Hamilton Simulator imagines the musical as a gacha game inside Roblox

The musical Hamilton swept through the country years ago, reimagining the life of Alexander Hamilton during the American Revolution and establishment of the United States. So when Hamilton came to Roblox, a gacha game was the only format that made sense.

Hamilton Simulator is a new Roblox experience from Super League and Small World Games, in an adaptation that AP reports has the blessing of Hamilton writer–composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. To roughly approximate how to describe it, it’s like an idle gacha game. And if you’ve never seen a Roblox game before, well, you’re in for something.

For those unfamiliar, Roblox is less of an individual “game” and more of a forum for games and content to be shared. If you ever played custom games in StarCraft or jumped on a modded Unreal Tournament server, you’re in the ballpark. And this particular Roblox game, Hamilton Simulator, fuses elements of gacha, idle, and RPG together with a musical twist. Also, to clarify, no Robux—in-game currency that can be purchased with real-world cash—is required to play.

Now, I could stop there and simply point out from a distance how odd this combination is. But I needed to hit the pavement. I had to see, for myself, on my own personal computer, what this was. So I made a Roblox account and dove in.

I did not throw away my shot

Booting up the experience, I was met with a short cutscene of my Roblox avatar in their default configuration sailing into the harbor. A few arrows directed me to a nearby chest with a coin marker on it, with enough coin in my pocket for a single spin of the wheel. One gacha roll later, I had myself John Laurens, a Rare pull. It’s worth noting that while I’ve heard the music, I have not seen Hamilton. And though my U.S. History grades don’t give me much in the way of credentials, this does seem like a loose adaptation of true events.

I took my newfound companion, equipped him in my menu (which also displays his DPS output), and went over to where all the British soldiers were. I clicked, and John Laurens sang at them until they exploded into coins.

This, it seems, is the loop of Hamilton Simulator. Sing at the British until they drop pocket change, and feed it into the gacha machine to fill your blocky choir. As I serenaded the King’s men to their demise, I saw a player run by me with a Mythical King George in their party. All the while, a MIDI-like instrumental version of a Hamilton tune looped over and over. When I finally worked up enough cash to open the next area, the Public House, I got a new track and some new guys to sing at.

A basic description of Hamilton Simulator is absolutely bizarre, and even in the act of playing it, I found it extremely strange. But I have to admit, even though I went in as much, it’s also pretty benign. Hamilton Simulator is a mountain of HP bars that don’t fight back. They simply stand there, waiting to be crooned out of their cash by inaudible tunes. All while my cold, emotionless default Roblox avatar watches, waiting for the coins to drop.

It’s fascinating, in the way that Fortnite hosting both huge musical concerts and educational memorials is fascinating. No actual money is changing hands. And it doesn’t really seem to pivot in any way. Sing, gather, gacha, repeat.

Yes, I am really curious about the thought process that steered a Hamilton x Roblox crossover in the idle gacha genre. It isn’t surprising that the novelty of that statement, and a few minutes spent experiencing it myself, were about as far as the idea went. But this is the norm these days, too. Wrap an IP people like around a familiar experience, and go.

Sometimes, the results are memorable. Or they live in infamy. Or they’re just bad. I’m not sure Hamilton Simulator gives me enough to merit a true qualitative assessment. It’s there, it exists, and it’s just strange enough that it’s worth a short tour if any of this sounded funny.