From NotCoin to Hamster Kombat, a wave of mindless tap games is sweeping Telegram, luring millions of players with the promise of crypto riches. But the reality is far less glamorous, with predatory tactics, rigged payouts, and games that are anything but fun.
Millions of people have been playing tap-to-earn games on Telegram over the past few months, in the hopes of earning crypto tokens that could later be sold for a profit.
These games, which are typically simple and repetitive, have become incredibly popular, especially among people in countries with low living wages or economic challenges.
One of the most popular games is Hamster Kombat, which claims to have over 300 million players. The game features a hamster running a crypto exchange, and players can tap on the hamster to earn in-game currency, which can be reinvested in the exchange to generate passive income. Hamster Kombat is yet to launch its own crypto token, but an airdrop has been announced for 26th September 2024, with millions of tokens set to be handed out to players.
Other popular tap-to-earn games include Lost Dogs, a Telegram game where players gamble on which of the three story options will be the second most chosen by players each day, and Catizen, a game where players swipe to combine cats of the same level in their cat café to make them more valuable.
These games often use predatory and insidious tactics to bring players in on the promise of future riches, such as rewarding players for inviting friends to join the game, or locking progress behind it. Pixel Tap, for example, prevents players from progressing past level three unless they invite at least one friend - and by the time the airdrop rolled around, level three wasn't enough to be eligible for any tokens.
Some games also feature microtransactions that are clearly pay-to-win by giving certain advantages. Catizen, for example, sells an upgrade where any cats that arrive in your café are automatically combined with others of the same level, removing the one actual mechanic it has. That requires 3900 of its premium currency, which will cost you about $13. Whether that purchase will pay off when the game's token launches remains to be seen.
Despite these tactics, many players are drawn to these games by the potential promise of earning crypto tokens for playing a game, especially in countries where jobs are hard to come by or where economic challenges are destabilizing the entire economy.
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