Rush - スピードトランプカードゲーム

Rush - スピードトランプカードゲーム 

      This is a fun card game for people who have a little time to waste on something.  Each set only takes a couple minutes to play.  The game is in Japanese, but you won't really need to be able to read it to play.  I will add basic translations here for anything important.

     "スピードトランプカードゲーム" basically means a "speed game for playing cards".  That pretty much explains everything about the game of Speed.  If you've never played this card game before, the rules are simple.  it is a two or more player card game where the goal is to use up all your cards while the other player/s still has cards left in their hand.  There are no turns, people place cards immediately once they are playable.  You have to be fast to play your cards first, thus the name of the game being Speed.  For more basic rules on how to play this card game you can read the Wikipedia article here.

     You are playing the game against a female teenage anime character.  She isn't really interactive and basically serves as a background.  She does have slight expression changes and bobs her head around a bit.  Win or lose, you don't get any real benefits here.  There is nothing to unlock or characters to switch to.

     You do gain levels, the more wins you have under your belt and the app does keep trap of how many times you've lost.  That being said, your opponent is not particularly fast so winning is fairly easy.  The game is won as best two out of three.

     As for functionality, the game functions are simple and consist of tapping "Rush" and dragging cards to the appropriate piles.  There is a Settings function that allows you to lower or raise the sound or music as well.  There is also a Share button that will take a screen shot of the game and upload it to the place of your choosing.  

     The Question Mark button is a basic "How to Play" explanation for people who have never played Rush.  Again, if you have never played the card game and need this in English, please refer to the Wiki link I supplied above.

     The only other thing is once in a while you will get a pop up that is in Japanese.  this is just asking if you wish to review the app.  You can see this to the left.  It basically says: "Thank you!  If you enjoyed this game, please review it." The buttons at the bottom are Do Not, Do it Later and Do It, in that order from left to right.

     It is cute but a bit too basic for any real praise. Being a single player game with a slow NPC just feels a bit like playing Solitaire, but... faster.  I wish there were things you could unlock like other characters, outfits, graphics, etc.  The ad position at the top is also a bit inconvenient as it completely covers your level number, which is frustrating.  It's still fun to play but it is a bit lacklustre. I'm giving it a bit of a low rating just because I feel it doesn't have enough to it.

Rating: 2/5

• Free
• Seller: Aine LLC
• Category: Games
• Size: 100 MB
• Languages: Japanese
• Copyright: © 2018 Aine LLC

Rated 4+

Live Portrait Maker: Guys

Live Portrait Maker: Guys
   This is the male counterpart to the original Live Portrait Maker app that specialises in female faces.  Both apps work exactly the same and only include different features and accessories, based on the gender.  So though this review is on the male version, I have played with both versions and the rating and views of features hold true to both.

     The game usage is fairly basic and it is essentially used for creating avatars or characters for role playing purposes.  Double tap the character to open the customisation screen, from there click through the options (Hair, Brow, Node, etc).  You will see the available options for that category appear like in the screen shot to the right.  This screen shot shows the nose choices.  You will then get a few basic customising options for the one you choose, such as colour, size and position on the face.  The nose options give you a way to increase or decrease the size and one that makes it higher or lower on the face.  When you are happy with the selection tap the green tick mark and it takes you back to the avatar with the change you made.  Just double tap again to return to the menu to change another feature.

     Once you have finished creating your character you can save the image by either screen capturing or clicking the camera icon at the top of the menu that appears when you double tap.  You can save as a GIF file or a photo file.

     You can also save avatars you have made (Clicking the diskette icon from the menu) within the app itself by assigning a name and notes to them.  You can then pull these characters back up later if you want to say, change the outfit or hair.  This can come in handy if they are a role playing character you have created.

     Also at the top of the menu is a circle made of two arrows.  This creates a random avatar.  Do not click this mid customising unless you wish to start all over.

