Building Your Own Tap-to-Earn Telegram Game Like Hamster Kombat

A tap-to-earn game development guide from Mind Studios Games, based on our experience making games for Telegram and blockchain games.

Highlights:

• Hamster Kombat is now getting ready for its second season air drop, showing decent numbers;
• One of the reasons behind the game’s boom back in summer 2024 is the Telegram as its launch platform;
• The social element of Telegram allows tap-to-earn games to flourish, attracting both casual gamers and crypto enthusiasts;
• Tap-to-earn game development on Telegram is a tricky process better approached with an experienced team.

Hamster Kombat became a hit in summer 2024, following the $HMSTR coin listing in July — the game’s Telegram channel had 53 million subscribers, and the game itself had a DAU of over 31 million players. This prompted many business people interested in both crypto and game development to eye Telegram as the next big thing and consider tap-to-earn game development on this platform.

At Mind Studios Games, we have experience in blockchain game development, NFT, and integrating crypto into games. We’ve also already completed several games to Telegram, mostly to look at the process and how it can be optimized best. Moreover, one of our focus genres is idle games, which are exactly what Hamster Kombat is, if you take out the “earn” factor. Hence, we have a certain level of expertise when it comes to creating a tap-to-earn game like Hamster Kombat.

In this article, we offer a developer’s look into the process of building and launching a tap-to-earn mobile game, with special attention to doing all that within the Telegram ecosystem. Read on for insights, and contact us with your idea if you’re already on the lookout for a development partner.

Concept development

Any game starts with the concept development, and that, of course, includes tap-to-earn coin games.

In their basic form, tap-to-earn games fall into the idle game category: players start the game by tapping (or clicking, if we’re talking about PC/web versions) to earn in-game currency, then spend that currency on upgrades, which usually include faster earning of currency for each tap and automation of tapping for when players aren’t in the game.

Tap-to-earn games add to this the following:

• Play-to-earn functionality, where in-game activity is rewarded with legitimate money in some way
• Blockchain and smart contracts for more transparency and security
• Cryptocurrency (usually)
• NFTs (possibly)

Your game’s concept will revolve around the “earn” part, as it’s the central feature. However, it doesn’t really limit you all that much. Hamster Kombat uses a very straightforward approach to its setting — being a CEO of a company and earning money. However, it’s not the only possibility.

Alternative examples of tap-to-earn crypto Telegram apps already exist. Catizen, for instance, uses a setting similar to a “cat café” where players operate a cat shelter of sorts and virtual visitors come to play with the cats for a fee. The game has its own tradable token CATI. Although mechanics-wise, Catizen is not a tapping game — its main mechanic is merging. But that’s slightly beside the point 🙂

Another popular tap-to-earn Telegram game is MemeFi, and in it, players need to tap on their opponents (represented by meme characters) to deplete their HP. This grants coin rewards. More varied settings exist in the genre.

Besides the setting, the concept also includes main mechanics and game loops. In a tap-to-earn game, as the name suggests, the traditional core mechanic is tapping/clicking; although, as we’ve stated above, alternatives are possible.

We’ll talk about the game design and everything else in more detail in sections below, so keep reading. And if you’re ready to talk about your specific idea, don’t hesitate to contact us via the form, or get in touch with our Head of Gamedev on LinkedIn.

Game design

At the concept development stage, you’ll need to draw up a Game Design Document (GDD) — a draft that will include information about the project like:

• Setting
• Genre
• Target audience
• Core concept (a one-sentence summary of the game)
• Unique value / selling points
• Core mechanics
• Progression system
• Game loop
• Monetization model

The list above isn’t conclusive, there might be more points to showcase based on your specific idea. Moreover, these are only functional specifications of the game, written by a game designer. There’s another part of GDD, written after consulting with the developers — technical specifications.

Technical specifications include the tech stack for future development, and we offer some options for Telegram game development tech stack in the development section.

The development team will need to keep the GDD up-to-date with any changes in the project, so that you could always track what was done and what might need corrections.

Design considerations for creating a tap-to-earn game

When designing tap-to-earn Telegram games, you’ll need to take into account the following limiting parameters:

1. They’re essentially web pages;
2. Most players will play them on mobile devices;
3. They’re games played in a messenger.

