TL;DR

• The Telegram-based game ‘Hamster Kombat’ just hit 300M users — but once its airdrop hits, our bet is its user base will fade (the solution: copy Hamster Kombat’s growth/retention mechanics, but make the game fun).

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Web3 mobile gaming needs its ‘Zombie Run moment.’

If you’ve ever used an Apple Watch, you’ll be familiar with this experience:

You get the thing → it starts setting arbitrary daily movement goals → you eventually get tired of it pestering you → you start ignoring its prompts.

The problem here is: these devices are trying to gamify things that don’t give us value in the moment (only future promises of better health).

Long term health is massively valuable — but guilt alerts from some snobby $500 device isn’t a fun incentive to stay active long term.

One app, Zombie Run, found a fix to this:

Create a narrative with active tasks that take place in the real-world. The app literally tells an audio-based post-apocalyptic zombie story (with you at the center) as you exercise.

For example:

• ‘Today’s goal: collect supplies from a spot 2 miles from here’…

• As you walk, zombies may show up in the narrative — time to run!

• Got the supplies? Cool, you’ve unlocked the next episode, which starts tomorrow.

Why’re we telling you this?

Hamster Kombat, The Telegram-based game, is like the Apple Watch of web3 games. It’s wildly popular…but we doubt its mechanics are going to hold users’ attention long term.

It works like this:

• You open the game, click three buttons with varying titles, and earn points depending on the varying combination of titles you choose.

• Maintain a daily streak? Unlock new features and earn more.

• Invite your friends to play? Unlock new features and earn more.

And all of it is wrapped in a future promise that users will one day be able to exchange their points for crypto (much like the Apple Watch’s future promise of better health).

It’ll work in the short term, but once the payouts hit, our bet is: the glorified to-do list that is Hamster Kombat is going to struggle to maintain users.

Now, here’s the opportunity for you builders out there:

Take the growth/retention mechanics behind Hamster Kombat, pair them with an actual game that users will get consistent, real-time value (fun) out of, and launch it on Telegram.

Need some stats to get you inspired?

Hamster Kombat launched in March. It just hit 300M users. That is one third of Telegram’s global user base (900M).

Imagine what might happen if you made a game that was actually fun to play!?