     If you are having trouble with the app the question mark icon takes you to the help/about and options menu.  There are no in game sounds so the options are just whether or not you want motion (The character looks up and down & side to side when you tap a direction) or not, and the language choice for the menus).

     The app is very basic which is both good and bad.  It is easy to use but the variety is limited.  I could definitely see more hair and wardrobe options being wanted by users.  The customising menu display is a little off putting with it just showing part of an image overlaying the avatar.  This is especially awkward in customise menus such as Eyes (Where some of the images are just smudges), Lips (Where some images meant to be lip shine just looks like a weird pixel mess) and Effects. The menus could absolutely use an improvement as for as visuals go.  It is often unclear what something is until you tap it.

     That being said, the ads in this free app stay at the bottom and are non-intrusive.  The art itself is visually beautiful and the app does what it is intended to do, which is always a plus.  So though it has its limitations and imperfections, it is still a good app.

     Below you can see a video for the female version of this app from the artist Angela He/zephyo's YouTube channel.  They also have some really great art videos there to check out.



Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Seller: Angela He
• Category: Games
• Size: 212.7 MB
• Languages: English, French, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai
• Copyright: © Angela He

Rated 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Zombie Boy

Zombie Boy
     Ever wish you could be an insane scientist woman, growing your own zombie boyfriend inside an old dilapidated mansion your uncle owns? Who hasn't, right?  Ok, so it seems a bit far fetched, but that is the premise of this game, so bear with me.

     As I played through this game, I have to say I found it a bit boring and tedious.  The plot seemed thin at best and there's not much playable content involved.  That being said the graphics are quite nice and the audio is fitting... if only one could turn it off.  I'll get to that in a moment.

     The game gives you a brief, vague bit of context when you start it.  You are a woman, you are trying to get your boyfriend back, and you have a tiny bat who is apparently... your experimental... boyfriend.

     The creature which is apparently a zombie needs to be fed in order to 'grow'.  To get food you have to click the 'Go Hunt' button.  Usually around 23 small boys will appear that can be tapped to collect.  The longer you wait after collecting them, the more appear.  Then go back and tap the 'Meal' button to give the food to the boyfriend.

     There are only two types of boys to hunt, you can see one example to the left.  Basically you hunt once, feed the boyfriend, close the app, open it later and do it again.

     You can also tap 'Convo' to communicate with your little zombie.  This was originally not in English, so some of the dialogue may be a bit odd.  Also, you will get new messages each time your zombie boy grows (Meaning the Zombie Gauge fills completely, and the zombie features change).

     The 'Diary' feature shows you every form of zombie you have unlocked through feeding and growing your zombie.  Clicking on these allows you to browse all the text conversations available with that form.  It will also tell you the percentage of chat text unlocked from that form.  Getting 100 percent doesn't actually do anything special.

     Also in the diary you can see the endings you have unlocked.  there are three all together.  The game is over when you get the last ending which is the 'True' ending.  this ending actually explains a lot more about what is going on in this story.  Though even with this information, it doesn't feel like a really deep and meaningful plot.

     The last part of the diary features the secret content which is just images of different zombie forms.  You can unlock an image by using 150 zombie food to unlock it.  Considering how many times you have to hunt to get that, and all you get is one image, it doesn't feel worth it.  Though the best part of this app is the art, so maybe it is.

     I want to briefly hit on the Settings button because there is an issue I have with it.  Here you can turn the sound effects or music off or change how loud they are.  The music works fine but if you turn the sound effects off, it plays them at the loudest volume.  In fact you can't actually turn them off at all.  You can turn them to a volume of 1, but that's it.  The off function seems to be poorly coded, so it doesn't work right.

     The Zombie Gauge can be viewed above your zombie boy.  When this is full he changes, adding a new set of conversation text and a new look.  Once you get your ending, restarting will take you down a slightly different path of zombie growth.

     You can also click the social network buttons on the gauge to post about the app on LINE or Twitter.

     Here is some of the art from the game...

