‘Hamster Kombat’ Offers Bonus for Telegram Players Who Stake Airdrop Tokens

Nearly 130 million Hamster Kombat players were eligible to claim the HMSTR token airdrop on The Open Network (TON) late last month, and many of those players likely took their bounty to a self-custody wallet or centralized exchange. But those who haven’t moved the tokens yet could secure a bonus for the next in-game season.

In an announcement Tuesday, the developers of Telegram’s biggest crypto game to date said that airdrop recipients who keep their tokens within the game will earn a bonus when the planned second season begins.

“If you decide to keep your tokens instead of withdrawing them, you’ll be (very) pleasantly surprised!” the announcement reads. “Season 2 will bring a boost to the token holders!”

It’s still unknown when the benefit for players will be, but it’s similar in approach to what influential Telegram game Notcoin did earlier this year. Before the airdrop, Notcoin said that players could keep their tokens in the game to raise their status level, making them eligible to earn a larger share of future token drops and other prospective benefits.

The Hamster Kombat feature is similar to staking, a common feature offered by crypto projects that lets users earn some type of yield on their tokens—whether it’s an interest-like benefit of additional tokens, or some other type of access or benefits.

The developers don’t specifically call this feature staking, however, and have since clarified that it's not an on-chain type of staking. However, players will be able to hold their tokens within the game for benefits, plus there will be an option for players who withdrew their HMSTR tokens to bring them back to the game.

Hamster Kombat saw skyrocketing user counts in late spring and into the summer, with the tap-to-earn game claiming to have pulled in more than 300 million users via the promise of token rewards. The HMSTR token launched on September 26.

The second in-game season of gameplay is set to begin soon, with a second airdrop promised next summer. In the meantime, Hamster Kombat is holding a short “interlude season,” which is also promising benefits for the next full season for players who amass in-game diamonds. Here’s a guide to earning the most diamonds during the interlude season.

Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to include clarification from the Hamster Kombat developers.