Gaming the Systems - Non-Fungible Tokens and the Blurring of Gambling and Finance in Play-to-Earn Games

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Anda

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) function as digital receipts of ownership, recorded as blockchain-linked strings of characters. Their use in artworks, gaming items, avatars, music, film, and trading-card media links digitization with new forms of mediation and expands what counts as media. In gaming software, NFTs reshape monetization while positioning gambling-like mechanics within interactive design. The study analyzes user activity across Axie Infinity and ZED Run via Discord, platform documentation, and application behavior.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages170

Reading Time7 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Emerging Finance, NFTs, and Cryptocurrencies

Commodification, Markets, and Financialization

Platformization

Play

Design and Flow

Navigating Unpredictability

System Knowledge and Unpredictability in Digital Games

Gameplay and Gamification

Gambling and Gamble-play

Methodological Approach and Overview

Walkthrough Method

Qualitative Textual Analysis

Findings – Walkthrough Method – Overview

Findings – Walkthrough Method – Axie Infinity

Summary

Findings – Walkthrough Method – ZED Run

Summary

Gaming the Systems: Non-Fungible Tokens and the Blurring of Gambling and Finance in Play-to-Earn Games A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Trevor Zaucha IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Colin Agur, Advisor © Zaucha, Trevor 202 Abstract Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a form of digital asset that functions as a receipt or other representation of ownership. In more technical language, NFTs are a string of characters logged on a blockchain. NFTs’ relationship to artworks, gaming items and avatars, music, films, digital trading cards, and more suggests a direct relationship to media artifacts while broadening the parameters of what might be considered media through a process of digitization and further mediation. Applied to gaming software, NFTs act as a new form of monetization and further gambling’s role in the design of interactive media. This study examines two different NFT projects, developer Sky Mavis’“Axie Infinity” and developer Virtually Human Studio’s “ZED Run”, to better understand the nature of NFT applications and their users. This study analyzes user activity in the applications’ associated Discord servers, public-facing platform documentation, and the applications themselves. This work examines the increasingly complex, marketized, commodified, ambiguous, volatile, and gamified reality of NFT applications. This work is less concerned with what users do or will do next and instead considers the experiences, feelings, and beliefs that inform user actions and reflect contextualizing factors explored in the literature review. Although gaming, gambling, and financial investment share similar motivations, they do exist as different topics of interest, necessitating the inquiry into users’ feelings and motivations with attention towards the extent with which those feelings align with the expressed purposes of the applications central to this study. Additionally, this work posits that the interests of capital (private property, accumulation, consumption, etc.) act as a form of external pressure or contextualizing factor that informs the actions of users of NFT games and applications. This study’s findings indicate a cultural climate defined by characteristics such as distrust, uncertainty, inequalities of power, exploitation, educational interest, financial desire, and the intertwined nature of systems and communities that may entertain, enrich, or extort. Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ i Abstract............................................................................................................... ii Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Emerging Finance, NFTs, and Cryptocurrencies ..........................................14 Commodification, Markets, and Financialization .........................................22 Platformization..................................................................................................25 Play .....................................................................................................................28 Design and Flow ................................................................................................30 Navigating Unpredictability.............................................................................33 System Knowledge and Unpredictability in Digital Games..........................40 Gameplay and Gamification ............................................................................43 Gambling and Gamble-play.............................................................................47 Methodological Approach and Overview .......................................................52 Walkthrough Method .................................

FAQs

What does the thesis define NFTs as?

NFTs are digital assets that represent ownership, recorded as blockchain-linked strings of characters and functioning as receipts or representations of possession.

Which NFT projects does the study analyze?

The thesis examines Axie Infinity (Sky Mavis) and ZED Run (Virtually Human Studio) to understand NFT applications and their users.

How does the research investigate user behavior?

It analyzes user activity using associated Discord servers, public platform documentation, and direct observation of the applications themselves.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Anda