership: In traditional gaming (Web 2), game developers own everything game-related. Players can use them within the game but don't have any ownership rights. In contrast, NFTs allow players to have true ownership of their digital assets. These assets are stored on the blockchain, meaning players can trade, sell, or transfer them independently of the game developers.

2. For platforms that are on the same blockchain or on compatible ones, your NFT can be transferred from one game to another. This could give you access to your favorite suit of armor, spell or warmount, for example!

3. Scarcity and Provenance: The scarcity of any in-game piece and a transparent history of ownership (provenance) add value to rare in-game items, as players can verify their uniqueness and previous ownership.

4. Monetization: Scarcity and provenance in turn mean that a player can earn real-world money by selling or trading their NFTs. This Play-to-Earn (P2E) model lets players earn income through gameplay, as you can see in games like Axie Infinity.

Currently, my favorite web 3 game is Pantheon, which is the first time a real-life play-for-keeps card trading game has been recreated in a digital sphere, using WAX-based blockchain technology!

The main idea of Pantheon is to play a game of cards where you can win to capture other players’ cards (NFTs).

The cards in this high-stakes game have been designed to be collectible, so if you do not want to play, you can hold on to your cards as a future investment.

There are many more games out there, for a sampling just take a look at the @Ton Network on Telegram for a mindboggling variety, but for old school me, this one checks all the boxes. However, no matter if you play Novo Pangea, #HamsterKombat or Pantheon, make sure to not miss out on this major development on the blockchain!

We the DAOLabs community believe in supporting our projects on their way to greatness through Social Mining. This DAOLabs innovation is an alternative that allows you to take part in this great paradigm shift, and earn through your own hard work and efforts towards building a community behind a project you believe in, just like the Play2Earn model.

Disclaimer: All the information provided in this article is for informative and educational purposes, and not intended as financial advice. Any trades bear the risk of partial or total financial losses and must be approached with utmost caution. DYOR!