Telegram and Toncoin continue to grow the trend of mini-apps. For those that missed the growth of Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, more clicker games are coming up to offer potential value.
Hamster Kombat is still the leading Telegram game and a highly influential channel. The model of assigning points for a future airdrop is also attracting other similar games.
Also Read: Hamster Kombat plans two airdrops: one this month, another in 2 years – report
The common thread of games is tap-to-earn, but there may be details in metrics, including total earnings or earnings per hour. Most games are still evaluating their airdrop strategies. Most try to make the best of their social media presence, while tapping the Telegram user base.
TapSwap grows in popularity, remains cautious with token launch
TapSwap goes through a growth trajectory similar to Hamster Kombat, easily claiming more than 60M users as of July 2024. The growth of those types of games can be extremely active, taking just weeks to report more than 100M users. The games spread their referral links mostly through Telegram, tapping its reported 32M registered users, but also through other social media and even in real space.
TapSwap is still in the shares-earning stage. Over time, those shares earned will be converted into TAPS tokens. The project has raised high expectations of finally listing on a tier-A centralized exchange, but is delaying the launch to improve token generation plans.
The launch of TapSwap tokens may be delayed until Q3, leaving the game to compete with leaderboards until the airdrop.
🚨 Important Update!🚨
1 We've got some bad and really good news for you at the same time: our team has decided to move the date for the Shares-to-Token exchange event. You might wonder, what's good about that? Just FUD? 🤔 Not exactly. The whole point is that you'll actually…
— tapswap (@tapswapai) July 1, 2024
Catizen extends play-for-airdrop model
Catizen is the other high-profile game that is boosting the play-to-airdrop model. The project is still tokenless, relying on competition for gaining more tokens. For now, Catizen is still reporting around 23M players.
The game recalls the ethos of earlier play-to-earn games, launching the Catizen Foundation to drive adoption and promote charity projects. But this time, there will be no direct competition for a token, instead going for a game-first approach. Catizen has set up ambitious expectations of rivaling Steam or even Animoca Brands for the Toncoin and Telegram ecosystem.
The Catizen game also has the advantage of a longer development. It is not a hastily created clicker to tap the latest trend, but has been in the making for five years. Catizen offers a story arc of upgrading characters to earn more points. For now, Catizen is hot, but with no hard and fast deadline for a token launch.
XLords brings back civilization-building
XLords combines tapping with civilization-building and passive earnings. The game follows the model of play-to-earn, and even has a native token, XLORD. XLords moved to Telegram only in the past weeks, but the game has been in development for a long time.
The project is also shifting its value profile, offering perks like items that can be turned into NFT. The goal of the game is to constantly upgrade and replace some of the tapping with passive income.
XLords is a game migrating from the play-to-earn idea, though its XLORD token has limited listings. The game taps the trend of both Telegram and the Base blockchain, where it has launched its NFT and native token. XLords is currently running an active season, while planning a more advanced game beta.
Also Read: After Toncoin (TON), Base joins the trend of mini-apps
For now, the gaming trend on Telegram is still spearheaded by the Hamster Kombat channel, with more than 51M subscribed accounts reported. Statistics on Telegram may be inexactly reflecting the actual players, with the potential to also drive bot traffic.
The TapSwap community is quickly catching up, though still only achieving 50% of the results of Hamster Kombat in terms of channel subscribers and citation index. The Notcoin community has a lower subscriber count, but massive citation index influence, adding to the tapping game trend.
Games on Telegram also add to the growth of Toncoin, the native blockchain, but also Base, which is used for tokenization due to lower fees. Tap-to-earn or play-to-airdrop may face the same issues with sustainability compared to play-to-earn games, but for now, the popularity of Hamster Kombat is also spreading to new mini-apps.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva
