‘Hamster Kombat’ review: Should you play Telegram games ahead of the airdrop?

For the past few weeks, almost every time I open my phone, I’ve tapped the Telegram icon and assumed the role of a cryptocurrency exchange CEO. For some reason, it’s also a hamster.

that hamster combatThis is the latest Telegram gaming sensation based on the premise of simple screen tapping. Notcoin Previously. Notcoin’s success — NOT token was created. open network (TON) appears to have supercharged its spiritual successor with a market capitalization well over $2 billion at its peak and airdrops for players.

more 150 million people The developers claim they are now playing the game to find a slice of the upcoming TON airdrop, which is targeted for July.

What does it mean to be the hamster CEO of an exchange? Well, just like in Notcoin, the core gameplay involves earning in-game coins with a simple tap (in this case, a cartoony hamster logo). However, in Hamster Kombat, you can use those coins for various upgrades to grow your virtual exchange and showcase it to a wider audience.

This means paying for partnerships, licenses, feature launches, technical support, and other things you might expect a cryptocurrency exchange to need. And for you, all this is just a matter of tapping a button in the game. However, upgrades will allow you to earn more and more passive income while you’re offline, making you spend money to make money.

There’s no tone to it. However, as with Notcoin and with mobile games, the “numbers up” pull is strong. bitcoin minerAnd it’s easy to get into a routine of jumping in and playing for a while. You can also increase your coin pile by claiming daily combos or entering daily password codes.

Will those lost moments spent tapping a button add up to a significant amount of airdrops? I’m not personally betting on that. But I know there are people who put a lot more time and attention into this game than I do, and are probably willing to spam their friends with invites to boost their own profits.

I approached Notcoin in much the same way. I checked regularly, but didn’t really go any further than that to increase potential airdrops. Ultimately, the NOT tokens I got were worth around $170 at their highest price two weeks after launch.

It’s hard to believe that Hamster Kombat will match that kind of tally, not only because it already has about five times that number of players, but also because Notcoin was a new kind of social gaming phenomenon. Hamster Kombat has a bit more depth, but it still feels like another stab at the same core premise.

But a few weeks later, when I passed 100 million coins, I’m still choosing to switch to mobile. And who knows? You’ll probably get a nice little bag of tokens in a month or two. In any case, Hamster Kombat is a fun way to spend a few spare minutes here and there and dip your toes into the social crypto phenomenon that’s quickly gaining steam.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.