Hamster Kombat, the hit game on Telegram that’s been racking up players with its simple tap-to-earn model, recently dropped its long-awaited $HMSTR token on several major exchanges. But instead of a celebration, the airdrop has left many players feeling burned, with some even calling it one of the worst in crypto history.
Here’s where it all went wrong.
Sudden Disqualifications and Favoritism
Just before the airdrop, a surprise anti-cheat system disqualified tons of players—especially those grinding hard to boost their Points Per Hour (PPH) to earn more tokens. The worst part? It seemed like influencers got the better deal, walking away with a bigger slice of the $HMSTR pie, sparking major backlash from the community. Originally scheduled for July 2024, the airdrop was delayed by “technical issues,” frustrating everyone even more. And when it finally arrived in September, players were told they’d only receive 88.75% of their tokens upfront, with the rest locked up until July 2025. Naturally, that led to some pretty heated calls for a boycott.
Price Crash and Investor Disappointment
The bad news didn’t stop there. When HMSTR hit the market at $0.01, it immediately took a nosedive, dropping over 30% in value. Investors who had high hopes were left shaking their heads as the price bottomed out at around $0.0057—nearly 40% lower than the launch price. The social media outrage was swift, with many calling out influencers who had hyped the token’s value to unrealistic levels.
Low Payouts and Technical Hiccups
To add insult to injury, players who had spent hours grinding in the game reported meager payouts, barely making a few dollars’ worth of tokens for all their time and effort. Critics started questioning the team’s priorities, accusing them of focusing more on content revenue than delivering a game that actually rewards players. Selling tokens wasn’t easy either, with minimum transaction limits on exchanges preventing smaller balances from being cashed out.
On top of all this, Telegram wallet issues only made things worse. The wallet, powered by the TON blockchain, faced network congestion, making it a nightmare for users trying to trade or access their tokens.
All in all, Hamster Kombat’s airdrop may have started with big ambitions, but it quickly turned into a disappointment for many in the community.
