With the ongoing decline in the number of its players, one of Telegram’s known tap games, Hamster Kombat, experienced continuous decline in search interest in the Philippines since its peak in mid-2024.
- Moreover, search interest for “notcoin,” “tap to earn,” and “telegram games” decreased but relatively stable interest throughout the year.
Note: This article analyzed Google Trends data in 2024, from December 31, 2023 to January 4, 2025, focusing on Hamster Kombat’s search interest in the Philippines.
What’s the significance: The rise and fall of Hamster Kombat highlights the need for web3 games to prioritize engaging gameplay and sustainable economies over mere financial incentives.
The Big Picture: The decline in interest suggests that Filipino gamers may be shifting away from basic tap-to-earn mechanics, signaling a growing demand for more sustainable web3 games with deeper gameplay, improved tokenomics, and long-term utility.
Hamster Kombat 101:
- Hamster Kombat emerged in March 2024 as a clicker-style Telegram-based mini-game, similar in mechanics to Notcoin.
- It was developed as part of the TON (The Open Network) ecosystem, aiming to drive engagement and mass adoption of web3 gaming through Telegram’s massive user base.
- How it works: The game allows users to simulate running a crypto exchange by clicking to earn in-game tokens, upgrading their “exchange,” and inviting friends for bonuses.
- Players were also promised future token rewards through an airdrop system, making it highly engaging for crypto enthusiasts.
The numbers: Game Metrics as of Feb 11, 2025
- Total Players: The number of players for the game dropped to 38 million in November, down <90% from its peak of 400 million players.
- YouTube Subscribers: 35.9 million on the main channel
- There are 17 regional YT channels
- Telegram Community: 44 million (In a July article, the logged subscribers were at 53 million)
- X Followers: 13.3 million
A Short History:
- 2018
- Hamster Kombat was created by a group of developers who aimed to combine the excitement of fighting games with blockchain technology.
- Initially, it was a simple clicker game on Telegram.
- 2024:
- In March, Hamster Kombat rapidly gained over 100 million players within months, driven by TON ecosystem support, gamification with airdrop incentives, and an addictive gameplay loop.
- By July, it reached around 300 million players which made it one of the fastest-growing apps in the world.
- In the same month, the creators of the game, called the “founders,” hinted at their plans to have a second campaign airdrop after the first campaign.
- It launched a pre-market trading for $HMSTR on ByBit and OKX.
- The founders announced the delays in distributing its airdrop rewards to their campaign participants.
- On September 26, Hamster Kombat launched the largest airdrop in the history of crypto, attracting even more mainstream attention.
- The developers retracted 6.8 billion $HMSTR from cheaters for the second season of the airdrop.
- The launch was a “paldon’t”, $HMSTR token hit $1.2 billion in trading volume but saw a sharp drop in price, leading to user complaints about airdrop allocations.
- In November, the number of monthly active players for Hamster Kombat fell by nearly 90% from a peak of 400 million players in August.
- By December, the game expressed plans to create its own ad network to generate revenue and reward players.
- 2025: Hamster Kombat stated that it aims to launch an NFT marketplace and host a massive clan competition.
- Another token giveaway is also planned for this year.
Search Interest for Hamster Kombat
Peak
In the Philippines, interest in Hamster Kombat was virtually nonexistent at the start of 2024 but surged in mid-year, with hype building in early June and peaking between June 23-29 before declining.
The interest in June coincides with Hamster Kombat’s first challenge, requiring players to link their TON wallets to participate in an airdrop. The token was initially set to launch in July but was delayed until September.
The interest went slightly up again in September which coincided with the anticipation of the airdrop and with the announcement of the season 2 airdrop.
Decline
The average weekly search interest from the beginning of October has been consistently low, ranging between 1 and less than 1. Accordingly, at this time, the number of players in the game also decreased.
Possible reasons for declines: Hamster Kombat rapidly went viral by leveraging Telegram’s emerging ecosystem, airdrop incentives, and addictive gameplay but crashed due to disappointing rewards, low retention, and unsustainable hype.
Interest by Subregion
Interest in Hamster Kombat varied across regions in the Philippines in 2024, with Central Luzon showing the highest search interest (100), followed by the Ilocos Region (86). Cagayan Valley (71) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (66) also had notable engagement, while Calabarzon recorded a slightly lower interest level at 64.
Search Interest for Notcoin, Tap to Earn, and Telegram Games
- Notcoin: The search term shows the highest peak in interest around mid-May 2024, reaching close to 100 on the interest scale. After this peak, the interest fluctuates but generally trends downward. The significant surge in popularity around that time, coincides with the several announcements related to Notcoin such as launch dates and a game accelerator.
- What is Notcoin: Notcoin is a Telegram-based Tap-to-Earn game, its token NOT is a virtual cryptocurrency on the TON blockchain. The game features boosters to enhance earnings and squad formations for social engagement, integrating gaming with cryptocurrency in an interactive way.
- Interest by Subregion: Interest in Notcoin was highest in the Zamboanga Peninsula, followed by Caraga and MIMAROPA. The Ilocos Region and Davao Region also showed engagement.
- Tap to Earn: While the games with this term are popular, the term itself shows very low and relatively stable interest throughout the year, with minor fluctuations. The consistent low interest indicates that “Tap to Earn” didn’t experience significant spikes in popularity or major events that captured public attention.
- What is Tap to Earn: This is a web3 gaming model where payers can earn digital assets, like cryptocurrency, just by tapping on the screen or completing simple tasks.
- Interest by Subregion: Interest in Tap to Earn games was strongest in Eastern Visayas, followed by Western Visayas and Central Visayas. Calabarzon also showed engagement.
- Telegram Games: Similar to “Tap to Earn,” this term also shows low interest, with minor fluctuations throughout the year. The search interest for “Telegram Games” remained relatively stable, suggesting a consistent but not particularly high level of public curiosity.
- What are Telegram games: These games are launched via a Telegram bot and played in Telegram’s built-in browser. They are lightweight and typically uncomplicated.
- Read more: List of Free Telegram Games with Potential Airdrop – Tap To Earn Games
- Interest by Subregion: Bicol, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley and Region XII were the top regions that searched for Telegram games in 2024.
What’s next: Following the dissatisfaction in Hamster Kombat and Telegram’s active support on gaming studios and expanding capabilities, an article by The Block predicts the launch of more complex midcore and hardcore games in 2025, improving long-term user engagement.
Worth reading: Hamster Kombat became one of the most Googled games in the Philippines in 2024, ranking fourth in trending searches.
This article is published on BitPinas: Google Trends PH: Hamster Kombat Search Interest Drops
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