     Another issue I have is that when the zombie boy becomes the white haired fellow, the woman you play says he is 'old and fat'... How is that character old and fat?  He is skinny as a pole!  Just seems needlessly rude...

     All in all the app is visually nice, and the music and sounds are good (Excluding the fact you can not turn the sounds off properly).  The idea is interesting but the story and conversation doesn't feel well written and the game isn't really fun to play.  The only fun part comes from unlocking new things and reading new story details as you progress.  The app also has a lot of ads that pop up randomly and often crash the app, which is a huge issue.  I won't be able to rate this very high due to all the issues and the lack of things to do in the app.

Rating: 2/5

• Free
• Seller: Chiharu Nakajima
• Category: Games
• Size: 35.9 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
• Copyright: © KaraponGames

Rated 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes and Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Wedding Escape

Wedding Escape
     If you are looking for an interesting and challenging puzzle game with a funny theme, this is the app for you.  Each stage is a different location as you flee your bride or groom after dashing from the alter on your wedding day!  Run from police, bride's maids and everyone else as you solve puzzles in the great wedding escape.

     Now the app store is not exactly in want of puzzle games but I rather enjoyed this one as it has a different style from most colour matching gem style puzzle games.  You can move several gems per move by sliding your finger from one to the next along an adjacent path.  The moves are very limited though so each turn you need to get as many matches of 3 or more as possible to remove the required amount of gems or coins and escape whomever happens to be chasing you.

     Each stage gets harder and harder and if I am honest, I don't feel like I've made it very far before getting caught.  I've only made it to level 9, which is the Hyperloop stage.

     If you play enough and want to make the play through a bit easier you can purchase upgrades when you aren't in the middle of escaping (IE before or after your game).

      The upgrades cost the money you acquire while playing the game.  For every move left by the end of a stage, you get 25 coins.  Save up your coins after each game to buy your upgrades.

     Each upgrade can be purchased multiple times.  For instance, if you buy the Multiple Selection upgrade, you can select one more adjacent gem or coin per turn.  If you buy it again, you can get one more per turn, and so on.  Each upgrade also has a max amount of times it can be purchased.  The upgrades available are as follows...

• Multiple Selection (+1 Tile) 10 Available
• Price Deflation 7 Available
• Shuffle Board 5 Available
• More Slot Tokens 5 Available
• More Slot Coins 2 Available
• More Slot Hearts 2 Available
• Level Skipper (Skips 1 Level at start) 16 Available

     Players can also choose to purchase the in game currency if they want to.  The prices are 2.99USD for 5000, 9.99USD for 25000 or 29.99USD for 100000.  The coin bundles also have cute images associated with them.  They are spoofs of Mr Burns from Simpsons, Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians and Scrooge McDuck from Ducktales.

    In fact, this game has tons of pop culture references built in.  Players can choose the character they play from the character selection menu.  The more you play, the more options get unlocked.  Characters can also be purchased for 0.99USD.  The app features 100 playable characters!  Everything from Dorothy and Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz to Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Jetsons to the band KISS.  Even YouTube spoof characters and celebrity knock offs are in the app.

     There is one more optional purchase in the game and it is a bit of an important option to have available.  Whenever you fail to complete a stage the game ends.  Because this means you failed to escape your wedding, you have to divorce to go back to the beginning of the game.  This divorce will cost you half of all the money your earned from your play through.  But if you choose to purchase a lawyer for 4.99USD this won't affect you because you will get double money from every play through.

     There is a way to get double money without a lawyer, but it requires users to watch a 30 second ad video at the end of the game, every time.  This can get tedious so the lawyer option is there to avoid that.

     There is one more part of this app and that also comes at the end of your play through.  When the game ends you get a little slot machine pop up.  You get one slot play by default, but the upgrades can earn you more plays.  The slot machine can give you an extra move to go back and try not to lose the game, or it can give you more money, more slot plays or a new character unlocked.  It feels like the more slot plays you get the greater the chance to fail though.  When I had one spin I always won something.  I bought an upgrade to get another slot spin each time and I usually only won once.  I bought another so I had 3 total spins after each game and I still only won about once.  Sometimes I get extra spins from the slot wins and these almost always fail as well... I'm not sure the slot upgrades are really worth it unless you upgraded everything else.

