Crash Game on Telegram for the Brazilian Market: How an Unexpected Offer Converts

After an attempted ban in Brazil, Telegram is once again experiencing a surge in popularity: over 80% of the country’s internet users are now using the messenger. The app ranks third among Brazil’s most popular applications, with nearly 22 million active users. It seems like the traffic potential is limitless.

That’s what the team at INSIDE thought too, they launched an exclusive offer: a crash game on Telegram targeting Brazil.

What the Offer Looks Like: What Is This Game and Why Is It Popular?

At its core, the offer is based on the most popular crash game in Brazil — “Mines”. For those unfamiliar with the gameplay, it’s similar to the classic Windows game “Minesweeper”. Visually, the game looks like this:

Key terms of the offer from INSIDE:

• CPA: $20
• Traffic Source: Facebook
• Deposit: 20 BRL (a low entry barrier, easily accepted by users)
• Bonus: 100% on the first deposit
• Retention tools: giveaways, manual support, demo accounts for influencers

Where to test?

• FB + TikTok + Telegram
• FB + Telegram

These are the terms INSIDE offers for working with the traffic. But there’s more.

What’s the Catch of This Offer?

It’s simple: there’s no game lobby with dozens of options. There’s only one specific slot — created and optimized exclusively for influencer funnels. Everything is done to make it as easy as possible for the player to understand the platform and make the first deposit.

On the one hand, there’s no traditional casino product. But on the other, there’s a strong upside: a full focus on a single game.

When promoting traditional gambling apps, we usually end up highlighting a specific slot or crash game anyway — for example, we create creatives styled around Chicken Road, design aggressive visuals featuring a chicken inside the app.

It’s clear that with proper engagement, a single game can generate more activity than a full lobby of top slots from providers like Pragmatic. On top of that, the user gets quick access via messenger, which is especially relevant now, given the recent bans and market exits of major Telegram casinos like Whale.

How Influencer Traffic Is Driven to “Mines”

According to INSIDE, the influencer approach is currently the most effective method for driving traffic to this offer. The product is already localized for Brazil, so the funnel starts through a local blogger, with user engagement handled either by native speakers in the region or by members of the internal team.

But having a real influencer isn’t mandatory. You can work with content using AI tools.

For example, you can create voiceovers and videos through HeyGen: voice notes, video bubbles, photos, all of this is easily accessible for free thanks to free trials and low-cost AI plans.

In Brazil, the traffic is both cheap and highly engaged, so it can be generated through a network of native content creators running Instagram accounts with thousands of followers, or by yourself or a small team of friends/colleagues. All you need is a steady stream of content, something the INSIDE team recommends preparing in advance to avoid downtime. Then it’s the usual flow: build trust with the influencer’s persona (especially if they’re not shown on video) and maintain ongoing interaction with users.

By the way, HeyGen also allows you to record video avatars in motion, making content production even cheaper and easier.

At the same time, anonymous channels — basically faceless accounts focused on text and photo content are doing just fine. There are fewer of them, and working with them is more challenging, but it’s still doable.

A cool feature of the offer is the organic traffic from the player referral program. You can promote it both in creatives and directly in the content channel: direct influencer appeals to viewers in local dialects perform especially well.

How It Pays Off: INSIDE’s Opinion

“Usually, the retention team gets player data from the affiliate and then decides how to retain or onboard different player segments. But how do you run similar processes for a Telegram-based product, and how can affiliates themselves evaluate the quality of their traffic?”

INSIDE: We’ve developed a custom-built CRM system for our application that allows us to collect data on deposit counts, attempts, average check size, individual player wager requirements, and many other metrics. This gives us the ability to warm up and push each player individually with bonuses.

Technically, it’s a full-fledged product where all necessary data can be shared with the affiliate upon request. We support affiliates both on the technical and social side: we send over data, provide approach recommendations, and can even suggest improvements for each stage of the funnel.

“How are the basic retention chains set up in the product? We’re used to tools like Push, Pop-Up, E-Mail, SMS. What kinds of scenarios can be implemented in Telegram?”

INSIDE: Player re-engagement is built on several tools:

• Game chat, where the audience is warmed up with big wins, daily and weekly bonus balance raffles;
• Support, which not only answers questions but also helps convert users in a native way;
• A thematic channel with posts and promos that also pushes the audience and offers bonuses to bring users back;
• Naturally, the bot itself sends push notifications;
• And of course, the manual work of affiliate funnel handlers — undeniably one of the strongest persuasion tools.

So, the product has at least five clear retention and re-engagement mechanisms. And that’s not the limit. Affiliates themselves can build out additional systems. Create player communities and share results, bring in new inflows, and encourage personal connections with the audience, there are tons of ways to popularize Telegram Mini Apps and build user loyalty.

“Referral program is one of the retention tools in such a product. How is it set up? Is there any mathematical risk of losing money because of it?”

