Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) has pulled over 300 million players into its addictive Telegram-based game, in which players compete for a chunk of the HSMTR token airdrop.
But with such a meteoric rise, how will Hamster Kombat and other “play-to-earn” Web3 gaming titles survive post-airdrop?
Speaking with industry experts, CCN has found that tapping games have a lot of work to do if they are to evolve into something beyond just another crypto fad.
Hamster Kombat’s climb to the top as the biggest Web3 gaming application and airdrop of all time is nothing short of spectacular.
Having amassed over 300 million players, half of whom came on board within the first months of its launch, the Hamster Kombat HMSTR token airdrop has been one of the biggest events in crypto this year.
Explaining a strong element of its success, Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan told CCN:
“Hamster Kombat’s meteoric rise is thanks to its ultra-low barrier to entry and ease of play. It’s a simple clicker game that anyone can jump into, regardless of their tech skills or Web3 experience.”
Echoing this, Sarun Vichayabhai, founder and CEO of Web3 entertainment and e-commerce platform Playbux, notes that it was the third-fastest app to reach 150 million users. He adds that the game’s mechanics and systems were so well-designed that its “product life cycle has been seamless,” clarifying that this includes:
“[…] all the phases of onboarding, retention, and gameplay. Moreover, an all-encompassing and highly innovative content marketing strategy, including Telegram, X, YouTube, and UGC, has been the icing on the cake.”
Yaniv Baruch, COO of Web3 gaming ecosystem Playnance, agrees, adding that their decision to tap into Telegram’s touted 900+ million users was a “very smart choice in providing accessibility”—with users already onboard, they’re just one step away from becoming players.
However, what goes up must come down. Maintaining upward momentum, especially after the airdrop and token rollout are finished, could be the greatest challenge facing Telegram’s numerous tap-to-earn titles.
Web3 games have terrible player retention. Even highly immersive triple-A video games struggle to form a passionate and committed user base. So, this can’t last forever, can it? Kan explains:
“As the airdrop incentives wane, there’s a high likelihood of significant player dropoff. Airdrop rewards are a major motivator for players in the TON ecosystem. When these rewards diminish, players might lose interest, leading to increased churn rates.”
This is typical for any product, especially video games. However, Web3 gaming has a seemingly endless ecosystem, where one airdrop finishes, another begins. Looking at Catizen, it now has its very own gaming ecosystem with a new tap-to-airdrop title called “Bombie” among other non-earning titles.
Kan explains that Telegram mini-apps can’t match the experience offered by major games. While they could hope to retain players through innovative gameplay mechanics and “ongoing rewards,” the lifespan of titles such as Hamster Kombat will depend on whether or not it can significantly upgrade its offerings.
“Incorporating innovative gameplay, ongoing rewards, and strong social elements, such as unique NFTs and achievement systems, can help maintain long-term engagement by providing entertainment and community value beyond just economic incentives,” he notes.
As a rule, major launches bring millions of new people to crypto, which is great for exposure. Naturally, airdrops and rewards for player loyalty will continue to be a draw, but last-minute changes to airdrop allocations, poor rollouts, or other pitfalls could burn player trust.
The long-term vision is key, but how far can these effortless mobile-based idle clicker games go? According to Baruch, their longevity and success may be founded on their simplicity.
“[…] these are not designed to be experience-driven competitive games, but rather simply activities that you can keep doing regardless of where you are. So, I think these simplistic and convenient factors largely contributed to the game’s [Hamster Kombat] success.”
On the contrary, Vichayabhai explains that sustainability could be found if developers “up their game,” which may include introducing non-monetary rewards,” as it’s not always possible to keep a game financially lucrative for players.
Expectations are high—or at least they were before the Catizen airdrop allocation reshuffle left players rightfully annoyed. “The entire collective stands to gain from the success of one,” Vichayabhai explains.
Fears were quickly confirmed when Hamster Kombat updated its airdrop rollout just days ahead of the launch. Players were peeved to discover that 11.25% of their allocated tokens would be locked up until 2025.
Others were confused to find that they may be locked out of the airdrop following a last-minute “anti-cheat” rollout that, as Hamster Kombat claims, has disqualified 2.3 million players from the airdrop.
“At the same time, all stand to lose, resulting in an atmosphere of indelible distrust if even one among them fails to keep up with the claims made.”
Vichayabhai opines that this type of behavior could ruin Telegram’s Web3 gaming ecosystem . Optimistically, he highlights that the potential for innovation is “always limitless.”
There is hope that the next generation of Web3 games can become as sophisticated as traditional video games, but whether or not they can balance play-to-earn with pay-to-win is another matter.
This could result, ideally, in a Web3 gaming ecosystem that isn’t solely built on the promise of monetary rewards. But as many experts explain, play-to-earn may be the only appeal of Web3 gaming.
Looking ahead, many experts believe that Web3 gaming, especially the tap-to-earn genre, will need to innovate far beyond its current iterations if it intends to evolve into something that gamers can really get behind.
Perhaps that’s not the case, and these games could enjoy lasting popularity. As Tim Zinin, founder of Botanica crypto school, says:
“Clicker games have been around for years, but now we’ve entered a space where clickers, flex systems, and Telegram’s in-app browser solutions have converged.”
For now, it would seem that Web3 tap-to-earn newcomers, such as Lost Dogs, Goats, Rocky Rabbit, and Bombie, all stand a chance at becoming the next big airdrop opportunity. But it remains yet to be seen if any of these titles will capture the tens of millions of players that Hamster Kombat did.