Hamster King — Complete Review and Guide to Telegram Mini App

Telegram Mini Apps continue to transform the messenger into a full-fledged gaming platform. If you’re tired of primitive “tappers,” Hamster King might catch your attention with its depth. This isn’t just a clicker, but a full-fledged geo-strategy with RPG elements and clan wars. At the time of review, the project has over 355.2K monthly active users (MAU), although statistics show some popularity decline. Today we’ll analyze how this game works, whether it’s worth your time, and what distinguishes it from competitors.

What is Hamster King?

Hamster King is a strategy game inside Telegram where your main goal is to expand your “hamster mafia’s” influence in real world cities. Gameplay is tied to the map, building construction, and resource management. Unlike many analogs, planning and interaction with other players is required here.

You can launch the game and start building your empire via the official link.

First Impressions: Statistics and Positioning

Before diving into gameplay, it’s worth looking at project metrics. According to analytics platform data, Hamster King has passed its popularity peak and is now in a correction phase (11.6% MAU decline). Nevertheless, a player base of 350+ thousand people remains impressive, ensuring a living market and active clans.

In the strategy category, Hamster King competes with giants like Trump’s Empire and City Holder, offering similar territory management mechanics but in a unique setting. Billion Zombies and Battle Games can also be noted among competitors, but Hamster King stands out with its focus on social interaction and real world map.

How It Works: Step-by-Step Guide

Hamster King’s game cycle revolves around a city map (let’s take New York for example). Your couch is your command center.

Basic steps to start:

1. Location selection: You start with one building on a real city map.
2. Resource collection: Basic buildings generate game currency. Your task is to collect it and reinvest.
3. Building and upgrading: To increase influence, you need to unlock new buildings: “Charity Hall,” “Cultural Corner,” “Call Center.” Each building unlocks new game events (Disinfect, Protect, Build).
4. Hiring “Consiglieri”: These are unique helper hamsters (character cards) that give game bonuses to resource collection or defense.

Additional Functionality Overview

The app interface is packed with buttons, let’s analyze key menu sections:

• Head Office: Your quests and current resource status are displayed here. You can also manage your Consiglieri skills here.
• Clans: The most important part of the game. You can join an existing clan (e.g., “New York Clan” or “Russian Mafia”) or create your own. Clans allow coordinating actions for district capture.
• Global Activities: Section for participating in server-wide events.

Monetization and App Economy

Hamster King’s economy is quite aggressive in terms of monetization. The game has several currencies: regular coins, energy, and crystals (premium currency).

Ways to obtain resources:

• Gameplay: Collecting income from buildings.
• Watching ads: The app has many ad blocks. You can watch ads (in batches of 5 videos) for coins, energy, or building resources.
• Donations: The Shop offers buying crystals, 30-day VIP status (gives x2 energy recovery and passive income), and lootboxes with rare hamsters. There are daily offers (“Deal of the Day”).

Important Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Any operations with digital assets or investments in paid features carry high risks. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decisions.

Community, Support, and Trust

Despite declining hype, the game’s community is very much alive. Over 24,000 members are in the global chat.

Chat analysis shows players actively communicate, search for guilds, share lifehacks, and discuss strategies (sometimes complaining about balance, which is normal for such games). An active community is a good sign for project longevity. You can join the discussion in the official group: @Hamster_King_Chat.

Also worth mentioning is Hamster Game Dev, a related bot often mentioned in context of these developers’ ecosystem.

Pros and Cons

Advantages

• Deep gameplay: This isn’t just a “tapper,” but a strategy with buildings and development.
• Social aspect: Developed clan system and living chat.
• Visual style: Quality hamster character arts.
• Reality connection: Interesting concept of capturing real cities on the map.

Disadvantages

• Aggressive advertising: Effective play without donation requires watching many ad videos.
• Declining trend: App popularity is decreasing, which may affect economy in the future.
• Difficult entry: Newcomers may find it hard to understand all tabs and resource types at once.

Conclusion: Who Is Hamster King For?

Hamster King is a quality representative of the geo-strategy genre in Telegram. It’s suitable for those seeking more meaningful gameplay than simple clickers and ready to spend time on resource management and clan wars. If you’re not scared by abundant advertising offers and love competitive spirit — it’s definitely worth trying. However, given the declining popularity trend, investing real funds should be done with caution.