Tap to get Telegram game is big. Can it be avoided?

Telegram Game is one of the biggest crypto winners in 2024. Hamster Kombat entered 300 million players Before the air drop this week, and Notcoin One of the 100 biggest coins on the planet, a screen-tapping game has nearly hit the $3 billion mark.

All this revolves around Tap to find A simple concept with a growing list of mechanics, variations and changes. But does this model really improve on the play-for-play demand that dominated the last bull cycle before crashing and burning? Or is tapping to find it an eventual fate of ridicule and embarrassment from the masses?

In the year In 2021, playing for income was all the rage with Pokemon-esque monster fighting. Axie Infinity Just shy 3 million monthly active users. Before players could start playing, they were required to buy or borrow three Axie NFTs—with a maximum purchase price of $600 or more—and then compete to win real crypto tokens.

This model was so popular that people in low-income countries started playing the game as a full-time job. At one point. 40% of the game's players were from the Philippines..

Axi was the tip of the spear of a promising revolution that would benefit players, lift people out of poverty, and reform modern work. And many other games tried to imitate his model. Instead, Axie's economy fizzled out and all of its tokenized assets fell in value, effectively halting the growth of the play-to-earn model.

In many ways, tap-to-find games are similar to: To get – to play Insanity asks players to touch their screens and play simple games in exchange for in-game coins or points, which are eventually converted into sent cryptocurrency tokens. Air drop.

So how does Tapping represent a step forward for the industry?

“Tap-to-earn games offer a promising upgrade over traditional play-to-earn models through their simplicity and accessibility,” said Game Network CEO. ImmutableRobbie Ferguson said. Decrypt. “These games greatly reduce the barrier to entry, especially for crypto newcomers. This approach aims to create a more sustainable economy from the start, avoiding some of the challenges faced by play-to-earn models.”

Most game-earning games require players to buy into the game before they start earning. You have to have real skin in the game. Tap to Play games have no such requirement – ​​you just need a smartphone running the simple messaging app Telegram.

Of course, the lower barrier to entry has so far met a low ceiling for gameplay depth and complexity, which typically results in shallow and repetitive experiences.

Tap to find is the new shiny thing that generates increased interest, but often falls short in maintaining long-term user engagement. Measurement laboratoriesHe told him Decrypt. To truly revolutionize Web3 games, developers must combine the instant gratification of acquisition with deep and engaging experiences, ensuring that players will be hooked long after the novelty wears off.

It's true that most Telegram games require very little-to-no skill to succeed. Hamster Kombat, for example, simply requires you to repeatedly click the screen and choose the best upgrade to easily earn tokens—a basic cycle of games you'll use to earn a lot.

Some players don't touch the screen themselves because they find it. Tricky ways to automate the game Like a spray gun – or custom software scripts that may or may not drive airdrops. High-grossing games were also considered shallow, but even so, something like Axie Infinity is much richer in gameplay than Hamster Kombat.

“Play-to-earn, on the other hand, involves engaging in full gaming experiences,” Rob Wolff, avid crypto-gear and Digital asset newsHe told him Decrypt“This is more fun as it develops challenges, strategies and skills, making the game more interesting over time.”

However, this can also be seen as a weakness. Casual games are the most popular type of video game in America, with 63% of those surveyed saying they play them regularly. Explosive topics. There are more gamers than ever these days, but most of them play simple games. A tap-to-find game fits right in that wheelhouse.

This broader target audience, combined with the lower barrier to entry, may explain why the Telegram game has attracted such a large crowd. example – X Empire Some say 45 million playersAnd Notcoin hit 35 million as the first out of the gate. Just about anyone can jump in and play, almost instantly.

“The main advantage of Tap to Find is its ability to reach a large audience, especially in major mobile gaming markets.” Karel Vuong, co-founder of the crypto gaming platform TreasureHe told him Decrypt. “By lowering the barrier to entry, it gives users from previously untapped demographics the opportunity to enter the Web3 ecosystem.”

Population decline Axie Infinity economy Undoubtedly it hurt the chances of getting it. It was a shining example of what could happen – and now the flashing red alert shows just how fast and brutal the collapse could be, ultimately unsustainable.

Players who invested huge amounts of money into expensive NFTs now hold worthless assets. Those who returned to Axi as a profession were made to start over. Some say the game is a ponzi schemeAnd The Philippine National Police warned Citizens oppose play-to-play games. It's still local, but mistrust of the model has spread across the industry as a result.

Axie was the biggest example, but not the only one. In another notable case, Stepen, a move-to-income game, was hot in early 2022, selling NFT sneakers that allow people to earn valuable crypto tokens by walking and running in the real world. But the hype was short-lived, and NFTs and tokens alike fell sharply in value, burning some investors in the process.

It didn't take long for the tap-to-find model to reveal its serious weaknesses—though boring gameplay and more-than-expected airdrop placement didn't seem like such a big deal when you started playing. Tapping to earn is more of an engagement than a monetary investment.

“The economic model of using to earn is completely different and is based on advertising—it's as simple as that,” says Alena Shmalko, head of ecosystem at Ton Foundation They spoke Decrypt. As the games on the game depend on new revenues to sustain the economy, as stated Axie Infinity White Papertap to find uses ads to fund the model.

This is a more sustainable way to pay for something – advertising revenue is the way many companies pay for their work. But the issue comes after the first weather occurs. Is there any reason to stick around and keep playing? Will the token hold value for a long time?

“Each application needs to create ways to ensure that token holders are ready to extract and pay additional value,” Schmalko added.

For example, NotCoin has partnered with other gaming projects to launch new crypto games while also having ambitions to become Netflix. Hamster Kombat is testing its own roadmap that includes expanding outside of Telegram — and launching more games. It's too early to tell if these types of moves will keep players around long-term.

Time will tell how tap-to-earn will be managed to create new economic models that will ensure their sustainability after the token generation event. Schmalko said. Decrypt“Otherwise, they'll face a game-like fate – once the hype dies down, there's no demand for the product.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward.