This Week in Crypto Games: 'Hamster Kombat' and 'Catizen' Delay Airdrops as 'Notcoin' Launches New Game

Catch up on this week’s biggest crypto and NFT gaming news and find some weekend reads in our latest roundup.

The crypto and NFT gaming space is busier than ever lately, what with prominent games starting to release, token airdrops piling up, and a seemingly constant array of other things happening at all times. It’s a lot to take in!

Luckily, Decrypt’s GG is all over it. And if you need a quick way to get caught up on the latest moves around crypto video games, we’re happy to present This Week in Crypto Games.

Our weekend roundup serves up the biggest news from the past week, along with a few other tidbits you might have missed. We also showcase a few of our original stories from the week.

Biggest news

New Notcoin game: Viral Telegram clicker game Notcoin has partnered with The Open Network (TON) NFT project Lost Dogs to launch a story-driven game by the same name. In the game, players will vote daily on decisions that will shape the six-week-long narrative of Lost Dogs. As the game progresses, the characters based on the Lost Dogs NFT collection will gain special powers and become “celebrities.”

Players will be able to earn Notcoin tokens as well as a new in-game token called WOOF by interacting with squads, inviting new players, and developing strategies. This comes over a month after the tap-to-earn game, Notcoin, teased a “fresh start” accompanied by Lost Dogs artwork. In turn, many fans speculated in what form a collaboration with the NFT project would materialize. 

Notcoin Launches Game Based on ‘Lost Dogs’ NFT Collection

Viral Telegram clicker game Notcoin has partnered with The Open Network (TON) NFT project Lost Dogs to launch a story-driven game by the same name. In the new Lost Dogs Telegram game, players will vote daily on decisions that will shape the six-week-long narrative of Lost Dogs. As the game progresses, the characters based on the Lost Dogs NFT collection will gain special powers and become “celebrities.” “We want to unveil to you a world full of discoveries, joy, suffering, cliffhangers, and myst...

Hamster Kombat delay: Telegram-based tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat planned to launch its token on TON in July but the team was forced to delay as the developers are still apparently working out a plan to deploy the large-scale airdrop.

Now, the token generation event (TGE) and airdrop are noted in the “upcoming” section of the Hamster Kombat roadmap. “We are actively working to make it happen,” the developers wrote on Twitter. This comes the same week that the clicker game hit 300 million players, according to the team.

‘Hamster Kombat’ Airdrop Delayed as Pre-Market Trading for Telegram Game Expands

Viral Telegram-based tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat planned to launch its token on The Open Network (TON) in July, but with two days left before the end of the month, the team says it is still working out a plan to deploy the large-scale airdrop. The Hamster Kombat website still notes a July target for the token generation event (TGE), but on Monday, the developers shared a lengthy tweet that suggests that we’re unlikely to see a token debut in the next two days before the month ends. “We are a...

Catizen also delays: It was the week of gaming airdrop delays as fellow Telegram-based game Catizen delayed its token launch amid blowback over a charity donation. No new launch target has been announced for the TON-based token, but Pluto Studio—the developer behind the rising Telegram game—said that it encountered challenges during planning.

In a tweet Monday, Pluto wrote that it “received feedback” from players regarding its $100,000 donation to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), as part of an initiative to contribute a share of the game’s profits to help charities focused on helping stray cats. PETA has faced controversy for euthanizing animals in its shelters. Amid community feedback, Catizen “temporarily suspended” the collaboration.

Telegram Game ‘Catizen’ Delays Airdrop Amid Blowback Over PETA Donation

The makers of Catizen, a Telegram-based puzzle game, planned to launch their CATI crypto token in July. But with the end of the month nearing, they’ve addressed the elephant in the room, admitting that the token launch has been delayed and acknowledging that the community of players has grown frustrated around recent moves. No new launch target has been announced for the token that will launch on The Open Network (TON), but Pluto Studio—the developer behind the rising Telegram game—said that it...

ICYMI

• Dr. Disrespect posted on Twitter for the first time since he was dumped from the studio behind Deadrop after being accused of inappropriately chatting with a minor.
• Ronin farming game Pixels started Guild Crop Wars, an event where players compete to win part of a $85,000 prize pool.
• Web3 game store HyperPlay launched a questing platform for over 25 games, allowing players to earn tokens in-game.
• NFT marketplace Magic Eden joined forces with metaverse platform The Sandbox, giving users a 25% diamond bonus for trading Sandbox NFTs with SAND tokens
• Ronin game Fight League introduced "CHIPs," or free NFTs that give in-game boosts.
• The Machines Arena started its play-to-airdrop campaign after announcing it the previous week.

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:

'PixelTap' Review: Should You Play the Telegram Crypto Combat Game?

I was ready to sing the praises of PixelTap for being a Telegram-based tap-to-earn game that was trying to do something different. But amid recent changes, one new feature in the Pixelverse game has killed any chance of me continuing to play. Compared to other prominent tap-to-earn games, PixelTap is more involved than just blindly tapping the screen, as you are thrown into battles against other players and have to tap in specific areas of the screen to take them down. When you get matched again...

What Is ‘X Empire’? The Telegram Tap-to-Earn Elon Musk Game and Airdrop Details

Millions of players have tapped on Elon Musk’s face over the past few weeks, thanks to the new hit Telegram game, X Empire—or Musk Empire, as it was originally called. Looking for a way to differentiate X Empire from the mountain of tap-to-earn games on Telegram such as Hamster Kombat and Catizen, the development team swapped out cute pet visuals for a cartoon image of Elon Musk that you need to tap to rack up piles of in-game cash. The number of players suggests that this approach is working, w...

Edited by Andrew Hayward