     The graphics are good and the theme is funny.  I love the amount of characters and how challenging the levels can be.  I think it's a good, well made application and definitely worth a download.

Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Seller: Rafael Lima
• Category: Games
• Size: 74 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © 2015 Firebirdgames.net

Rated 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes and Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

10 Billion Husbands

10 Billion Husbands
     Remember 20 Billion Wives?  Well, there is a husband version as well!  It's basically the same app but with male characters rather than female.

     As with the other application, this is a tapper game.  This means you will be spending much of your play time tapping and upgrading while the game can accumulate points while closed that you can use at a later time.  Basically, this is an app you play for a couple minutes here and there when you have free time to waste.

     There are 16 types of husbands on this app.  Everything from Playboy Husbands to Samurai Husbands and everything in between... And everything not in between... There are a few odd ones thrown in.

     As this game works just like the 20 Billion Wives app that has already been reviewed, I'll skip some of the basics.  If you wish to read more about LPS, LPT and such you can do so by reading the other review.

     From the Husbands tab you can view the husbands you have unlocked, unlock new ones, level them, or gift them.  Once you open the fourth item tab for a husband it will show you a special photo that you can view at any time.  You can see some examples of these below.  The Scientist Husband, Sportsman Husband, Wild Husband and Mad Husband are pictured here.

     The Wifeplus from the 20 billion Wives game is in this app as well, only it has been renamed as Husbandplus.  the effects are the same.

     The Achievements tab holds all of your achievements.  Be sure to check it often to claim your achievement prizes right away as they will help you to gain love faster.  The achievements for this app are Submit MR 2000, 3000, 5000, 7500 and 10000 times; Level Playboy Husband - Samurai Husband to level 30, Robot Husband - Husband of Husbands to level 15; Level up Suit Husband - Playboy husband to 30, Wild Husband to 95, Idol Husband to 85, Samurai Husband to 75, Robot Husband to 65, Prince Husband to 60, Space Husband to 55 and Husband of Husbands to 50; Give 3 gifts to each husband (Each counts as a separate achievement); Get married to 1 million, 1 billion, 3.6 billion, 7.1 billion husbands; Marry all husbands.  When all achievements are unlocked you get a special image.

     History allows you to see you Total love Count, how many times you have tapped, what percentage of husbands you have unlocked, the percentage of presents given, percentage of achievements completed and percentage of secret illustration unlocked.  The sound can be toggled on and off from here as well.  Ads can be removed for 1.99USD or you can restore data.

     Unlike the wives app the MRX3 feature is not broken and does only last for 20 seconds.

     There are ads at the bottom of this app, like the other one, but they are easily ignored.  however, ads will pop up as a penalty if you try to pend more love points than you have.  Sometimes closing these ads can crash the app and it will need to be restarted.

     It is a cute application, on par with the wives version.  The graphics are cute and it is fun to unlock the husbands and watch your love points increase.  It is a pretty basic app without a ton of content and can be completed easily within a week at a casual pace.

Rating: 3/5

• Free
• Seller: MUSUKKACHI, K.K
• Category: Games
• Size: 67.9 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
• Copyright: © 2017 MUSUKACHI , K.K

Rated 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco or Drug Use or Reference. 

20 Billion Wives

20 Billion Wives
     Yes, you read that right.... twenty billion wives are waiting for you in one application!  What are you waiting for?  Oh?  You say that sounds like way too many wives?  Nahhh...

     This app is a sequel to the app 10 Billion Wives.  However, as the ten billion version has not yet been updated to work on the latest version of iOS, I won't be able to review that one.  I figure it's probably the same as this app, but with different character designs.

