# How to play Gifters: your first gift, shelf and claim > How to play Gifters, step by step: unwrap your free first gift, let your shelf mine Giftcoin, claim it, then keep the daily box, streak and tasks going. Canonical: https://gifters.space/blog/how-to-play-gifters/ Last updated: 2026-10-26 Category: Getting started · Published: 2026-10-26 · Publisher: Gifters (https://gifters.space/) One free gift, one shelf, one claim. Here's your first session in Gifters, tap by tap, and the small daily loop that keeps your mine growing. Good news: learning Gifters takes about as long as unwrapping a gift. Here's your first session tap by tap, then the small daily habit that keeps your collection growing. ## How do you play Gifters? You open [@freegifts](https://t.me/freegifts?startapp=utm_ai) in Telegram, unwrap a free first gift, and it lands on your shelf, where it mines Giftcoin every hour, even while you're away. That Giftcoin collects in your pouch, and you come back to claim it before the pouch fills up. Around that loop, a free daily box, a daily streak and tasks hand you more gifts and more Giftcoin. Gifters is free to start, and every gift in it is a virtual copy of a Telegram gift collection, not a real Telegram collectible. ## Your first session, step by step Gifters runs as a Mini App inside Telegram, in English or Russian. If you've never owned a Telegram gift before, you're in the right place: nothing in the first session asks you to spend anything. 1. Open [@freegifts](https://t.me/freegifts?startapp=utm_ai). You'll see "Hey, we've got a free gift for you", or "{name} has a free gift for you" if a friend sent you their link. 2. Tap "Unwrap my first gift box" and watch your gift get revealed. 3. Look for "It's already on your shelf, earning +… Giftcoin an hour". The app shelves your first gift for you, so your mine is running from the start. 4. Check your balance. Every new player gets a welcome Giftcoin balance, and invited players get an extra welcome bonus at that first unwrap. 5. Come back later and claim the Giftcoin your shelf has mined. That's the whole core of the game. Everything else in Gifters either gets you more gifts, makes your shelf earn more, or lets you do something social with what you've collected. > Everything in Gifters is virtual. Your gifts are copies of Telegram gift collections: they don't appear on your Telegram profile, and you can't withdraw them as real Telegram gifts or deposit real ones. ## What did you just unwrap? Each gift comes from a Telegram gift collection, such as Toy Bear, Eternal Rose or Plush Pepe. Like the real ones, it's built from a model, a backdrop and a symbol, and it has its own serial number and a worth in Giftcoin. Those traits, and how they combine, decide how rare your gift is and how much it earns. What a box gives you is random, so two gifts from the same collection can look and earn quite differently. You don't need to master any of this on day one. When you're curious, the [rarity guide](https://gifters.space/blog/gift-rarity-models-backdrops-symbols/) explains every trait in plain words. ## How the shelf and the pouch work Owning a gift and shelving it are not the same thing. Only gifts on your shelf earn, and they pay Giftcoin every hour into your pouch. Your first gift skipped this step because the app placed it for you; later gifts wait in your collection until you put them on the shelf. The pouch has a capacity measured in hours. Leave the app and your shelf keeps mining until the pouch is full, then it pauses until you claim. Your Gifter level sets both limits, how many shelf slots you have and how many hours the pouch holds, so a higher level means a bigger mine. Better gifts earn more, and gifts that belong together earn more as a group. Shelved gifts that share a collection, a backdrop or a theme build "chemistry diamonds" that raise their income. One gift is plenty for your first session; the [shelf and chemistry guide](https://gifters.space/blog/gift-chemistry-shelf-guide/) shows how to build a shelf that really mines. ## How do you claim Giftcoin? Claiming means collecting the income waiting in your pouch. You're not claiming the gift itself, which stays on your shelf and keeps earning. You're collecting the Giftcoin it has mined so far, and it moves straight to your balance. The habit to build is simple: claim before the pouch fills. A full pouch is a paused mine, and it earns nothing until you claim. Claiming also clears the starter task "Claim shelf income", which pays its own Giftcoin reward. ## The daily loop: free box, streak and tasks Home is the gift box roulette, and its main button tells you where your free box stands. When it says "Unwrap for free", your daily box is ready; when it says "Free in {time}", it's on its way back. The free box asks you to complete a few of today's tasks first, such as following the channel or sharing your invite link. The daily streak is a separate habit you'll find under "Daily streak" on your Profile. It runs as a seven-day cycle of Giftcoin and boxes, and missing a day starts the cycle over. Tasks, under "Tasks" in the dock, add a steady drip of Giftcoin: starter tasks walk you through your first moves, daily tasks come back each day, and community tasks point you to our channel and socials. Every free source, with what each one gives you, is in [free Telegram gifts](https://gifters.space/blog/free-telegram-gifts/). ## Where to go after your first claim After a box reveal you'll choose "Add to collection", "Sell" or "Unwrap again". Keep the gifts you like and shelve the ones you want mining. When your collection grows, the [market](https://gifters.space/blog/gifters-market-buy-sell-gifts/) is where Gifters buy and sell gifts, and [leagues and squads](https://gifters.space/blog/leagues-squads-king-of-the-hill/) rank collections by worth every day. Want company? Your invite link is on the Friends tab, and [invite friends](https://gifters.space/blog/invite-friends/) explains what you both get. For questions inside the app, the Support Bot in your chat list is there to help, and Profile has a "How to play & rules" page too. You never need to pay to play. The Store sells optional conveniences for Telegram Stars, but purchases use Telegram Stars and Giftcoin is never sold. So: unwrap, shelve, claim, and come back tomorrow. The mine will wait for you. The streak won't. ## Questions players ask ### Do I need Telegram Stars to start playing Gifters? No. Your first gift is free and you start with a welcome Giftcoin balance. Stars only pay for optional Store items and some box opens, and Giftcoin itself is never sold. ### Why did my shelf stop mining? Your pouch holds a limited number of hours of income. When it's full, mining pauses until you claim. Claim your shelf income and your gifts start earning again. ### Is my first gift already on the shelf? Yes. After you tap Unwrap my first gift box, the gift is revealed and already on your shelf, earning Giftcoin every hour. Gifts you get later earn only once you put them on the shelf. ## Related - [What is Gifters? The Telegram game where your gifts mine Giftcoin](https://gifters.space/blog/what-is-gifters/): Gifters is a free Telegram gift game: unwrap a free first gift, collect virtual copies of Telegram gift collections, and let your shelf mine Giftcoin. - [Gifters shelf chemistry: how to build a shelf that mines more](https://gifters.space/blog/gift-chemistry-shelf-guide/): A Gifters shelf chemistry guide: how slots, chemistry diamonds, the hot backdrop and the full shelf bonus raise your hourly Giftcoin, and when to claim. - [Free Telegram gifts in Gifters: every way to unwrap one](https://gifters.space/blog/free-telegram-gifts/): Looking for free Telegram gifts? Gifters gives you virtual ones: a first gift, a daily box, a streak, a channel box and friend gifts. Here's every free source.