Catizen becomes top Telegram game for Toncoin (TON) users

Catizen shows the best data for a Toncoin (TON) game, with both off-chain and on-chain engagement. After Hamster Kombat, Catizen is turning out to be the best game with a Telegram community. 

Catizen reported more than 6.5M users off the blockchain, and more than 230K engaged on-chain addresses, becoming the most high-ranked game to earn points. The Catizen game has also grown into several Telegram communities in different languages. 

Recent data shows Catizen is far ahead of other tap-to-earn games, including YesCoin. Catizen is still reporting lower player count compared to Hamster Kombat, the primary Telegram game and a top channel. Catizen also hosts heated leaderboards, ranking thousands of players to its highest positions. 

The Catizen game lags behind Gamee, which has more off-chain users, but only a few thousand on-chain engagements. But the presence of a Catizen token and the high speed of the Toncoin chain ensure that gamers can claim rewards and transact more often, as part of the game. 

Also Read: Cybercriminals target Hamster Kombat gamers with phishing scams

Telegram games are still at an early stage, and are considered a version of play-to-earn. Their products and missions are simplified, with a prevalence of clicker apps. But Catizen has also shown it can produce revenues and hold a sustainable community. Clicker games are also part of Telegram’s advertising economy, kept alive by other connected channels and groups. 

Catizen also moves beyond the click model, offering a full metaverse with playable characters and upgrading. The game is boosting its engagement with exclusive airdrops for specific assets. Catizen has multiple types of in-game tokens, which offer different paths to leveling up. The model of Catizen copies successful Web2 games, focusing on farming-like activities and upgrading in-game characters.

Catizen is still in the play-to-airdrop stage

Telegram games derive their success from the play-to-airdrop model. Current players are still competing for an upcoming airdrop, and not already issued tokens. Since the future value is uncertain, players have more incentives to join the game at this stage. 

Even before launching a native token, Catizen revives the usage of TON , which can be used for in-app purchases and for leveling up. In some ways, Catizen is also a pay-to-play game, fully locked within a crypto economy. 

As with other airdrop projects, there are ways to add Sybil accounts and win at Catizen. The community is now competing for 42% of the Catizen airdrop, and there are no fast and secure ways to remove all bots or multi-accounts. 

Also Read: Hamster Kombat gains fame over Trump’s assassination attempt reference

On-chain data shows there is a new Solana-based Catizen token with minimal Raydium trading activity. However, the new asset has not been integrated in the game economy at the moment. The Catizen token is only based on blockchain data , and for now the valuable assets are the in-game airdrops, consumables and items. 

Other on-chain signals show that Catizen is actually testing Toncoin as the native chain for its upcoming token. Based on initial data, Catizen may trade under the CATI ticker, when it finally picks its blockchain. The current popularity of the game may lead to confusion and redirect resources to copycat tokens.

Gaming boosts Toncoin usage, value locked

Toncoin, the community-driven blockchain with a native TON token, is growing rapidly and reviving the Web3 game narrative. This time, games aimed for off-chain engagement first, while adding a token later. 

Toncoin now locks more than $768M , with steep growth over the past few weeks. When it comes to TON market action, traders are worried the token performs in an unpredictable way. For weeks, TON stayed above $7, but has not rallied significantly. 

TON is still used for trading, and outperforms the market on some days. But the asset is yet to join larger blue-chip L1 tokens. Toncoin has picked a different path, and despite its high user count, the lack of Binance and Coinbase listings limits the asset’s growth. 

At the same time, Telegram continues to host clicker games. Not all games launch their assets on Toncoin’s native chain, with some picking Solana or Base for easier trading. Yet there is an overlap between clicker games and the Telegram community. Mini-apps are still easier to create and propagate, compared to full games like Catizen.

Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva