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 101: Using Gift Codes

LINE Play
     This is part of the LINE Play 101 series of updates.  Each update covers a specific section of the LINE Play app.  Please read the LINE Play review for more information about this app, before reading this post.

     NOTE:  These are the gift codes that work in all versions of LINE Play.  If a region specific code is used, I will make a notation.  If you enter a code that should work in your region and get an error saying it isn't, be sure that your account is linked to your region.  If you use your LP account via LINE, but didn't register your phone number, you may not have region specific access to certain codes.

     From time to time LINE will release a special code that you can enter into LINE Play to receive a free gift or gems.  You can find them many different ways.  Sometimes LINE will release the codes in the LINE Play announcements or advertisements.  Sometimes they will post a code on their Facebook page.  Then other times they will have a specific event that you must partake in to find the code (Such as their recent LINE messaging app event).  Once a code is found, it can be used, whether or not you yourself went through the trouble of obtaining it.  As long as the code is active, and not specific to a region you are not in, you can use it.
     To enter codes walk over to the Event section on your main screen.  See the image to the right.  I am standing by the Event building.
     Once there, you can partake in any current events (Usually prize wheels).  You can enter a Coupon Code, or you can enter a Gift Code.  Gift Code is what you need to click.
     After a while codes will expire.  If you find this page once the codes have expired, please leave a comment, letting me know.  I will grey out the code so no one will be confused.  Additionally, if you have codes that I have no added, let me know that in the comments as well.  Only non-region specific codes, please.
     Here are the current active gift codes.

LAST UPDATE: August 13, 2015

--------------------------

LINEPLAYOA - 2000 Gems awarded
COMEBACK - 5000 Gems awarded
SSRCHANNEL - Sugar Sugar Rune Cake Room Item
SSRMAJO430 - Sugar Sugar Rune Poster Room Item
PLAY0424  - Liar & His Lover TV Room Item
HAPPYWKND - 2000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
HAPPYWKND2  - 2000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
HAPPYWKND3  - 2000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
HAPPYWKND4  - 2000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
ILOVEPLAY - 3000 Gems awarded
CBEVENT  - 5000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
GOLDDESUZO - SHOW BY ROCK! Gold Maple Item.
MIKA  - 2000 Gems awarded (US CN Only)
     (Greyed out codes are no longer active.)

I Love Coffee

I Love Coffee
     If you have ever dreamed of designing and running your own chain of coffee shoppes, now you can!... Sort of...  I Love Coffee is a digital game where your grandfather has given you a coffee shoppe to run.  You can decorate it, choose the menus, hire the staff and even create additional branches!

     I have been playing this app for years.  For me, that's a long time.  I rarely use an app for more than a month.  Especially if it's a game.  I love the creative design element to the game.  I like dressing up my employees and decorating my cafes.  If that's your cuppa tea (Or coffee) then you might want to give this app a try.
     In the beginning your cafe is quite small, and you must serve the costumers yourself, as you can't afford employees.  Though this caterpillar stage of the game doesn't last long.  You'll be designing and employing before you know it.

     The game employs an experience earning system which in turn gains you levels.  The higher your level the more items you have access to in the shoppe (Where you purchase furnishings, equipment, decor, wallpaper, etc).  The clothing, face and hair does not require any articular levels to obtain anything, however.  The only disadvantage is that much of the clothing, hair and eyes cost real cash.  Less than half can be obtained through in game free currency.  This is a draw back.  In fact, there are also a good deal of furnishings that cost real money too.  Though you will never truly need to purchase these things.  Also, cash has been easier to gain through special events.  So you can actually save up your free event cash, rather than spending money on it.  It will just take longer.

      You may be wondering how to gain experience.  Most things you do gain you experience.  However, the big points come from performing quests.  As you get to higher levels you will obtain new quests.  Finishing a quest gets you experience, money and sometimes beans or special items.  In fact, some items can only be obtained by completing a quest.

     Once you reach level 21 you will have access to the "Daily Quest".  It changes every day.  It will give you 3 random things to do.  Once you have performed these 3 tasks, you complete the quest.  Aside from the quest finish gold and experience, you also get a special stamp.  Once you have collected enough stamps you get a special lucky box.  The lucky box acts as a gacha, giving you one random item from a set the box has access to.  Many of these items can only be obtained through this lucky box.
     The game also have different lucky boxes that can be bought either with real cash, cherries (A social free in game currency, obtained by performing social tasks), or gold.  many boxes are limited or seasonal, so get them while you can!
     If you have friends who play the game, you can visit their cafe as well.  You can even help them out by clicking up to 4 things in their cafe (Such as employees, roasters, coffee makers, ovens, display cases, etc).  When you do this, you get cherries.  The cherries are the free social currency.  Saving them up allows you to buy special lucky boxes, increase the size of your roof top cafe (All cafe buildings can be expanded, but roof tops require a combination of cherries and gold to expand), and complete management tasks.

     If you don't know anyone who lays, that is alright too.  You can add people in the game as friends.  Then you can help one another with social activity and quests!
     The management task system (Certif) is relatively new.  There are several sections.  Each section has a different list of tasks.  Complete the tasks at all of their stages and obtain rewards and special items!
     You can also obtain special items from your "Regular Customers".  this is a special set of NPCs that can frequent your cafe.  Level up their happiness to get a chance to get a timed item (An item that can only be used for 30 days) or max out their level to get their special item (Permanently).  If they have a bubble above their head, be sure to click it.  They like to chat and order special coffee that you have to make especially for them.
     Aside from the NPCs you can talk to anyone in your cafe by tapping on them.  You can also perform "Street Charm" which requires you to chat with people passing by your cafe.  To be successful you must correctly respond to them 3/3 times.  Doing so will gain you some extra coins.  This task is often required for completing quests.  Plus it's fun because they say many funny things.  Some mention pop culture things.  Memorize which responses suit which characters.  If you find it too hard, you can find the correct responses for each character type here.  Special street charm with Special Guests here.
     With so much to do, it isn't any wonder why I still play this game.  Not to mention the constant addition of new content, special events and more.  I could go on and on about the other features of the game, but you should really try it out for yourself.
     There is ability to purchase in game items, but the game is free, and you never truly have to make any real purchases.  Also, the easy ability to earn and save up "cash' is a plus for me.  The ability to customize various cafes, characters and even your car and scenery is also a plus.  I love customization!  Plus the artwork is adorable and there is a lot of style variety.  From over the top cutesy to antique; to jazz motif; to modern and high tech.  All in all, I think this is a great app.  I recommend it.  I love apps that you can play for a few minutes here and there, but don't need to set aside a huge amount of time for.  If you do too, give this one a try!
Rating: 5/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Updated: Dec 10, 2014
• Version: 1.1.0
• Size: 66.1 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
• Seller: LINE Corporation
• © LINE Corporation

Rated 4+

LINE Play 101: Daily/Weekend Quests

LINE Play
     This is part of the LINE Play 101 series of updates.  Each update covers a specific section of the LINE Play app.  Please read the LINE Play review for more information about this app, before reading this post.

   Let's cover the daily quests.  Every day your daily quests will reset.  Any progress made on daily quests that was not complete will be reset to zero.  Any quests that were completed the day before, will reappear.  The daily quests are as follows:

Try out the "Hello" feature at the room party. X20
This quest can be difficult to complete.  You must either create a room party or be invited to one.  You can only invite people on your friend list who are online, and visa versa.  Once in a party you will see an icon over the heads of the other users currently in the party.  Clicking them will give you 10 gems and count as one of the 20 required to complete the task.  Even if you do not complete this task, you will still keep the 10 gems for each of the users you clicked the icon for.  Finishing this quest will earn you a bonus 300 gems.


Fish up the trash in Treasure Island X20
Treasure Island is one of the "Squares" on LINE Play.  A square is a place you access through the glowing yellow gem on the landing age.  The squares allow you to move around and chat with other avatars, as well as buy potions and explore, interact with decor/environment and access special shoppes and gacha that you can only see in the squares.  Once at Treasure Island you will need to purchase a fishing potion to complete this quest.  Once you have your potion on, click one of the circles near the water.  Starting users will want to stand on a bronze circle, closest to the left.  These will be easier.  When you are fishing you have a chance of fishing up a fish, a treasure chest or trash.  Once you have fished up 20 pieces of trash the quest is complete and you earn a bonus 300 gems.  You get 10 gems for every piece of trash you fish up, even after the quest has ended.

High Five in the square X20
I mentioned what the squares are in the treasure island quest.  However, unlike that quest, this quest can be completed in any of the squares.  I would actually avoid using treasure island for this quest, as most people do not use that square, and it will take longer to complete.  Line Stadium is equally scarce of users.  New York Times Square is the best for this, as it is always bustling with users.
When you enter a square you will see a hand icon above some users.  Click it to give them a high five.  Do this 20 times.  Each time you will get 10 gems.  When the quest is complete you get 300 bonus gems.  Not all users will have a high five icon.  You may want to try various squares to collect all 20.  Once the quest is complete you can not high five anyone until the next day.

Clean up messy rooms X20
Any time you load a room, you may see a number of icons over particular items.
Remember, rooms are not part of the squares.  To access your room, click the house on the landing screen.  To access the rooms of other users you can click the rainbow portal on the landing screen or click the "Visit" button of any user, friend or NPC you click on.
The icon you will want to look for to complete this quest, within a room, is a little broom.  You will only see one per room.  It can be above almost any item in the room.  You will need to visit at least 20 rooms to complete this quest.  Each time you click the cleaning icon, you get 10 gems.  You get 300 bonus gems when the quest is complete.  If you visit an "Official account" that is currently being promoted then you get 60 gems for every cleaning icon you click.  So visit them first.  You can only clean 20 times a day.  Once the quest is over you will no longer see these clickable icons.

Water the thirsty plants X20
This also involves visiting rooms.  You need to visit at least 20 rooms to complete this.  When entering a room you may see the drop of water icon hovering over a plant.  Clicking it earns you 10 gems.  Once the quest is complete you get 300 bonus gems.
Like the cleaning quest, promoted rooms will give you 60 gems per watering, so visit them first.  You can only water 20 times.  Additionally, not everyone has a plant in their room, so you wont always see this icon in every room.

Send hearts to your favourite avatars X20
This is the easiest quest to complete.  Any avatar you see, anywhere, can be clicked.  Once clicked, you will see a little bubble with a heart in it.  Clicking this will send them a heart.  You will always see hearts hovering over avatars in rooms.  But you must click the avatars individually in squares, lounge or your friend list.
Each heart given will earn you 10 gems.  Once the quest is complete, you will get 300 bonus gems.  You can also purchase more hearts for real money.  However, this is not an efficient use of money.  You will receive 20 hearts after each daily reset.  Hearts do not carry over, if not used (They used to, but this feature was removed).
     If you complete every daily quest you will earn 1800 Bonus gems plus 1200 individual gems, totaling 3000 gems every day for completing the daily quest.

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     Now lets discuss the weekend quests.  These quests change often, but they always involve fishing.  Remember, to fish, you must purchase fishing potions.  These quests can only be completed from 12AM Saturday to 11:59PM Sunday (GMT +9).
Catch 100 fish
Once you have caught at least 100 fish while fishing, you will earn your Sally bonus.  Sally Bonus is 500+ to your Fishing Skill.
Catch 5 ____ (?)
Catching the required number of this particular fish (It changes every weekend), of the size indicated in the parentheses will gain you the Brown Bonus which gains you 1000 extra fishing skill points.

LINE Play 101: How To Earn Gems

LINE Play
     This is part of the LINE Play 101 series of updates.  Each update covers a specific section of the LINE Play app.  Please read the LINE Play review for more information about this app, before reading this post.
   
     One thing many users have trouble with is earning gems.  Gems are actually not difficult to earn.  I am going to help you learn every way there is to earn gems on LINE Play.

Buying Gems:  Though I would recommend not wasting your real world money on gems, this is the fastest way to earn gems.  They often have sales and discounts on buying gems.  However, the normal price is :
01.99USD for 2,000 gems
05.99USD for 6,300 gems
11.99USD for 13,200 gems
22.99USD for 27,600 gems
46.99USD for 57,600 gems
89.99USD for 128,800 gems
     There is a bonus for first time buyers.  a 400% bonus will allow you to get 10,000 gems for 1.99USD.  This can only be used once.

Gem Pass:  Another pay option, the Gem Pass gives a user 20,000 gems instantly and 3,000 gems a day for 30 days (Only on days you log in).  It costs 19.99USD.

Daily Quests:  There are 6 quests that reset every day.  Each quest gives you 300 bonus gems.  You also obtain gems while working on these quests.  If you complete every daily quest you will earn 1800 Bonus gems plus 1200 individual gems, totaling 3000 gems every day for completing the daily quest.
Read more about Daily Quests here.

Fishing at Treasure Island:  There are 3 ways of fishing for gems.
     First is to fish up trash.  Every time you fish up trash you get 10 gems.  This is unlimited.  Every piece of trash you fish up, you get 10 gems for.
     Second is to complete a collection.  If you click the collection icon at the top of the page in Treasure Island (Found in squares), you will see several pages of fish collections.  Whenever you catch one of the fish on any of the pages, you unlock that fish.  Once you collect all of the fish on any particular page, you get the reward.  The reward for the first 7 pages is 5,000 gems.  Pages 8-13 is 10,000 gems, 14-18 has a reward of 30,000 gems.  Obviously the higher numbered pages have fish that are more rare, so they will be harder to complete.
     The last way is by fishing up a treasure chest.  These chests may obtain items, but they may also obtain gems.  Treasure chests can randomly appear while fishing.  You never know when you may fish one up!