What does that mean for game design? Mostly that you need to keep the game simple. Here’s why:

• Sophisticated graphics and fast-paced action are resource intensive and can lag if the player’s device isn’t powerful enough. And not all those who use messengers have the latest smartphone models. Moreover, browsers aren’t as good as native game apps at handling resource-heavy games.
• Being played in a messenger, where gaming is not a primary focus, tap-to-earn Telegram games shouldn’t require long sessions; doing that will most likely result in abandonment the moment players receive a message. Hence, building complex systems and hard-to-clear levels that require players to stay in the game for some time is not sensible.

The reason so many business people today look at Telegram games at all is its huge user base — at the beginning of 2025, Telegram has 450 million DAU and 950 million MAU. You wouldn’t want to miss on that by creating a tap-to-earn game that’s too complex or resource-heavy.

Everything above is essential, specifically because we’re talking about Telegram games. What about the parameters dictated by the tap-to-earn functionality?

It’s not going to be a piece of advice unique to tap-to-earn Telegram games, but it is much more important in P2E than in traditional games.

Pay attention to fairness and balance in your game.

Players abandon unbalanced games all the time — if the game is too easy, it’s boring; if it’s too hard, it’s frustrating. And this issue becomes much bigger when money is put on the table, be it players’ invested money or the money they can win.

A case in point is actually the titular Hamster Kombat game. Its first airdrop received criticism from the crypto community due to lack of transparency — last-minute changes and disqualification of some players on the grounds of cheating were deemed unexpected and unexplained by some players.

So take a page out of the hamster’s book and pay extra attention to creating a user experience and rewarding system that are transparent and fair to players.

Development of a tap-to-earn game on Telegram

There’s one thing you’ll have to consider carefully at some point in the development process of a tap-to-earn game, and that is the selection and integration of blockchain. Transferring an app from one blockchain to another after integration is not possible.

However, at the initial stages of Telegram game development, you can forego this — it’s possible to attract users and distribute cash without tying it to smart contracts. In fact, that’s exactly what Hamster Kombat did before its Token Generation Event on September 26, 2024. Until that time, players could only connect their wallet to take part in the airdrop.

Nonetheless, we’d like to provide some information about blockchain options for tap-to-earn Telegram games.

The Open Network, or TON, is a logical and convenient choice for Telegram-based games, as it has strong ties to Telegram due to its background (being developed by Telegram developers) and offers seamless integration within the Telegram ecosystem. That said, developers can work with any blockchain and still integrate their game into Telegram without issues. The decision ultimately depends on the game's technical, economic, and audience needs, as well as regulatory compliance.

Popular blockchain options to create a tap-to-earn game in Telegram

Popular blockchain options for tap-to-earn gaming sector
TON (The Open Network)	Seamless integration with Telegram; Fast, scalable, and user-friendly; Includes payments, NFTs, and smart contracts.
Ethereum	The biggest blockchain for now; Robust and large ecosystem; Supports smart contracts and NFTs; However, high gas fees could hinder microtransactions.
Polygon	Low fees; Compatibility with Ethereum-based tools; High scalability starting from Level 2.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC)	Lower transaction fees than Ethereum; Fast processing times; Popular for gaming;
Solana	High-speed and low-cost transactions; Ideal for games requiring frequent microtransactions.

Telegram tap-to-earn games can also employ a multichain strategy, allowing players to choose which blockchain to use for their transactions. However, this will inevitably increase the development cost as developers will have to integrate blockchain bridges to facilitate asset transfer across different networks.

Alongside blockchain, the features of tap-to-earn games also include wallets and smart contracts. Smart contracts are written in a programming language required by the blockchain — for example, Ethereum and Polygon use Solidity, while TON has proprietary Tact and Func languages.

Tap-to-earn game development

Telegram games are essentially web games, as we’ve already mentioned. Most web games today are written with HTML5, although it is also possible to create one with Unity WebGL. At Mind Studios Games, we can do both 😎

Unity is our game engine of choice for our regular games, and we’ve ported Unity games for Telegram too, using Unity WebGL. But we also have HTML5 game developers on our team.

Besides the usual game development tools, to launch your own tap-to-earn game on Telegram, you’ll need to acquaint yourself (or your team) with the Telegram bot API.

Telegram bot API is a framework that enables developers to create and manage bots on the platform, and Telegram games are launched via bots. Bots can interact with users, provide automated services, and deliver interactive experiences, including games. The Bot API supports inline queries, webhook updates, messages, and integration with Telegram’s Game Platform, which allows users to play games directly within the Telegram app.

