What is ‘Hamster Fight’? The Telegram game’s HMSTR token and ‘HamsterVerse’ plans

Are hamsters fighting now? Not exactly, but while Hamster Kombat’s title may be a bit misleading, this Telegram-based tapping game quickly became a dominant leader in the play-to-earn space by expanding on Notcoin’s winning model.

Hamster Kombat amassed a total of over 300 million players before launching its HMSTR token and airdrop for players via The Open Network (TON) in late September 2024. It became one of the biggest gaming token launches of the year, based on peak value.

But Hamster Kombat doesn’t stop 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 combat?

Similar to Notcoin, Hamster Kombat let players tap to earn coins in a Telegram-native application (or “mini-app”) – meaning to play the game you simply open a chat on Telegram.

The core concept of Hamster Kombat is similar to Notcoin, with some slightly richer game mechanics added on top. In short: it’s a tap-to-earn game mixed with a crypto exchange simulator.

In Hamster Kombat, you are the CEO of an emerging crypto exchange, and your job is to grow the exchange to new heights never seen before… in the world of hamsters. To do this, you need to tap on an image of a cartoon hamster to earn coins, then use those coins to purchase upgrades for your exchange.

How do you play Hamster Kombat?

Originally, Hamster Kombat started in a manner familiar to Notcoin users, with players tapping 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 trade in the game’s ‘Mine’ tab. This tab shows all kinds of upgrades that players can purchase (purely with in-game coins) for their exchange, and includes things like adding coins or new features to their fictional exchange, or fake marketing efforts.

Each upgrade you purchased for your exchange passively earned you more coins. For example, adding a Bitcoin pair to your exchange costs 250 coins, but then earns you 40 coins per hour. In other words, these additions paid off quickly and helped propel your exchange further.

Hamster Kombat concluded its first gameplay season in September, before the token launch. Currently, as of this writing, the game has an ‘Interlude’ season where players can earn in-game diamonds ahead of the full second season ahead. The diamonds will reportedly give players some sort of benefit next season.

What is HMSTR?

What’s the point of earning in-game coins? Like Notcoin, Hamster Kombat also incentivized players with a token airdrop, attracting hundreds of millions of players.

Hamster Kombat’s airdrop took place on September 26 on The Open Network (TON), the same date the HMSTR token was generated and launched on major exchanges. The HMSTR token was originally intended 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.

HMSTR reached a peak market capitalization of approximately $646 million on its launch date, although the token’s value has fallen sharply since then. Given the sheer 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 to 2025 and includes more rewards, more gameplay, and plans to spread beyond Telegram.

After the current “interlude season”, which was only expected to last a few weeks (but has since lasted months), Hamster Kombat plans to launch a new full Season 2 with gameplay, with plans to pay that off next summer with a new airdrop. . Season 2 will shift the focus of the game to 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 it Declutter that the launch was scheduled for late October, but that estimate came and went.

In late December, the Hamster Kombat team revealed plans to launch a broader “HamsterVerse” initiative that will span three games, including the Season 2 gameplay mentioned above. All games will use 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 that could potentially benefit or expand the ecosystem. One of the first things they voted for was a special layer-2 Hamster blockchain be built on TON, which the developers are now working towards.

Hamster Kombat will also continue to integrate other third-party games and evolve into a cross-title platform. Additionally, Hamster Kombat plans to launch a progressive web app (PWA) for the game that will be playable via iOS, Android, and desktop computers without using the Telegram mini-app.

Additionally, the developers plan to integrate with desktop games, bring NFTs into Hamster Kombat, and over time buy and burn (or effectively destroy) HMSTR tokens in an effort to increase the price by increasing the token supply reduce.

“Telegram will always be a critical part of Hamster Kombat and its ecosystem of products. Still, we want to expand to reach the audience who are not yet on Telegram,” the team said Declutter in September. “Ultimately, we see it as a positive development for both Hamster Kombat and Telegram itself as a mini-app platform, as it will provide additional exposure.”

Additional reporting by Reza Jafery

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on June 2, 2024 and last updated with new details on January 2, 2025.