To me, bitcoin is the only project with real utility and application. The rest of the market is only suitable for speculation and gambling no matter how they try to dress it up and make it look more appealing.
I am not denying the potential or underestimating the crypto industry in general but in my opinion, we are still in the early stages, like the "dotcom" era. Most of them are just speculative and overhyped, with no real value or practical application. We need more time before talking about the practical utility and applications that cryptocurrencies bring.
what's your own standard way of judging project utility ?
For altcoins, you should only invest the amount you can afford to lose. That's enough, you don't need to spend too much time researching and learning about them because even the topcoins are not guaranteed, so new projects are not worth mentioning.