Suggested tech stack for a lightweight HTML5-based tap-to-earn game

To develop a tap-to-earn game for Telegram, you need a simplistic tech stack that ensures performance and compatibility. Here are our recommendations:

Frontend development	HTML5/Unity: Core for game development, ensuring lightweight and responsive designs. CSS3: For styling and animations. JavaScript/TypeScript: Core logic and interaction handling. Phaser.js: A popular HTML5 game framework for 2D games. PixiJS: Lightweight library for creating graphics-intensive experiences.
Backend development	Node.js and Ruby on Rails: For game and bot logic as well as game server management. Express.js: Lightweight framework for handling API requests. Redis or MongoDB: For storing user data, scores, and rewards.
Hosting and deployment	Heroku, Vercel, or AWS Lambda: For scalable and cost-effective deployment of the bot and backend services. Content Delivery Network (CDN): To serve the HTML5 game assets efficiently (e.g., Cloudflare or AWS S3).

Telegram integration

Overall, Telegram might enter the tap-to-earn game development stages when the game is complete — during coding, there isn’t much your team needs to pay special attention to regarding Telegram, specifically. The only part tied to Telegram during coding is if you decide to let your users log in with their Telegram account (which is a logical method). Aside from that, Telegram’s Gaming Platform comes into play after the game is complete.

Telegram supports HTML5 games through bots, that’s why you need the Telegram Bot API we talked about above. These games run in Telegram’s in-app browser and can interact with the bot to save scores and provide game-specific logic.

The integration process looks like this:

1. Host your game. You need a live URL where your game is hosted.
2. Create a Telegram bot. This is done via the /newbot command in the @/BotFather chat. The bot will lead you through the process in a user-friendly manner.
3. Configure the bot for gaming using the /setdomain and /setgame commands.
4. Register your game with the Telegram Gaming Platform.
5. Test your game.
6. Deploy.

That’s it. The process is pretty straightforward and simple, Telegram makes it so in order to grow its gaming ecosystem effectively — the platform is aiming to become a super-app rivaling the Chinese WeChat.

Testing and launching

Testing is essential for any game’s success — with how saturated the video game market (and mobile game market specifically) is, under-tested games with bugs or clunky UX get thrown out within the snap of a finger.

And when it comes to the development process of tap-to-earn games, there’s an extra layer: besides testing the game itself, you also need to make absolutely sure that your smart contracts function as they should. The best solution for that is to have a professional auditor check your smart contracts’ code, in addition to the overall testing of your tap-to-earn game.

Tap-to-earn games mechanics

Tap-to-earn Telegram games like Hamster Kombat use a mix of traditional gamification, microtransactions, and blockchain-based rewards.

An airdrop promise alone won’t make players play a monotonous or boring game — according to the State of GameFi 2022 research by Chain Play, an interesting setting, story, and a variety of fun activities are higher on the priorities list for 81% of investors in tap-to-earn coin games.

Although in Telegram games specifically, the opportunity to earn may be a good motivator to play the game for longer than in other types of crypto games, we still recommend considering additional ways to hold player attention as well.

Since tapping alone can hardly be entertaining enough for players to stick with a game for long, the usual route to success includes more than one option to offer rewarding experiences:

• In-game currency. The central mechanic, where players tap or complete tasks to earn virtual coins or points. These can be used for in-game upgrades or saved for bigger rewards.
• In-game items. Power-ups or boosters that enhance gameplay or provide additional earning opportunities. They usually can be bought with in-game currency or through microtransactions, but you can also offer them as rewards for completing tasks.
• Daily rewards and bonuses. You can offer players rewards for logging in daily or completing a set number of actions each day.
• Achievements and milestones. Bonuses for reaching specific goals, like tapping a certain number of times or clearing levels.
• Referral rewards. Reward players for inviting friends to the game. It is especially useful in Telegram games due to the platform’s positioning as a messenger turned social network.
• Events and challenges. Special events or competitions offer players additional ways to earn rewards, AND they keep players engaged by sprucing up the monotonous tapping mechanic.
• Ad-based earnings. Since some time ago, Telegram Gaming Platform allows ad integration, and it’s a great option for both rewarding players and monetizing your game.

Now, we’ve mentioned above how important it is to make the rewarding system fair when you decide to create a tap-to-earn game in Telegram. So how you do that? Here are some tips, applicable to both traditional and play-to-earn games.

#1 Balance the economy

Cap the amount of currency that can be earned in a day, or make higher-level rewards progressively harder to achieve. Introduce tiers or ranks for rewards so that consistent players can work toward bigger prizes. This will allow you to avoid in-game hyperinflation.

There should also be clear conversion rates between in-game currency, items, and real-world purchases so that players feel rewarded while the system doesn’t become overly exploitable.

