2024 NFT Project Selection Guide: Discovering the Next Wave of Digital Asset Hotspots

The NFT market is set to recover in 2024. After the frenzy of 2021 and the silence of 2022-2023, this year has brought new changes—BTC Ordinals and Ethscriptions have opened a new era of digital collectibles, and the integration of Generative AI allows creators to generate more personalized works. For investors looking to enter this field, the key question is: where to find upcoming nft projects? This article compiles 10 NFT projects worth following to help you find direction among many options.

NFT is not a passing trend, but is reshaping.

The essence of NFTs is unique digital assets that record ownership through blockchain. These assets can be artworks, music, videos, game items, or even digital representations of real-world assets.

Unlike the blind frenzy of the NFT market in 2021, the projects in 2024 are more pragmatic. Applications in fields such as gaming, real estate, and charity have transitioned from concepts to reality, indicating that NFTs are not just speculative tools, but a new form of digital production.

Top Ten NFT Project Categories

Game NFTs: A new model of play-to-earn

Honeyland - Beekeeping Competitive Game

This is a P2P competitive game themed around bees. Players earn game tokens HXD by managing virtual bee colonies. The core gameplay includes dispatching bees to gather resources, searching for honey pots, breeding new bees, and participating in PvP battles—where you can invade other players' hives to plunder bees. Landowners can also earn commissions and weekly airdrop income. Honeyland adopts a free trial mode, lowering the entry barrier.

Calvaria: The Combination of Card Battles and Esports

As a card strategy game, Calvaria requires players to build powerful decks to defeat their opponents and earn the native token RIA. The project plans to launch a beta version in Q2 2024, start esports event collaborations in Q2, and establish its own esports team in Q4. This indicates that the project not only focuses on the gaming experience but also on creating a complete competitive ecosystem.

Game of Silks——Horse Racing NFT

For horse racing enthusiasts, Game of Silks offers a blockchain version of a horse racing competition platform. Players purchase NFTs representing real racehorses and earn rewards based on their performance in the arena. As of mid-2024, the project has paid out $1.2 million in prizes.

Hangry Animals——Play Games for Charity

This project combines gaming with charity. The rewards earned by players in the game can be directly donated to animal rescue organizations, realizing “play and give back”. The game's background is set around a story of hybrids of humans and animals fighting against alien threats, conveying environmental protection concepts through entertainment.

Collectible NFTs: A Carrier of Culture and Identity

Moonbirds - A Universe of 10,000 Cartoon Owls

Moonbirds, launched by Proof Collective, consists of 10,000 unique cartoon owl NFTs. Each NFT can be personalized based on the holder's achievements within the ecosystem. The project also introduced the Moonbirds Mythics expansion, where players can burn eggs to release rare Mythic characters. In June 2024, the team announced plans to upgrade Moonbirds from static images to 3D characters and establish the “Moonbirds Universe.”

Polygon Doodles——Doodle Art in the Ethereum Ecosystem

This project is a localized version of the famous Doodles NFT on the Polygon network. Its feature is that each box contains a floating animated NFT, which needs to be opened by the buyer to obtain. Currently, there are 10,000 Polygon Doodles, each with different characteristics and color combinations.

Saved Souls - A PFP with a nautical adventure theme

Inspired by Bored Ape Yacht Club, Saved Souls adopts a nautical adventure theme, providing each holder with a unique avatar. The project also plans to launch gamified features, such as unlocking achievements by reaching milestones. Additionally, all holders receive ENS subdomain privileges to create their own decentralized network identity.

Women Rise——Empowering Women NFT Program

Led by Pakistani writer Maliha Abidi, Women Rise includes 10,000 pieces showcasing female artists, scientists, astronauts, and more from around the world. Users holding 100 or more NFTs can receive a copy of the book “RISE” authored by Abidi. The project collaborates with the virtual reality education platform BackpackX to enhance the experiential value for NFT holders.

Asset Class NFT: Blockchain Mapping of the Real World

Metropoly - Real Estate NFT Investment

Metropoly transforms real estate into tradable assets on the blockchain. Users can purchase property shares for as low as $100 and receive monthly passive income. In April 2023, the project raised $1.1 million. This model breaks the high barriers of traditional real estate investment, allowing anyone in the world to participate in the real estate market.

Creative NFTs: A New Way for User-Generated Content

GamifAI - Empowering Ordinary Users to Become Game Developers

GamifAI decentralizes game creation rights to users. Through a method similar to “Super Mario Maker”, anyone can create their own game on the Bitcoin blockchain (supporting 50 levels, difficulty adjustments, and custom characters). The project uses a “pass” mechanism to control the scarcity of creation rights, enhancing the value of creative works.

How to Find Opportunities Among Numerous Projects

Step 1: Clarify your area of interest

The diversity of the NFT market is its advantage. Whether you love games, art, sports, or social welfare, you can find corresponding projects. The key is not to follow trends, but to choose projects that match your own interests.

Step 2: Research the project's fundamentals

Before purchasing, it is necessary to examine:

• Background and historical achievements of the development team
• Portfolio of artists or creative teams
• The technical architecture and innovations of the project
• Feasibility of the roadmap
• Community activity and market sentiment

Step 3: Understand the risks

The NFT market is highly volatile, and project failures are quite common. The investment amount should be within your capacity, and you should never go all-in. It is recommended to adopt a diversification strategy and not to invest all your funds into a single project.

New Trends in the NFT Market for 2024

Generative AI Empowers Creativity — AI is not a replacement, but rather allows creators to quickly generate personalized works, enhancing the diversity of NFTs.

Diversification of Application Scenarios — From pure collectibles to game items, identity verification, and digital proof of ownership, the practicality of NFTs is expanding.

On-chain data transparency — The traceability feature of blockchain prevents project parties from concealing information, allowing buyers to view historical transactions and holder distribution.

Final Recommendations

The NFT market is currently transitioning from frenzy to rationality. If you want to find valuable projects, the key is to do your homework: research the team, understand the technology, evaluate the community, and benchmark against competitors. Don't let FOMO emotions affect you, and don't completely deny the potential of NFTs because of the bubble in 2021.

For those who want to systematically explore upcoming NFT projects, you can follow the official channels of the project parties, community forums, and blockchain data platforms. Trading platforms like Gate will also regularly release project updates to help users obtain information in a timely manner.

The NFT market in 2024 is not lacking in projects, but rather in participants who truly have ideas. It is far wiser to choose projects with clear value propositions, strong team support, and real application scenarios than to blindly follow trends.