Hit Telegram crypto game Hamster Kombat now has its own layer-2 chain, The Hamster Network, which launched on The Open Network (TON) on Tuesday.
The new network is said to provide fast and scalable infrastructure for games and other apps, with “negligible cost per transaction.” Developed in collaboration with TON, the Hamster Network is designed to help bring more of Telegram’s nearly one billion users into the crypto world via interactive mini apps and games.
"Hamster Network is powered by the TON Virtual Machine, and its smart contracts are fully compatible with TON, making it seamless for developers to port their dapps," the announcement states, adding that transaction proofs from the layer-2 are posted back to TON.
‘Hamster Kombat’ Returns—Should You Tap Back in for the ‘HamsterVerse’?
After amassing some 300 million players last year in a tap-to-earn bubble that made unexpected waves across the mainstream, Telegram game Hamster Kombat dropped its HMSTR token on The Open Network (TON) last September—to mostly negative reviews from recipients. And then it just sort of… disappeared. What was planned to be a couple-weeks-long “interlude” gameplay season stretched on for months, and stopped being updated after a while. The anonymous devs teased a second full season of gameplay, th...
The network launches with infrastructure including a wallet, a bridge for moving assets, and a dedicated decentralized exchange or DEX. The creators of Hamster Kombat said that multiple developers are already building apps for the platform, though no details were shared.
Hamster Network is inviting users to participate in Hamster Boost, a game designed to stress the network through blockchain testing quests. Participants can earn "bounties and rewards for their contributions," helping to identify potential issues before adoption grows.
Hamster Kombat amassed more than 300 million players last year as the tap-to-earn Telegram game saw substantial attention, though September’s HMSTR token launch received mixed reactions, with some players complaining of receiving small token allocations—or “dust”—in the airdrop after pouring months into the game.
GG Story of the Year 2024: Telegram Tap-to-Earn Gaming Explodes, Then Implodes
At the start of 2024, the first Telegram tap-to-earn game was a curiosity—an enigma. By the end of the year, the success of Notcoin had spawned a mini-industry that had drawn substantial demand. And yet, as quickly as Telegram gaming came, it also went, and it increasingly feels like its moment has passed. When Notcoin launched back in January, we barely knew what to make of it. Why were people incessantly tapping a coin within a messaging app on their phones? Would there be a real on-chain toke...
The game’s planned second season of gameplay finally launched last week as Hamster Kombat: GameDev Heroes, as part of a broader “HamsterVerse” relaunch spanning multiple current and future games. GameDev Heroes reframes the tap-to-earn experience under the concept of running and expanding a game studio.
The HMSTR token hit an all-time low price last Tuesday alongside the game’s launch, but is up 17% since despite broader crypto market pain. At its current price of $0.0017, HMSTR remains down 76% from its peak price from last September.