     First and foremost this is a tapper style app.  This means most of the game play is tapping, waiting, and upgrading.  It is something you play now and then through out the day for a few minutes when you have extra time to waste such as in a waiting room or stuck in traffic (Not as a driver though.  Never play apps while driving).  Then you close the app and let it accumulate points on its own for a while.

     There aren't actually 20 billion different wife types in this game.  There are actually 16 different types of wives you can collect.  Each wife is harder to obtain than the last.  You start with the Gentle Wife.  As you unlock new wives, it will increase the amount of LPS or Love Per Second you receive.  Upgrading wives can also increase your LPS.  Love Per Second is the amount of love you accumulate per second.  This does not have to do with your tapping.  It simply accumulates automatically over time.

     LPT is Love Per Tap and is the amount of love you accumulate every time you tap the screen.  Tap as fast as you can to accumulate lots of love!  This can be increased by upgrading your MR.  These levels greatly increases your LPT.  However, they also get more and more expensive each level.  Alternatively, you can increase for LPT by using a a love potion that gives you MRX3.  Love collected through tapping will increase triple fold for 20 seconds.  However, at the time of writing this article, this feature is currently broken and will last far beyond 20 seconds, allowing you to accumulate a ton of points for a long time.

      Every now and then you will see a gift box in the lower left corner which allows you to get a potion for free from watching an ad,

     You can also use a different potion to increase LPS, as opposed to LPT.  However these potions cost money.  These potions are called Wifeplus.  They increase LPS by 20 percent and are stackable.

     You can see the amount of love you have acquired at the top right of the app screen.  You spend these love points to upgrade your wives or unlock new wives.  You also spend these love points to purchase gifts for your wives.  These gifts will increase your permanent LPS.

     You can unlock three gifts per wife.  One gift is unlocked at level one.  The other two unlock when you have increased your level more (This level differs by wife).  The fourth slot is a photo of your wife.  Unlike the gifts, the photo is free once it is unlocked and you can view it at any time.  To the right you can see the photo for the Wizard Wife.

     There are also achievements to unlock.  These achievements will give you a boost to your LPS when they are unlocked. These achievements are to tap 2000, 3000, 5000, 7500 and 10000 times; Level up Nurse Wife and all the wives after to level 30; Level up each of your wives to level 100; Give each wife all three of their gifts; And get married to 1m, 1b, 3.5b, 7.1b and 20b wives.

     Each day if you visit your history tab you can open a prize that will affect how many wives you have married.  Be careful though, because though it can increase your stats, it can also decrease them.  The history tab also lets you know how you are progressing in the game  this is also where you can turn on and off the sound.

     History tab also features a restore button and a remove ads button.  Removing the ads costs 1.99USD.

     Once you unlock everything in the game and complete all achievements you will have access to a special image.  I won't show you the image because that would spoil the surprise!

     Overall I think it is a cute casual game.  Doesn't require any skills and one can play it as frequently or infrequently as they want.  Though there are in game purchases (the potions and ad removal) they aren't needed to play or complete the game.

     I really like the graphics in the game and the wife variety is cute and funny.  Especially Wifezilla and Furry Wife.  This is a great cute and casual game for wasting time.  And if you have a ton of time to waste, you could probably beat it in just a few days.

Rating: 3/5

• Free
• Seller: MUSUKKACHI, K.K
• Category: Games
• Size: 52.9 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
• Copyright: © 2017 MUSUKACHI , K.K

Rated 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence 

Zepeto

Zepeto
     For people who like creating little cartoon avatars of themselves, there's a new exciting app called Zepeto!  People can sign up using Twitter, Facebook, email or phone number.

