The large-scale adoption of Web3 remains a key market focus. For instance, the Solana chain aims to break out with the social meme module Blinks, while the TON chain seeks to do so with Telegram mini-games.
Currently, the TON public chain’s market value has entered the top 10, and with over 900 million Telegram users, the ecosystem projects are thriving. Many projects in the TON ecosystem plan to use airdrop marketing strategies, offering numerous opportunities for community participants.
1. Tonsquare
Tonsquare is an EVM L2 chain on the TON public chain, similar to Neon (market value $600 million) for Solana and Aurora (market value $200 million) for Near. The token TOS plans to airdrop 75% to node KEY holders, with the project estimating TOS’s market value to be over $50 million.
KEY is an NFT representing a public chain operating node. After activating the node, it can produce TOS tokens with a yield of about 350%. Future income from KEY includes cross-chain bridge fees and gas sharing from new public chains. The generated TOS can also be staked, with staking starting at the end of June 2024 for six months, yielding about 300%.
The node KEY auction model is similar to Gala nodes, constantly increasing in price. It is currently in phase 2 (out of 15), still in the early stages. Holding more than 3 KEYs allows participants to receive Tonsquare NFTs on the testnet, requiring EVM testnet gas to operate. A risk point is that KEYs can only be bought, not sold.
2. Hamster Kombat
Hamster Kombat is a Tap-to-Earn game developed by a Russian team, where players click on a hamster (simulating an exchange CEO) to earn coins. It encourages community interaction to unlock more rewards and allows players to increase mining passive income through upgrading cards. Similar Telegram click games include the already-tokenized Notcoin (Russian team, 40 million users), Tapswap (Ukrainian team, 60 million users), Yescoin (Chinese team, 20 million users), and HypeSaints.
Hamster Kombat is very popular in third-world countries, with many gold farming studios involved and 200 million current users. Considering that the first major game in the TON ecosystem, Notcoin, has a market value of $1.5 billion, Hamster Kombat’s market value is unlikely to exceed $500 million, so the airdrop amount per account is expected to be small.
3. Pixelverse
Pixelverse is a cyber-themed battle game where users nurture pet robots to fight (PVP and PVE modes) and adventure on different maps in the game center. Similar Telegram battle games include Majyo Treasure (85% airdrop ratio).
The founder is the former head of Binance Middle East listings. The token PIXFI plans a 25% airdrop. Interestingly, PIXFI is an ERC20 token rather than being issued on the TON chain, with plans for a Cosmos-based EVM game public chain Pixelchain. Pixelverse has 30 million users (over 5 million daily active users).
4. Pepe Wick
Pepe Wick is an idle shooting game, similar to Plants vs. Zombies. Players spend tokens to upgrade characters, each with a limited time, and can only play for half an hour a day. Occasionally, there are collective BOSS battles, with the chance to win TON bonuses. However, the PEW token plans to airdrop only 6%.
5. Mow
Mow is a pixel-style shooting game where players shoot monsters to earn coins and upgrade weapons. The main gameplay involves passing levels and PVP battles, offering significant playability. The project is still in the testing phase, and specific airdrop plans have not yet been disclosed.
6. Catizen
Catizen is an idle cat-raising game, similar to match-3 games. Users manage a cat cafe to breed various levels of pets, collect their outputs, and continue breeding higher-level pets. Players can also purchase game props to speed up pet incubation. There are plans to develop a Launchpool, where staking CATI tokens can earn new token qualifications.
Catizen has 23 million users (over 1.5 million daily active users), with 50% becoming paying users, generating $12 million in revenue within three months of launch (many gold farming studios have topped up).
Although the TON official foundation has invested, the data seems too good to be true. The CATI token plans a 42% airdrop, with the potential of a platform token for new launches, and the airdrop is announced for July.
7. Chick Coop
Chick Coop is an idle farm game where players sell eggs daily to upgrade their chicken farms, with 1.5 million users (300,000 daily active users). The CHICK token plans a 34% airdrop, with additional NFT and staking mechanisms.
8. Travel Frog
Travel Frog is a pet-raising game where the frog travels and collects items, based on the 2017 game Travel Frog, now adapted to the blockchain. It has 20,000 users still in the testing phase, and the FROG token plans a 70% airdrop (Travel to Earn) divided into four phases.
Other potential airdrop projects in the TON ecosystem include the Blum exchange, football Fanton, lottery Balaton.bet, roulette WGScoin, fishing Wowfish, and more, which can be found on the TGStat website’s growth rankings.
Conclusion
In summary, many mini-game developers in the TON ecosystem come from familiar Web2 backgrounds, mainly Chinese teams, with the primary goal of attracting TON users. Before making significant investments, it is advisable to conduct thorough research. “Sharpening the axe does not delay the work of chopping firewood.”