Over the past five years, we have seen the NFT space explode. Thanks to the success of collections such as Cryptopunks, Crypto Kitties, and more recently, the mighty Bored Ape Yacht Club, the NFT industry is now finding its feet. Growing exponentially, the NFT market is now expected to reach $80 billion by 2025 and is becoming legitimized by companies like Yuga Labs.
While this success is great, with hundreds of new projects launched every week, the massive size of the NFT space makes it difficult to spot the best upcoming projects.
To help you find the best new NFT drops (2022), we have compiled a list of nft projects that show the most promise.
Best New NFT Drops 2022
The list contains 5 upcoming NFT collections that we believe will capture the imagination of collectors and investors alike. Each of these projects has something unique going for them that helps them stand out from the pack.
The projects are:
- Guild of Guardians – https://www.guildofguardians.com/
- Rich Cats Nation – https://richcatsnation.com/
- Meta Triads – https://www.metatriads.com/
- DeAngels – https://deangels.io/
- Silks – https://www.silks.io/
1. Guild of Guardians
Pre-alpha fantasy P2E mobile game
Guild of Guardians is an upcoming mobile RPG game with a classic fantasy theme. Similar to World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Dungeons and Dragons, expect orcs, wizards, rogues, and warriors combined with a play-to-earn gaming model leveraging blockchain technology.
The game will be completely free to download and will not require an upfront financial investment like some other crypto games. This means the game’s ecosystem should be healthy and thriving with no barriers to entry.
The game will focus on strategy and building a strong team to complete quests, undertake raids, and defeat bosses. The game will feature a “Gems” currency that can be earned and traded in and out of the game.
Using Immutable X, a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, the game’s developers are making sure players can take full ownership of hero, item, and pet tokens. These can also be traded and sold on a free market, making use of Immutable X’s low fees and almost instant transfer throughput.
A beta is expected in Q2 2022 with NFT drops and the full release in Q2 2023.
Website: https://www.guildofguardians.com/
2. Rich Cats Nation
Eclectic cat avatar collection with built-in scarcity
Hosted on the Binance blockchain, Rich Cats Nation is a relatively small project with just 1,000 tokens in the collection. The NFTs are digital portraits of cat characters, each with uniquely drawn traits, hairstyles, clothing, and expressions. Expect everything here from sassy astronauts to punk knights, all generated using high-quality line and ink style assets.
Still early in the project’s roadmap, the team behind the project has a lot up its sleeve, planning some exciting airdrops and merch in the near future. With excitement building around the project, the 0.5 BNB floor price makes this project look like a steal. With built-in scarcity thanks to the small number of tokens in the collection, Rich Cats Nation NFTs are expected to appreciate in value.
Ownership of a token is a ticket to perks such as future NFT airdrops, in-person meetups, exclusive merchandise, and royalties. With BIG plans for the future, including a metaverse avatar and a P2E game, the project is one to consider.
Website: https://richcatsnation.com/
3. Meta Triads
Ongoing utility and passive income
One of the most exciting projects to keep track of is Meta Triads. As is becoming standard, the collection comprises 10,000 algorithmically and stylistically generated character tokens. In this case, Meta Triads portrays characters with a cyberpunk aesthetic. The artwork is fantastic, with the tokens working great as an avatar but showing great detail upon closer inspection too.
The characters come in 3 forms of rarity:
- Human
- Humanoid
- Hybrid
In addition, there is a single, extremely rare Meta Triad whose role will become clearer in the project’s future…
The main reason to get excited about this project, however, is that ownership of a Meta Triad NFT provides passive income. The project is bringing thousands of fashion brands to the Metaverse, providing the tools and an aggregator marketplace to turn physical products into virtual apparel. Meta Triad holders will have early access to these items, receive commissions from sales, and will hold shares in this marketplace, receiving 9 $TRIA (the native ERC20 currency token) per day.
In terms of ongoing utility, Meta Triad’s aggregator marketplace is one of the most exciting ideas we’ve seen.
Website: https://www.metatriads.com/
4. DeAngels
Artistic collection with a planned breeding mechanic
Existing on the Ethereum blockchain, DeAngels is a collection of 8,888 “angel” characters with a detailed 3D art style. The characters are generated randomly with drastically different angels created from the unique traits and properties.
The project has gained a tonne of support over its development and fostered an eager and dedicated community following. As well as the collection’s aesthetic appeal, the project is getting people excited for its detailed roadmap too.
The team believes that while the project is sold primarily on its art style, its ongoing success will be secured through ongoing promotional campaigns, social media outreach, and ongoing utility.
This includes the launch of a second NFT project which will benefit DeAngel holders. While details are scant, the team says, “holders will have a pleasant surprise.”
The team is also eager to introduce their deflationary breeding mechanic which will introduce growing scarcity into the project, as well as the “reveal of a unique game” where people can make money with barely any effort. The team is not ready to reveal this aspect of the project, but they explain earning passive income from your DeAngel token will involve a “ticket” made from the breeding mechanic.
Still early in the roadmap, the collection has a low floor price of just 0.15 ETH.
5. Silks
Virtual horse-racing metaverse with real-world influence
Perhaps the most innovative NFT project in this list is Silks, a play-to-earn game that leverages the Ethereum blockchain.
Combing a digital art style with the world of thoroughbred horse racing, Silks involves players owning NFT horses linked to real-world racing horses. The virtual representation of the horse will lean on “oracles” to inform the game of the horse’s performance, training, and lineage.
Initially, the project will be dropping 10,000 “Silks Genesis Avatars,” which are the horse riders in the Silks metaverse. Upon its full launch, however, Silks will involves 4 different NFT collectibles:
- Racing Silks (avatars)
- Land (to build “horse farms”)
- Stables (the first of a series of structures necessary for the ecosystem)
- Horses (linked one-to-one with a real-world counterpart)
The game will feature a rich metaverse that will allow players to earn rewards in the form of $STT whenever their real-world horse counterpart does well in a race. As with real horses, owners can also find utility from their Silk Horse NFT through breeding and “pinhooking,” which involves speculating on promising up-and-coming horses.
Holders will receive ongoing benefits in terms of a community DAO governed by a $SLK token which owners will receive.
The project is set to drop the Genesis Avatars soon, with the rest of the project in the pipeline.
Website: https://www.silks.io/
