What Is Hamster Kombat? The Telegram Crypto Game and Airdrop - Decrypt (2024)

Are hamsters fighting now? Not exactly—but while Hamster Kombat’s title might be a little misleading, this Telegram-based clicker game has quickly become a dominant leader in the play-to-earn space by expanding upon Notcoin’s winning model.

The Hamster Kombat team recently announced that they will conduct an airdrop on The Open Network (TON), rewarding players for racking up in-game coins by eventually dropping them real, tradeable crypto tokens.

That’s sure to drive many more people towards the game, but as of this writing, new players can still dive in and rack up coins ahead of the airdrop. Here’s what you need to know about Hamster Kombat, how to play it, and what we know about the token and airdrop so far.

What is Hamster Kombat?

Similar to Notcoin, Hamster Kombat has 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.

The game developers claim that they’ve amassed over 60 million users, all eagerly tapping away in-game in order to earn coins that will presumably be used to determine how many tokens players receive in the upcoming Hamster Kombat airdrop.

While Hamster Kombat has been around since March, the game recently picked up serious steam after the Notcoin airdrop concluded—perhaps due to tap-addicted gamers migrating to a new game with an upcoming token and airdrop in the works.

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.

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, players tap a golden coin to earn coins, and then use those coins to buy upgrades for their exchange.

How to play Hamster Kombat

Hamster Kombat starts off in a manner familiar to Notcoin users, with players tapping away at a golden coin in the Telegram app. With Hamster Kombat however, the first step is—for some reason—shaving your hamster so he or she can become the CEO of a crypto exchange.

Similar to Notcoin, players can use their in-game points to purchase “Boosts” that increase stats, such as how many points are earned per tap, or how long you can tap before having to take a break and wait for your energy bar to refill. There are also free daily boosters that players can claim six times per day.

Once players have earned some points, 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 such as adding coins like Bitcoin to be traded at your exchange, setting up a KYC process, or even going on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Every upgrade you purchase for your exchange earns you more coins passively. For example, adding the BTC pair to your exchange costs 250 points, but then earns you 40 points per hour. In other words, these additions quickly pay off and help propel your exchange further along.

'Wen airdrop?'

What’s the point to earning in-game coins? Similarly to Notcoin, Hamster Kombat has also announced an upcoming airdrop, though it has been much more transparent about it than Notcoin was at first.

Within the Hamster Kombat app, there is an “Airdrop” tab that claims that exchange and market maker alliances have already been negotiated—but it doesn’t give an exact date for the airdrop itself.

Notcoin ran for three months before pausing gameplay, and then launched its token more than a month later. Hamster Kombat may not follow the exact same routine, of course—but given how much hype Notcoin harnessed and turned into market value, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Hamster Kombat mimic such methods as well.

Edited by Andrew Hayward