INSIDE: The referral program is structured as a tiered system — 1/3/5% in the user’s personal account. Every player can generate a personal link and invite friends to join the game. Depending on the tier, the referrer receives a percentage of the referred players’ activity directly to their balance. The math behind any casino game is already designed so that the product remains profitable in the long run, it’s calculated from the start, at the game development stage, just like in any slot.

What About Traffic Quality in Telegram?

INSIDE: It’s true, traffic quality for Telegram gambling products is generally low, largely due to the source itself. For example, traffic may come from other similar apps: a user jumps from a tap-to-earn app into a gambling Mini App just to get a few free tokens. Naturally, that’s not gambling motivation.

But in our case, Facebook is the main source of traffic. As for the rest:

1. Low traffic quality is offset by volume and low cost per user;
2. Many partners already have built-up platforms and accumulated traffic for Brazil — it’s a huge GEO, and the affiliate community has been working on it for years;
3. Even many existing bloggers and local natives with their own traffic aren’t yet familiar with affiliate mechanics, and overall, they’re open to monetizing their audience and earning a cut.

So, profit when running traffic to the game can be achieved through sheer volume, or you can choose to segment users and focus on the most paying ones.

Differences Between a Telegram Game and Android Apps

INSIDE: Traditional apps have just as many downsides as Telegram-based products, maybe even more. But there are clear differences that simply make working via Telegram more convenient.

Android App	Telegram Mini Apps
Not all apps can send push notifications to the player	A Telegram bot can easily send a push if needed
When users stop playing, they uninstall the app	A bot can be muted, and the user can return to it later
You can’t send a push to an uninstalled app	You can send a push with a bonus and re-engage the player, even if the bot is muted

Another advantage: both the influencer and the game are located on the same platform — Telegram. This strengthens the perception of a single ecosystem and a community spirit. A game in a separate app still feels more like a solo experience.

Comparing user behavior in Telegram Mini Apps to Android apps is not entirely accurate: here, we’re talking about one specific game, while an Android app is a slot catalog of some casino. And why compare apples to oranges? When have media buyers ever refused to test what brings profit? Right now, any funnel for any offer can bring results — you just have to test.

How to Analyze This Kind of Traffic and What About KYC?

“There’s no KYC in Telegram gambling. So the product collects open data and data from the partner: traffic source, username, Wallet availability, etc. Can this be considered a problem when analyzing traffic, and what pitfalls can arise?”

INSIDE: We don’t run into issues with Telegram wallets, we have a PIX payment solution integrated, which includes anti-fraud checks.

We control every step of player interaction. Most processes are automated, but specialists still oversee everything. Fraud is not an issue: the game mechanics and bonus return conditions are structured in a way that ensures profitability over the long term. However, even with that, loss-making withdrawals for the product are flagged for manual review and checked for multi-accounting.

How Players Are Segmented

“Is there any point in segmenting VIP players on a Telegram product?”

INSIDE: Some affiliates do this for convenience and to focus on the most solvent users. Our recommendation: if possible, work with all payment categories. You can segment users into tiers and assign them to specific managers, but only if you have the bandwidth to do so.

We do not recommend abandoning less solvent users: sooner or later, each one can produce a high-value deposit. If you’re paying a manager to handle a player, find a way to compensate their efforts on small deposits rather than shifting all the responsibility to them. A manager shouldn’t manipulate or deceive — they are a guide, just like in major online casinos like Stake. Working with low spenders isn’t always fun, but it’s still money.

Most partners prefer to work with all player types for that exact reason: money in any amount is still money. The key is a well-structured team payment system.

“How do you evaluate the profitability of partner-driven traffic? Any insider insights?”

INSIDE: It all depends on quality. With good traffic, we manage to get up to 50% ROI from the CPA we pay partners. We’re not focused on instant ROI, much of the work happens on the product side. We pay generously, but our partners understand that we pay for quality.

If the traffic doesn’t play, there’s no point in paying full CPA and trying to buy the traffic ourselves. Anyone can attract users, the GEO is cheap and large. The challenge is making sure those users play.

In our analytics, we look at key performance indicators and, when possible, ask partners for their working data: targeting parameters, funnels, creatives — to ensure they’re following the guidelines. Overall, the product is quite tolerant.

Conclusion: Is Telegram Suitable for Gambling or Not Yet?

“We’re seeing that in recent weeks, gambling on Telegram is going through a crisis, mass bans of products have begun. Some say it’s all due to Telegram’s policy regarding payment systems and the TON currency. What do you think about this market and its development overall? Is this still an experiment or already a fully-fledged market?”

INSIDE: We agree that at this point, it’s still an experimental trend. We use official payment solutions, which has allowed us to avoid widespread bans.

It’s still an experiment, but it’s the future, because there’s currently no simpler and faster funnel for bringing players into a product. This enables significant audience reach.