Hamster Kombat is a tap-to-earn crypto game powered by Telegram in which players take on the role of a CEO running a virtual cryptocurrency exchange. The developers describe the game as a “crypto exchange CEO simulator” and not a “clicker” or “tapper” game. ^[1][2]

Overview

Hamster Kombat announced in May 2024 that it would launch a token on The Open Network (TON), a layer-1 blockchain originally created by Telegram before development continued externally by the community. ^[3]

In the game, players begin as a bald hamster who accepts a contract to become the CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange. Users can tap the hamster avatar to generate in-game coins, but the main gameplay mechanic involves purchasing exchange upgrades to increase their hourly profit. ^[4]

Players can earn coins by referring friends to play the game on Telegram or by completing more difficult in-game tasks. These tasks include solving a daily morse-code cipher linked to a secret word found in the game's daily YouTube videos or purchasing a combination of three specific daily upgrades. ^[5]

Gameplay & Narrative

Hamster Kombat is a crypto exchange CEO simulator in which players create profiles and boost them through various activities.

Hamster Kombat is not a competition or a race. This game is all about the community, friends, and growing together. But it’s also a game where you can experience what it’s like to be in charge of one of the biggest crypto companies in the world for yourself. Would you make the right call? How much profit could you get? What can influence your decision-making and why?^[11]

Within the game, players are required to increase their coin balance, complete daily combos and ciphers, and get their daily rewards—all of that to maximize their passive income and ensure their exchange is working for them. A system like this one facilitates the overall gaming process for users—they don’t necessarily need to spend their days tapping, but rather choosing what tasks to perform or what to do to multiply their income. Hamster Kombat also has a referral system whereby users can invite friends to increase revenue and also, build/manage their exchange. ^[11]

Hamster Kombat's Growth

In a public post to his Telegram channel’s 2.7 million subscribers, Telegram co-founder, Pavel Durov highlighted Hamster Kombat's growth. Since its launch in March 2024, the game has attracted over 200 million players.

"Hamster Kombat has become the latest Internet phenomenon everyone's talking about. 239 million people have signed up for this Telegram mini app in just 3 months

It took Hamster only 73 days to reach 100 million monthly users. Each day, 4-5 million new users join Hamster Kombat, making it the fastest-growing digital service in the world. - Pavel Durov announced on July 4, 2024^[6]

Soon, Hamster’s team will mint its token on TON, introducing the benefits of blockchain to hundreds of millions of people. - he concluded.

Hamster Kombat's X profile has grown to over 11 million followers since its creation in March 2024. On Telegram, the channel has over 51 million subscribers, and on YouTube, over 32 million subscribers as of July 2024. ^[2][4][9]

$HMSTR Token & Foundation

The Hamster Foundation is a non-profit organization that acts in the community's interest by supporting initiatives that help it achieve its mission. The mission of the Hamster Foundation is to onboard the next billion people into Web3 and sustainably develop the $HMSTR token and the ecosystem around it. ^[11]

The total token supply for $HMSTR is fixed at 100,000,000,000. 60% of the airdrop’s volume is dedicated to the players. The rest is reserved for providing market liquidity, ecosystem partnerships and grants, rewarding squads, and other items. ^[11]

HMSTR Airdrop

The Hamster Kombat website notes a target of July 2024 for the token generation event (TGE), which is typically when a token airdrop becomes available for eligible players. Previously, during a Twitter Spaces session in early June, the team also mentioned they were aiming for a July launch. On how the airdrop will be handled, the team tweeted: ^[3]

"Airdrop will depend on the profit per hour and some other [activity] parameters that we will reveal later, NOT the coin balance. Play wisely"^[10]

On July 8, 2024, Bybit exchange announced its listing of Hamster Kombat on its platform for pre-market trading. According to the announcement, Bybit’s pre-market OTC platform launched trading for HMSTR on July 8 at 10:00 am UTC. Details of the delivery schedule will be released shortly, the exchange said. ^[7]

"The inclusion of HMSTR tokens on our Pre-Market platform represents a significant step forward, providing users with the chance to get their hands on HMSTR tokens before they become listed for Spot trading.
This exclusive access allows users to secure HMSTR tokens ahead of the market and to lock in their purchase/sale prices early, marking an innovative advancement in our trading offerings." - Bybit announced^[8]

In August 2024, the Hamster team revealed via its official channel, the date of the $HMSTR airdrop to be September 26, 2024. The airdrop which was originally set for July 2024, was delayed due to additional planning needed for such a large-scale drop. ^[12]

Ahead of the airdrop, the team announced a reward cutoff set for September 20, 2024. A snapshot of players' in-game earnings will be taken at 6 pm UTC on September 20 which also marked the end of Season 1 for the game. ^[13]

On September 24, 2024, Hamster Kombat banned 2.3 million cheaters and announced it would distribute half their earnings among “honest players” while burning (or effectively destroying) the rest. These cheaters were caught by the team analyzing user behavior. ^[14]

“One person connected over 400 accounts to a single Binance address,” Hamster Kombat’s anonymous development team said, “while another invited almost 2,000 ‘friends,’ all of whom were flagged by our anti-cheat system.”^[14]

On September 26, 2024, Hamster Kombat conducted an airdrop, distributing HMSTR tokens to its users. The airdrop received mixed reactions from users, with many describing their HMSTR reward as "dust" in response to Hamster Kombat's trading announcement post on Twitter. "Dust" is a term used to describe small amounts of crypto that are typically left over from a transaction or trade. Several users criticized the airdrop, stating that their HMSTR stash was worth less than $10. ^[16]

Post airdrop, the team announced its plans to launch the second season of the game and will look to expand its game library with new titles. The developers are also looking to integrate “external payment systems” to help create an on-ramp into the game. In the same month, Hamster Kombat will also look to publish its first “cohort of games” created by third-party developers.^[15]

“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 via email.

“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.”^[15]