     Zepeto reminds me a bit like IMVU, but with a lot less content... and less people trying to use it for sex (Which is why I stopped using IMVU in 2004) Users create their own avatars using a photo of their face. Not happy with the results?  No problem!  You can change any part of your avatar's face you want from the shape of the eyes to the thickness of the eyebrows.  The process isn't as detailed as one might like and lacks some customisation features I would like to see in the future.  For instance you can not move features up or down on the face.  No two tone hair or balayage effects.  Additionally, all avatars look very young.  Though you can add beauty marks and freckles, as of yet, you can not add dimples or wrinkles.  Nor can you make your avatar's body thick, tall or busty.  In fact the body is not adjustable at all aside from skin tone.

     Alright, so we know you can customise your avatar's hair and face, but what exactly IS Zepeto, I hear you ask.  Well, I'm not entirely sure but it appears to be an instant messenger with avatars that also allows you to use your avatars as stickers. You can also use yours (and your friend's) avatars in premade group images to share online.  I'll show you what I mean below.

     There is a limited supply of clothing you can use to costumise your look.  You get some stuff for free but most must be purchased from the fashion shop using in game currency.

     The in game currency can be collected for free doing daily quests and playing the mini game which I will discuss later.  One can also choose to purchase in game currency by tapping the bottom left corner of the screen where your currency is listed on the main character screen (The middle tap at the bottom of the app.  If it looks like the screen to the right, you have it.).

     The currency rates in USD are as follows:

• 3900 for 0.99
• 13900 for 2.99
• 19900 for 3.99
• 48400 for 10.99
• 259400 for 59.99
• 430900 for 99.99

     The fashion shop is accessible by going to your Profile tab (Bottom left tab)  You click Item Shop and from there Fashion.

     In the item shop you can buy one pieces, tops, bottoms, shoes, glasses, head accessories and hair.  Whatever you purchase will automatically be worn by the avatar.  It does take a few minutes for the changes to save all the way so if you try to make a photo with your new clothes you may notice the old clothes loading.

     There are several locked items in the shops.  These items can be unlocked by tapping the locked item then agreeing to watch a video ad.  After the ad finishes the item will be available in the shop.  You will still need to purchase it with your in game currency to put it in your closet or wear it though.

     Also in the Item Shop is an Interior option.  There are a handful of random bits you can add to your house background.  Not much has been added here thus far.  It works the same as the fashion shop, only the items are not organised at all.  This is likely due to the limited merchandise available.

     The last Item Shop area is Gesture.  Initially I thought the gestures would be used in the group photos and such people take with their friend's avatars.  This is not the case.  the gestures are only used for your greetings.  I will explain greetings in a moment.  The gestures are not separated into sections but you can watch any gesture by tapping it.  The exception is the locked gestures which are unlocked again by watching ads.  This is a bit tedious since you have no idea before watching the ad if the gesture will be something you want to purchase or not.

     Back on the Profile tab you can see your friend code which can be shared and is used to add people with.  You can also see your avatar's face shot, likes, followers and how many people you are following.  You can also Edit Face which allows you to change your hair or facial features just like when you signed up.  You can also click My Closet to change clothes or My Space to decorate your room.

     Greetings are at the bottom of your profile page.  You can use a gesture of your choosing and add a very short message to it.  When people visit your avatar they will see you in your room, posing with that gesture and a word bubble with your message in it.  It will be a lot like what you see when you click the centre tab at the bottom with your avatar's photo.

     You can have multiple greetings and the greetings will cycle when people tap your avatar.  You can delete greetings no longer wanted, or change their order.

     Clicking the Emoji tab on the Profile page takes you to some premade emojis featuring your avatar.  You can also create your own original emojis using their premade backgrounds and stickers.  You can use them when you chat in the app or download them to share with friends elsewhere.  The angry square to the right is an example of one of the emojis.

     The last part of the Profile page is the settings gear at the top right.  From here you can check or change your registered email, connect social media or change your password.  You can also logout, check what version you have installed, read the FAQ and TOP.  It lists your support code for if you need to contact support and allows you to manage your storage.

     The tab with the word bubble at the bottom of the app is your Message feature. You can start a chat with a friend you have added.  Just start a new chat and tap the friend you want to chat with.  You can only chat with one person at a time.  At this time there is no group chat feature present in the application.

