Are hamsters fighting now? Not exactly—but while Hamster Kombat’s title might be a little misleading, this Telegram-based tapping game quickly became a dominant leader in the play-to-earn space by expanding upon Notcoin’s winning model.
Hamster Kombat racked up over 300 million total players before launching its HMSTR token and airdrop for players viaThe Open Network (TON) in late September 2024. It became one of the year's biggest gaming token launches, based on the peak value.
But Hamster Kombat isn't stopping there. The developers are now planning a "HamsterVerse" of games with additional airdrop rewards, plus a dedicated network and expansion beyond the Telegram ecosystem. Here's everything you need to know.
What is Hamster Kombat?
Similar to Notcoin, Hamster Kombat had players tapping away to earn coins in a Telegram-native application (or “mini app”)—which means to play the game, you just open a chat on Telegram.
Hamster Kombat’s core concept is similar to Notcoin, with some slightly richer game mechanics layered on top of it. In short: It’s a tap-to-earn game mixed with a crypto exchange simulator.
Telegram game Hamster Kombat launched its long-awaited HMSTR token Thursday on The Open Network (TON), and while some players complained of smaller-than-expected airdrops feeling like “dust,” the token saw sizable trading action in its first day on the market.
HMSTR logged more than $1.2 billion worth of trading volume in its first 24 hours, per data from CoinGecko early Friday, putting it not far behind the 24-hour trading of top cryptocurrencies like Binance Coin (BNB), Dogecoin (DOGE), and XR...
In Hamster Kombat, you’re the CEO of an up-and-coming crypto exchange, and it’s your job to grow the exchange to new heights never before seen… in the world of hamsters. In order to do so, you must tap an image of a cartoon hamster to earn coins, and then use those coins to buy upgrades for your exchange.
How to play Hamster Kombat
Originally, Hamster Kombat started off in a manner familiar to Notcoin users, with players tapping away at the screen in the Telegram app to earn in-game coins.
Once players have earned some coins, they can start using them to upgrade their exchange in the “Mine” tab of the game. This tab shows all kinds of upgrades that players can purchase (purely with in-game coins) for their exchange, and include things like adding coins or new features to their fictional exchange, or faux marketing efforts.
Every upgrade you purchased for your exchange earned you more coins passively. For example, adding a Bitcoin pair to your exchange cost 250 coins, but then earned you 40 coins per hour. In other words, those additions quickly paid off and helped propel your exchange further along.
Screenshots from Hamster Kombat's gameplay before the airdrop. Image: Decrypt
Hamster Kombat concluded its first season of gameplay in September before the token launch. Currently, as of this writing, the game is holding an "Interlude" season in which players can earn in-game diamonds ahead of the full second season ahead. The diamonds will reportedly give players some sort of advantage in the next season.
Season 2 of Hamster Kombat is on the horizon following last month's HMSTR token launch and airdrop, and the next big in-game phase will come with its own future airdrop next summer.
But until the next season starts later this month, there’s a simplified “interlude” season available right now that shakes up some familiar aspects of the tap-to-earn experience.
You can only earn new in-game diamonds in this latest experience, and the developers told Decrypt that users who play the interlude season...
What is HMSTR?
What’s the point to earning in-game coins? Similarly to Notcoin, Hamster Kombat also incentivized players with a token airdrop, drawing hundreds of millions of players in the process.
Hamster Kombat's airdrop took place on September 26 on The Open Network (TON), the same date that the HMSTR token was generated and launched on major exchanges. The HMSTR token was originally targeted for July, but ultimately missed that ETA. The team attributed the delay to the challenge of dropping a token to such a huge player base.
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...
HMSTR reached a peak market cap of about $646 million on the launch date, though the value of the token has fallen sharply since then. Given the immense size of the player base, many users complained about small allocations worth $10 or less, which some players called "dust." Fellow Telegram game Catizen, which launched its token the week before, saw similar complaints.
What's next?
Hamster Kombat has shared a lengthy roadmap that extends into 2025 and includes more rewards, more gameplay, and plans to spread outside of Telegram.
Hit Telegram tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat is set to launch a new full season later this month, following September’s token launch and airdrop, and now we know about the significant shift coming with the game’s next major phase.
While the first season of Hamster Kombat was focused on running a fictional crypto exchange, the second season will focus on building out a video game platform and developing games for it.
Hamster Kombat’s developers released a short teaser video Thursday that showed...
Following the current "interlude season" that was only expected to last a couple weeks (but has since stretched on for months), Hamster Kombat plans to launch a new full Season 2 of gameplay, with plans to pay that off with another airdrop next summer. Season 2 will shift the focus of the game to that of running a video game development company and platform, rather than operating a crypto exchange.
The developers shared a teaser trailer for the new season in October and told Decrypt that it was planned to launch by the end of October, but that estimate came and went.
🐹 Hey Hamsters!
We know you’ve been waiting for this one… We would like to finally give you a taste of what’s coming in Season 2!
Our ideas and ambitions pushed us to spend all the past weeks building this.
In late December, Hamster Kombat's team unveiled plans to launch a broader "HamsterVerse" initiative that will span three games, including the Season 2 gameplay mentioned above. All of the games will utilize the HMSTR token. Hamster Kombat has since welcomed 30,000 players into a closed beta test for HamsterVerse.
Also in December, Hamster Kombat launched a DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization—essentially a group that allows HMSTR token holders to vote on proposals to potentially benefit or expand the ecosystem. One of the first things they voted through was a dedicated layer-2 Hamster blockchain to be built on TON, which the developers are now working towards.
💫HERE COMES THE BLOCKCHAIN 💫
The vote on the second proposal has ended! The DAO community has spoken: there WILL BE Hamster L2 blockchain built on TON!
We will be serving our community, the biggest web3 community in the world, with the technological foundation it asked for!… pic.twitter.com/v4p3jydAPF
Hamster Kombat will also continue to integrate other third-party games, evolving into a platform for various titles. Furthermore, Hamster Kombat plans to launch a progressive web app (PWA) for the game that will be playable via iOS, Android, and desktop computers without running the Telegram mini app.
Beyond that, the developers plan to integrate with desktop games, bring NFTs into Hamster Kombat, and buy and burn (or effectively destroy) HMSTR tokens over time in an effort to boost the price by cutting the token supply.
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...
“Telegram will always be a crucial part of Hamster Kombat and its ecosystem of products. Still, we are looking to expand in order to capture the audience that isn't on Telegram yet,” the team told Decrypt in September. “Ultimately, we see it as a positive development both for Hamster Kombat and Telegram itself as a platform for mini apps, since it will bring additional exposure.”
Editor's note: This story was originally published on June 2, 2024 and last updated with new details on January 2, 2025.
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