#2 Set measures against system exploitation

Tap-to-earn games offering crypto rewards to high-achieving players can tempt said players to use not-so-honest means to get that high-achiever status. One of such means is using bots to complete tasks and tap longer and/or faster. You might want to set limits to block that: maximum actions-per-minute, energy caps and cooldowns, etc.

#3 Apply careful consideration to IAPs

In-app purchases are a valid monetization strategy when creating a tap-to-earn game. However, they shouldn’t ever replace the free ways to earn rewards. In simpler words, IAPs should be a convenience, but not a necessity. Otherwise, the game becomes pay-to-win, and that’s never a good thing for its ratings and popularity.

This is even more important for play-to-earn games: if you offer overwhelming rewards to players who can and are willing to pay to get ahead, when it’s time for airdrops, the comments will crash and burn the game’s reputation.

#4 Implement non-monetary rewards

Unique skins, badges, or other collectibles that players can earn or purchase will foster loyalty without directly impacting game mechanics. Furthermore, by offering small “effort recognition” rewards, you can retain players who aren’t willing to pay but are willing to spread the word about your game. That’s basically free marketing 😎

#5 Introduce referral rewards

Speaking about free marketing. Referral rewards in the form of badges, temporary boosters, or a certain amount of in-game currency can go a long way to spread the word about your game. We recommend offering such rewards to both the inviter and the invitee.

Not all of the abovementioned tips will play an equal role in your game’s success: some might end up being redundant, and there might be others we didn’t mention that will come up during development.

To understand what to keep and what to leave out, employ analytics to monitor player behavior. The data will allow you to tweak earning mechanics if certain items or rewards are being hoarded or ignored. And of course, keep tabs on player feedback to identify reward imbalances or frustrations.

Monetization models for tap-to-earn games

The most obvious way to monetize a tap-to-earn Telegram game is, of course, by launching a tradable token. In addition to airdrops where players will be able to get tokens for participating in the game, you can also sell them. However, registering a token requires certain time and effort, so how can you monetize your tap-to-earn Telegram game in the meantime?

Note: You can incorporate payments into Telegram games both with Telegram Stars (the platform’s custom monetization option), and by integrating card payments directly.

IAPs and microtransactions	Things you can sell to players include: Power-ups and boosters (extra energy, double rewards, bonus rounds, etc.) Customization (skins, avatars, themes) Bundles of items at discounts
NFTs	Non-fungible tokens are unique blockchain-based items sold with crypto.
Ads	Telegram allows ad integration into the games now, so you can use them as rewarded ads, banner ads, and interstitials.
Subscriptions	Ad-free gameplay, extra rewards, faster progression, or exclusive in-game content can be sold for monthly subscriptions. You can also sell subscription-like access to seasonal events.
Affiliate programs	This model allows you to advertise third-party services or games and earn a commission for each player who converts through your game.
Partnering with brands	Brands can sponsor events or leaderboards, offering real-world prizes or rewards in exchange for promotion. Or you can add branded items to the game itself, integrating advertising as something relevant to your game’s setting.
Game economy monetization	You can allow players to trade or sell in-game items, and take a transaction fee for that.
Data monetization	It’s important to be very careful with this one, but it’s possible to aggregate user behavior data (with consent) for insights and advertising optimization.
Community engagement	Telegram is a messenger and a sort of social network. You can offer paid access to private groups, chats, or forums for top-tier players or members. Alternatively, it can be unique roles or badges within public game groups.
Donations	Loyal players might be willing to donate to the game via tips, and Telegram has a mechanic for that.

By mixing some or all of these strategies, you can diversify revenue streams while maintaining a balanced and engaging experience for players in your Telegram tap-to-earn coin games.

Conclusion

Despite a couple hiccups on the way and the fluctuations of the crypto market, the Hamster Kombat game seems to be thriving: the devs announced at the end of 2024 that season 2 will be what they call a HamsterVerse, an ecosystem of games in the Hamster universe. The season 2 airdrop is also scheduled to take place in March.

All this points in the direction that the market of tap-to-earn games on Telegram is expanding. As it stands, for anyone with ambitions to take a prominent position in it, now is probably the best time to join the fray.

If you’re one of those people, take a chance with us — Mind Studios Games is a game development company with experience in developing games for any platform, including web-like Telegram games, and we also have completed blockchain games before. Get in touch with our Head of Gamedev to learn more about our previous projects, share your idea, and ask any remaining questions you might have about tap-to-earn game development. We’re just one contact form away 😏

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