     The middle tab with your avatar's picture will change to a camera when you tap it and take you to what other people will see when they visit you.  This is the page you will start on when you open the app after registering.

     Every day you log into the app you will get a present box.  You will see it next to your avatar.  Tap it and a slot machine appears.  From the free lucky spin you will get an amount of in game coins.  Watching an add will double the amount.  You can only spin this once per day.  You can see it on the left.

Your avatar will randomly change poses if you leave the screen open on this tab.  If you tap different areas of the screen the avatar will look in the direction you tapped.  Tapping your avatar makes them say a greeting with the associated pose.  Tap again and it does another of your greetings.

     From here you can purchase more currency tap the "See more Zepeto" button to go to the official Instagram or check your notifications.  Notifications is where you see who added you, liked you or receive gifts sent to you.

     The magnifying glass tab at the bottom is the Find feature and takes you to where you can find other people's Zepeto avatars.  You can enter someone's code at the top if you have it or choose from the avatars listed at the bottom of the page.  Tapping one of the avatars takes you to their page where you can see their greeting, like them or add them.

     Tapping the lighting icon at the top right takes you to a random Zepeto avatar's page.  If you want to see a lot of people at once you can click Street.  This is actually a pretty strange feature.  When you go to the street you can type a quick greeting that's a few words long.  Then random Zepeto avatars walk across your screen.  You can't tap them.  At the bottom of the screen it will show which Zepeto avatars passed you and their greeting.  If you tap the username you can visit them and like or add.  this is all you can do in this mode.

     You can see Street mode in the screen shot to the right.

     The last section of this application is the far left tab that looks like Pacman.  This is the Play section.

     Magic Shot Photobooth is where you can put your avatar or other avatars together into a premade photo.  You can choose which avatars to add and the order to add them.  If you get them in the wrong order you can always go back and change the order.

     The photo sections have sets for one avatar, two avatars (mostly couple shots), and groups.  Plus there is currently a special section where you can put your avatar next to a BT21 character.  New poses/shots are added over time.  Once you have the photo you want, you can download it or share it to other apps through Zepeto.

     There are Daily Quests on this page as well but the entire time I have had this app (About a week) these have been unavailable.  As such, I can not discuss them.  However, when they do become available, this will be a way to earn more in game currency for free.

     There is one mini game in the app called Flying Zepeto.  This is another way to earn free coins.  It is essentially a flappy bird ripoff featuring your Zepeto avatar's head shot with wings.

     All in all the app is cute but lacks content.  It doesn't feel like an app I could see myself using daily or for long periods of time.  I feel like I would lose interest fairly fast.  Perhaps if they added more variety in customisation and mini games it would benefit the app.  Group chats or other ways for the avatars to interact would also be a great addition to what currently looks like the start of a concept, and not a polished and fully realised creation.

Rating 3/5

• Free
• Category: Social Networking
• Size: 126.8 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese, Korean
• Copyright: Service Management Group, Inc. SMG
• © SNOW Corporation

Rated 4+

LINE PLAY: December 2018 Login Stamp Bug Fix

LINE PLAY: December 2018 Login Stamp Bug Fix
     Users trying to get their login stamps during the month of December may have been having trouble doing so over the past few days.  Tapping the quest loads and then leaves users where they were without loading the stamp page at all.  This has been causing frustrated users to miss out on those great freebies from the login stamps.

     Fret not!  I have figured out how to get around the issue by playing around with the settings (As one does).

Going into your settings (The gear icon) simply scroll down until you see the "Language Settings" option.

Tap it and on the next page change the language from English to another language.  I chose the bottom option.  Remember where the Language Settings tab is if you change the language to one you can not read, because you'll need to change it back after you get your login stamp.

When you choose a new language it will restart the app.  Just click the event quest icon as usual and click the top option to get your daily login stamp.  This time it will load the login stamp page and allow you to tap for today's login freebie.

