If you haven’t heard of X Empire (originally Musk Empire), then all you really need to know is that it’s a Hamster Kombat clone built around Elon Musk. That sentence alone will likely be enough for you to decide if you want to give it a try or avoid it like the plague. 

But if you are one of the tens of millions of players who have tried out X Empire in the hopes of scoring tokens in the upcoming airdrop, there are a few secrets you will probably want to know before starting—as unlike in other tap-to-earn games, there are ways of losing your in-game currency here. 

From bad negotiations to failed bets on the stock market, one mistake can halt your progress for a while and see you lose a chunk of cash, sometimes even handing it over to another player. In a world where airdrop allocations are sometimes assigned based on your overall position in the player base, that is not something you should do often!

But if you follow these tips, then you will usually come out on top—and maybe even become as rich as Elon himself. Well, at least in this weird virtual world themed around him. With the "mining phase" set to end on September 30 ahead of the X token launch on The Open Network and accompanying airdrop, here's what you need to know.

Invest in yourself

As soon as you start bringing in cash from tapping on your avatar—whether it's a cartoonish Elon or one of many newer additions, like Telegram CEO Pavel Durov (pictured)—then it’s time to invest in some upgrades. From personal traits (such as Empathy and Relationships) through to office improvements and even a staff to help out, you can spend your in-game currency and have all of these upgrades bring in passive income.

Your passive income will accumulate for three hours after closing the game, so to make the most of your income stream, you’ll need to open the game every three hours. We don’t recommend waking up in the middle of the night to claim your Elon coins, but hey, you do you.

After you’ve picked up some decent upgrades, your passive income will dwarf anything you will earn from tapping on Elon or Pavel or whoever—so you may as well give that up unless you are desperate to get as much cash as possible, or just need a diversion for your fingers.

Invite friends 

Love bugging your friends? Like many Telegram games, certain upgrades are locked behind the requirement to invite friends to play the game, which means you’ll need to prod your pals if you’re serious about making progress here.

Like many players, I’m not going to be spamming people I know with invites to 100 games every week—so a lot of the most profitable upgrades are never going to be available to me. But if you have friends who might be interested in playing, then make sure they use your link so you get the benefits.

Following the launch, X Empire added the ability to spend real money on Telegram's Stars in-app currency to basically buy virtual friends to push your progress, for those who don't want to bother their real pals. That's your call to make, but it will help you unlock more features without the social stress of nagging real people.

Avoid negotiations 

Among the current crop of tap-to-earn games, one of Musk Empire’s few unique ideas is the City tab, where you can engage in activities that could earn you extra in-game cash. The easiest to pick up and play is Negotiations, where you effectively play Rock, Paper, Scissors against another real player.

But if you like keeping your money, then this is best avoided, as it is a complete game of chance. There’s no way to tell what to pick, and no skill involved whatsoever, so your chances of winning are slim. What’s worse is that if you lose, then you have to hand over some of your cash, lining the pockets of your opponent. That could impact your standing in the upcoming airdrop.

Play the stock exchange 

The game you should be playing on the City tab is the Stock Exchange, where once a day you can pick three fictional stocks from a selection of options and invest your in-game coins in the hopes that it will go up.

You can do this randomly and hope for the best—or just check our daily-updated guide to the latest stock picks, and ensure that you rack up gains each and every day. The payouts aren’t small either, so this is an easy way to advance your riches very quickly.

Complete quests

As X Empire has expanded and added more functionality, it has also added more ways to earn coins on a daily basis. There are daily riddle and rebus questions that you can answer, bonus coins rewarded for buying upgrades and tapping the screen, and even rewards for watching YouTube videos shared by the team.

Just hit the Quests button at the bottom of the screen to see all of the current opportunities available. If you complete all five daily quests, then you can also claim a "Lucky Box" with even more coins and other potential rewards.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This article was originally posted on July 22, 2024 and last updated with new details on September 11.