Pudgy Penguins’ Telegram Game ’Pengu Clash’ Goes Live – NFT Gaming Heats Up
Pudgy Penguins makes its play for blockchain gaming dominance with the launch of Pengu Clash on Telegram—proving once again that NFTs aren’t just JPEGs collecting dust in crypto wallets.
The mini-game, accessible via Telegram’s instant messaging platform, lets players battle their Pudgy Penguin NFTs in a lightweight competitive format. No gas fees, no convoluted DeFi mechanics—just pure, speculative fun.
For a project that nearly collapsed under previous management, the turnaround is stark. Pudgy Penguins now flaunts a $400M market cap, with floor prices up 1,200% since its 2023 lows. Not bad for pixelated birds.
Critics argue NFT gaming remains a solution in search of a problem. But try telling that to traders who’ve turned digital collectibles into a $10B+ industry—between casino logic and diamond hands, rationality left the chat long ago.
The game offers quickplay matches, a “PVP arena,” and a shop tab as of right now, with quests coming soon. The waitlist currently consists of more than 1.1 million Telegram accounts.
Like other crypto Telegram games, Pengu Clash is using TON for its in-game NFTs and optional wagering component (the original Pudgy NFTs are on ethereum and the Pudgy memecoin is on Solana).
Players can enjoy Pengu Clash without logging in or creating a wallet, but those who want to buy cosmetic items can connect the Telegram built-in wallet (that’s not yet available in the US, UK, and some other countries), or connect an external TON wallet to the game.
Pudgy Penguins has also recently made broader consumer plays toward younger audiences, like releasing a children’s picture book and a kid-friendly animated series on YouTube.
When asked why Pudgy Penguins chose to build a Telegram-based game using TON — instead of its own Ethereum L2 Abstract — CEO Luca Netz told me in a message that their goal is “to become the face of crypto” and the world’s “most popular penguin.”
“That vision is chain-agnostic,” Netz said, adding that a desktop version of Pengu Clash using Abstract is also part of the plan.
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