This Week in Crypto Games: 'Hamster Kombat' Airdrop and Expansion, $47 Million Gaming Scam

The crypto 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

Hamster Kombat airdrop: Ultra-viral Telegram mini-app Hamster Kombat launched its HMSTR token on The Open Network (TON) on Thursday. The tap-to-earn game attracted over 300 million users, with 131 million of those being eligible for the airdrop—though an additional 2.3 million were cut for cheating.

But not everyone was happy with the "free money." Several players described their HMSTR reward as “dust” as its token price fell to as low as $0.006—pre-market trading predicted its price to be $0.095 the day before the airdrop. But traders still were all over the drop, with more than $1.2 billion worth trading hands in the first 24 hours. And TON held up, despite concerns.

'Hamster Kombat' Players Gripe as Telegram Game Airdrop Delivers 'Dust'

On Thursday, the Telegram-based tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat conducted its long-awaited airdrop, showering its users in HMSTR tokens. But whether players will continue tapping after that is an open question, with some users vocalizing disappointment online with their reward for months of touchscreen tapping. Out of the 300 million users who have played Hamster Kombat since late March, Hamster Kombat said that 131 million players qualified for the distribution—with another 2.3 million users cu...

Ahead of the airdrop, Hamster Kombat revealed its roadmap for the upcoming year. The anonymous team plans to release NFTs, create and launch new games, and most notably start to distance itself from Telegram exclusivity.

Its first step in doing this will be creating a progressive web app (PWA) for iOS, Android, and desktop—PWAs are websites that behave like regular apps. Months later, the team will look to move away from the PWA by directly integrating Hamster Kombat into desktop games.

What’s Next for 'Hamster Kombat' After Airdrop? Expanding Beyond Telegram

As its eagerly awaited airdrop approaches, tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat has revealed an ambitious roadmap for the year following its token launch on The Open Network (TON). Plans include NFTs and new games—and starting to distance itself from Telegram exclusivity. Hamster Kombat’s tap-to-earn game has been hugely popular attracting over 300 million players as gamers tapped their screens via a Telegram mini app in an attempt to gain a slice of a future airdrop. Approximately 130 million player...

$47M gaming scam: Binance assisted Indian law enforcement in arresting four individuals suspected of defrauding victims of $47.6 million and then laundering the funds. This was linked to the Fiewin online betting and gaming app, which promised users easy earnings but ultimately trapped their funds, not allowing users to withdraw their money.

The investigation found that the app froze accounts once significant funds had been accumulated, then transferred them through various cryptocurrency wallets to make it more challenging to trace the transactions. However, Binance’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) provided technical expertise to trace the movement of funds.

Binance Helps Indian Government Track $47 Million Connected to Crypto Gaming Scam

Indian law enforcement had an assist from Binance in the investigation of four individuals linked to the Fiewin gaming app. Officials have since arrested the suspects and accused them of defrauding victims of about $47.6 million and laundering it using cryptocurrency. The Fiewin app, marketed as an online betting and gaming platform, promised users easy earnings but ultimately trapped their funds, leaving them unable to withdraw their money. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India's investigat...

ICYMI

• Deadrop’s new gameplay trailer dropped, showing some notable improvements.
• Dr. Disrespect said that he’s “got a feeling” that he’ll rejoin Midnight Society. The studio says it's not happening.
• Space Nation Online "soft launched" its MMORPG in quest to become next Star Wars.
• Flappy Bird confirmed its FLAP token and plans for staking rewards.

• Treasure announced that it was bringing its decentralized gaming console to ZkSync ecosystem.
• Crypto farming game Pixels previewed its Telegram tap-to-drive game.
• Shooter game Farcana launched a staking program for its FAR token.
• The British gambling regulator is prosecuting NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare.

GG spotlight

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

Telegram Tap-to-Earn Gaming Is Huge. Can It Avoid Play-to-Earn’s Fate?

Telegram gaming has been one of crypto’s biggest winners in 2024. Hamster Kombat pulled in 300 million players ahead of this week’s airdrop, and Notcoin launched a token that neared a $3 billion market cap—a screen-tapping game yielding one of the 100 biggest coins on the planet. All of this revolves around the tap-to-earn mechanic, a simple concept with a growing list of variations and permutations. But has this model truly evolved upon the fraught play-to-earn gaming craze that dominated the l...

Should You Play Ethereum Farming Game 'Pixels' If You Don’t Care About Crypto?

I’m not a crypto guy. I don’t have a wallet and I haven’t invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any silly meme coins. And while I love video games and have written about them for years, the world of crypto gaming is uncharted territory for me. As such, Pixels—the Ethereum-based online farming game—is something new for me, though it immediately reminds me of another hugely popular game: Pixels is essentially the charming indie gem Stardew Valley, but with a crypto twist. I cannot stress how similar t...

'NFL Rivals' Delivers Fun Mobile Football With Just the Right Level of NFT Integration

Condensing the football experience down to a mobile-friendly game is not easy. With so many things going on during each play—all of which you’d want to have control over—the somewhat limited controls of a touchscreen have typically held mobile football games back. NFL Rivals doesn’t have the perfect answer to this problem, but this NFTs-optional free-to-play game certainly makes a solid attempt across iOS and Android. On the field, NFL Rivals dumbs down football to its simplest form. There’s no...

Here Is Today’s 'Captain Tsubasa: Rivals' Telegram Game Daily Combo

Editor's note: This story is no longer being updated daily as of December 8, 2024. Captain Tsubasa: Rivals is a fast-rising Telegram tap-to-earn game that puts a different kind of spin on the Hamster Kombat formula. Yes, it’s still largely about tapping the screen and investing your earned in-game coins into upgrades, all with the hopes of a future airdrop. In this case, however, “Captain Tsubasa” is a classic Japanese IP tied to beloved anime and manga series dating back more than 40 years. And...

'Flappy Bird' Telegram Tips Guide: How to Earn the Most Points for the Airdrop

Iconic mobile game Flappy Bird has swooped back onto the scene—but this time as a Telegram game with a future airdrop teased. Flappy Bird’s return comes as Telegram gaming has boomed around the tap-to-earn model. Games like Hamster Kombat and Rocky Rabbit get players furiously tapping their screens in the hope of maximizing their slice of a future token airdrop.  There are a number of signs that a Flappy Bird token is on the way, so many players are already looking to get ahead and maximize thei...

Edited by Andrew Hayward