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In this beginner’s guide to playing metaverse games, we take a look at how to play in Decentraland.
What are metaverse games?
The metaverse has become a fast-growing new space, birthing new virtual worlds. Before we take a look at how to play metaverse games, it’s imperative that we get an understanding of what the metaverse is and what metaverse games are.
The metaverse is a proxy digital reality that consolidates augmented reality, extended reality, and virtual reality making it possible for human beings to play, “live,” and work digitally.
Simply put, the metaverse is somewhat a virtual version of the real world we live in.
So, what then are metaverse games?
Gaming in the metaverse is a method players use to interact with others in real-time while representing themselves as avatars, whether via online apps or games. The activities in metaverse games reflect those in the real world.
Metaverse games are a blend of open-world games, cryptoassets, virtual reality, live-streaming, and social media. And unlike today’s digital games, metaverse games happen in real-time. That means there are no game overs, pauses, or resets.
To successfully play a metaverse game like Decentraland, players need fast internet connections and virtual gear to get an immersed experience.
What is Decentraland?
Created in 2017 and opened to the public in 2020, Decentraland has grown to become one of today’s most popular metaverse games.
Decentraland is an NFT-centric, play-to-earn blockchain game where players can build their own programs and sceneries, explore other users’ habitats, and even trade their virtual possessions to earn an income. Built on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, players can also create digital land, virtual real estate (in the form of NFTs) and sell them for the in-game currency, MANA.
Viral landowners are able to build and display their own creations on their plots of land for others to see. In addition, players can purchase parcels of land from Decentraland’s official marketplace or from secondary NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea.
Land and in-game purchases are bought using MANA or other supported tokens. Land on Decentraland is also capped at 90,000, which creates scarcity to increase the potential value of LAND NFTs. Landowners with more than one piece of land can create larger plots of land by merging adjacent plots of land into estates.
Thanks to its metaverse-like look and feel, Decentraland’s popularity has skyrocketed among crypto-savvy investors and play-to-earn gamers.
So, how can you play the Decentraland game on the metaverse? Let’s dive in and find out more.
Requirements to play Decentraland
Before you get started on playing Decentraland, you will need a computer with at least 4GB of memory, a quad-core processor, a good video card, an updated Chrome or Firefox browser, an Internet connection with at least 10MB download speed, and a MetaMask wallet.
Playing Decentraland on an old (non-gaming) laptop will prevent you from experiencing the early-stage metaverse fully.
You will also need to have Decentraland’s in-game cryptocurrency, MANA. Players can use MANA to make in-game purchases of items such as wearables, collectibles, and land lots.
Besides MANA, you may also want to purchase some LAND NFTs to start out. However, owned LAND tokens are not necessarily a prerequisite to play. You can purchase LAND in Decentraland using MANA and build whatever you want on it. Just like in real life, your LAND can appreciate in value, which you can then choose to sell or rent out.
How to play Decentraland
On your browser, head to Decentraland’s official website and click on the ‘Get Started’ button. You will be redirected to either download the game or explore it on the web.
You will be prompted to either play using your wallet or as a guest. For the purposes of this guide, we will choose the play using the wallet option.
Connect to your MetaMask wallet, and dive in.
If you already have an account, you will be prompted to log in. However, if you don’t, you will be prompted to create one using your wallet. Once you are successfully logged in, you will need to create your avatar to start playing.
There are different traits that you can opt from such as head, body, top, shoes, and accessories, among others. You can also buy items from the marketplace if you so wish.
After customizing your avatar, click on ‘Done,’ and then proceed to choose a name for your avatar.
Once you select your avatar name, click on next. You will be dropped at Genesis Plaza alongside other new players who have also just started their journey.
There is also a tutorial on how to play the game. Keep the tutorial up until you become well-versed with the game as it’ll teach the basics. Moreover, you can hit the ‘Explore’ button and find different events, and places, among others.
Exploring the Decentraland metaverse game
Decentraland has its own unique marketplace where players can go to trade and manage in-game virtual assets. As a player, you can use the marketplace to sell plots of land, estates, wearables, unique avatar names, transfer the ownership of your LAND, and more.
Users can also see the available plots of land on Decentraland and purchase them from the marketplace.
The fundamental idea behind metaverse games like Decentraland is to take part in a virtual world and its in-game economy to earn crypto. In the case of Decentraland, for example, you can earn crypto by buying virtual land or real estate and renting it out for events. You can also host your own events and monetize them as you please.
Metaverse games aim to offer another option to the real world in many ways, enabling individuals to create, build, and invest to monetize their time and effort.
While most of today’s metaverse games are primarily focused on the money-making aspects, future iterations could see more gaming and less earning, which could attract more individuals from the non-crypto, global gaming community to the metaverse gaming ecosystem.
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