When you are done just switch back to English and enjoy!

LINE Play: Mystery Messages 10/2018

LINE Play: Mystery Messages Solved (Oct 2018)
     This month LINE Play has released a mystery message event. If you solve the mystery messages you have a chance to gain some special items that would otherwise be unavailable.  Below are the mystery messages and solutions so you can reap the rewards without having to rack your brain.

Message #1
All the world's treasures will be mine!
Active: 8th October - 10th October

This message refers to the Curious Closet. This of course provides us with even more messages to solve as you can see below to the left.  Solving each of the three Curious Closet messages gains you a different free article of clothing for your avatar.  Solving all of them, then returning to the Curious Closet will allow you to claim a special pair of eyes.

The Curious Closet messages one has to solve, complete with the solutions are as follows...

1. Everyone's in town today! The ghost on the ****** has the purple skull I want.  Maybe if we smell good, we can catch it.
SOLUTION: Ticket is the missing word.  Go to the Time Square upgraded perfume aura found in the OOTD gacha and type the word 'TICKET' into the chat window.

The perfume item upgrade can be seen to the right. This solution grants you the white hat item.

2. A strange water shooter suddenly appeared in the park?! Are you scared?  Let the heavenly harp guide you!  Gaurdian **G**.
SOLUTION: Angel is the missing word.  Get the angel's harp from the gift shop from a friend and wear it to the LINE park.  Once there type 'ANGEL' into the chat screen.

The harp costs 2000 gems. Performing this task grants you the red gem scepter/cane item.

3. My name? Ha!  I wouldn't tell you that even if you came to my favourite cafe with coins that smelled like cheese! *****
SOLUTION: Lupin is the missing word and the name of this gentleman thief.  Go to the LINE cafe while wearing the cheese and gold aura that can be acquired from the Lucky Spin event. Type 'LUPIN' into the chat box.

The Lucky Spin event can be found under 'events' and costs 10 cash to spin.  It may take many spins to gain this item. The item can be seen to the right.  It is a three star aura on the far right, top row.

Solving this message gains you the red and white suit.  All of the Curious Closet items can be seen to the left, including the eyes.  Users have until October 10th to claim these items.

Message #2
It's one difficult case after another.  We'd best solve them quickly!
Active: 15th October

One Mystery CC after another is what is suggested by the message so we have another set of clues to solve for the Curious Closet item which is a set of question mark eyes this time around.

The Curious Closet messages one has to solve, complete with the solutions are as follows...

1. We shook that ghost cat off and escaped to the park.  But that cackling laugh... Where's it coming from? Ms. ********
SOLUTION: The missing word is Assassin. Wear the Witch Cat Pumpkin aura from the Magic Box gacha. Go to LINE Park and type ASSASSIN into the chat box.

Solving this grants you a black and red dress.

2. They say ghosts in hats have been causing trouble at the cafe.  Use fans to chase them off!  How many are there? ***
SOLUTION: Six is the word.  Have a friend gift you the Sky Day fan from the gift shop.  This item costs 25 cash.  Then wear the item to the LINE cafe and type 'SIX' into the chat box.

Solving this grants you a golden magnifying glass.

3. Like to know who I am?  Have you heard of 221B Baker Street?  Put on my trademark cap and meet the witch of the full moon. ******
SOLUTION: Holmes is the answer, as in Sherlock Holmes.  The Casquette hat can be obtained from the Tica October 2018 gacha.  Wear it to LINE City and type 'HOLMES' into the chat box.

Solving this grants you a red and black deerstalker cap.

Solving all three means you can return to the Curious Closet page and claim the special eyes.

Message #3
Maybe we should keep an eyes out over the next 24 hours.
Active: Until 7th October

This is in regard to two hidden gachas in the gacha shop.  The only way to access them is to go to the 'ending soon' category, using the search option.  One is for Lupin the thief and the other is for Sherlock Holmes.

The gacha contents differ depending on if your avatar is male or female.