What is Hamster Kombat?

Hamster Kombat - a cryptocurrency clicker game, a mini-app within the Telegram messenger. The main mechanics of such games are simple: tap the screen to earn, upgrade passive earning methods, complete tasks for a quick balance boost, or to obtain special bonuses. We tapped and clicked to figure out how the most viral game in the TON ecosystem works and why it has become so popular.

How to Earn in Hamster Kombat

Launch the Hamster Kombat bot in Telegram. Congratulations, you're now a Hamster Boss of a crypto exchange! You can choose any exchange you like: Binance, Bybit, OKX, BingX, HTX, Kucoin, Gate.io, MEXC, Bitget. The choice of exchange doesn’t really impact the game, but it's one of the tasks you can complete to earn coins. The game has a total of 10 levels - from bronze to lord. Each has its own requirements for the number of coins you earn per tap, the amount of energy (which is spent by tapping), and other capabilities. To move to the second level, for instance, you only need 5,000 coins, but you’ll need a whole billion to reach level 10.

To upgrade your passive income, you'll need to purchase various cards. You can find these upgrade cards in the "Mine" tab. They become available as you upgrade your exchange and complete tasks, though often you need to reach a certain level with other cards first. Passive income from the exchange continues for three hours in background mode after you exit the game. To keep players engaged and striving to unlock as many cards as possible, developers launch a new daily task: find the secret combination of three cards that need to be purchased or upgraded that day. Guess right, and you’re the lucky winner of 5 million coins.

Another way to earn coins is through daily rewards. Simply visit the “Earn” tab each day and collect your coins. In just 10 days, you can earn up to 6,649,000 coins, from 500 on the first day to 5,000,000 on the tenth, after which the daily counter resets. In the same tab, you'll find a list of tasks that reward you with coins, from inviting friends to play, to watching videos on the Hamster Kombat channel. Just a couple of days ago, developers announced a new secret level where you can earn by tapping three times on the “profit per tap” icon, then trying to find the word of the day encrypted using Morse code. Solving the daily cipher can earn you 1,000,000 coins, like today's word, "TON".

Can You Make Real Money in This Game?

At the moment, this question remains open as it all depends on the listing, how and when it will happen, and whether the coin will crash afterward. Hamster Kombat claims that the listing will take place in June 2024, and an airdrop will occur in the TON blockchain network, but there is no confirmation of this yet. Little is known about the creators and the HMSTR crypto itself, and there is no Whitepaper for the project, so player motivation is solely based on the developers' promises. However, the hamster has already entered into a partnership with one of the exchanges, namely BingX. The only clicker game that has conducted a listing so far is Notcoin. This project was clearly cash-flow positive right from the start: they actively sold placements in their tasks, sold traffic to exchanges during minting, and secured the support of Pavel Durov. Notcoin underwent real rollercoaster price changes after its listing but is now showing some stability.

It seems we will witness in real-time how the monetization issue at Hamster Kombat will be resolved. Developers have stated that the airdrop will depend on hourly income and other parameters of your activity, which they will name later, not on the number of coins earned, hence they actively encourage spending them. Why are tap-to-earn games so popular? Here are a few reasons:

• FOMO, or the fear of missing out;
• Low entry threshold (you don't need to invest anything except your time);
• A sense of involvement (due to its huge popularity, HK has become somewhat of a legendary phenomenon);
• Addictive mechanics.

Even though this clicker does not ask you to invest your assets, you are spending your most valuable resource - time. So, it's up to you to decide what you are willing to do for the chance to earn, even if it won't be millions or even hundreds of thousands. There is, however, a plus: The Hamster teaches the basics of the crypto world - here's an introduction to the main concepts and mechanisms of cryptocurrency, and an opportunity to experiment with various operations without the risk of real losses, and a chance to apply all the knowledge in practice. So even if you don’t earn money in Hamster Kombat, you can consider it a very effective learning tool, especially if you are just starting your journey into the vast ocean of cryptocurrencies.