Monthly Gift Log:  Every month you will receive a daily gift for the first 25 days that you log in.  This will usually be made up of 5 items and 20 days of gem gifts.  Gem gifts range from 500 gems per day to 5,000 gems per day.  So log in every day to get the most out of it.

Mini Game Quests: LINE Play has 4 mini games right now.  Fruit Monsters, GOLD RUSH, DropDrop and TapTap.
     GOLD RUSH has no daily quests.  However, the other games do.  Every day you can complete these quests for gems.  The next day they reset, and you can complete them for more gems.
     Fruit Monsters - There are 3 daily quests for 300 gems each.  This totals 900 gems, if you complete all of the quests.
Quest 1: Play Ten Times (The easiest)
Quest 2: Collect 20 Stars (You can get 3 stars per play.  You can replay the same levels and still be awarded the stars you win for additional plays)
Quest 3: Create 200 Special Blocks (Any time you create a 4, 5 or 6 single colour monster block during a game, this counts as a "special block".  The amount of these blocks you can make per game is unlimited.)
     DropDrop - This game has 2 daily quests and 2 repeat quests.  The repeat quests can be achieved over and over with no limit.  Every time they will gain you the reward listed.  The daily quests each give 500 gems.  This means that if you complete the 2 daily quests for this game, you will earn 1,000 gems.
Quest 1: Get 10 Million Points (The points you earn every time you lay add up.  Once the collective score equals 10 million, you win the reward.  Each game usually gains you between 300,000 to 1,300,000 on average, depending on you skil (Though you can earn less or more).  So earning this amount in a day is not difficult.
Quest 2: Get 300 Combo (Whenever you stack your blocks very close to straight you will get a combo until you either drop a block, drop a bomb on your blocks or stack a block too crooked.  Then the combo starts over.  Once your collective combos equals 300, you get this reward.)
[REPEAT] Quest 1: Play 5 Times (The reward is a free 2 plays)
[REPEAT] Quest 2: Stack 500 Blocks (You usually stack between 50 and 80 blocks per game.  Once the collective number from your games comes to 500, you will get a chest.  A chest can have gems, in DropDrop game items to use while you play or special avatar items you can only get from the DropDrop chests.  The gem amounts vary.)
     TapTap - There are four quests here.  3 are daily quests and one is a repeat quest that you can complete unlimited times.  The daily quests give out 300, 300 and 400 gems.  Which means you get 1,000 gems if you complete all of the daily quests.
Quest 1: Clear 50 Specials (The tapping boxes come to you in strings.  At the end of each string of boxes is a special box that you can use either side to tap.  Once you clear 50 of these total, throughout your games, you complete this quest and earn 300 gems)
Quest 2: Get 2,000 Combos (As long as you don't tap the wrong side, you'll be getting a combo.  Once you make a mistake, your combo starts over.  So tap carefully!  Once your total tapping combo reaches 2,000 you earn 300 gems!)
Quest 3: Get 20 Million Points  (You can easily earn over 1,000,000 points per game so you should be able to earn this in around 20 games or so.)
[REPEAT] Quest 1: Clear 1,500 Blocks (Once you pass that many blocks you get a TapTap chest.  This can happen an unlimited amount of times, and happens pretty frequently.  The chests can have gems in them, special TapTap game items or special items for your character that can only be obtained from these chests.)

Mini Game Chests: As I explained in some notes in the mini game quests section, the chests you obtain from TapTap and DropDrop can have gems in them.  The amount of gems vary but are usually under 100 gems per chest.  However, if you get chests frequently (And as they ar
e attached to repeat quests, you can), these gems add up!  There is no limit to how many you can get.

Invitation Codes:  Every user gets their own unique invitation code.  When you enter someone else's code, you get 1,000 gems.  You can do this 10 times.  This totals 10,000 gems.  20 people can enter your code, which also gains you 1,000 gems er time.  This totals 20,000 gems.  So once you have entered the max amount of codes, and the max amount of people have entered your code, you will have 30,000 gems.
     If you are curious about where your invitation code can be found, or where you can enter other people's codes, they are located in the same place.  Go to "More" and click either Profile or Settings/Profile.  From there you can click "Invitation Code".  That page will give you your code to copy, show you who has entered your code, allow you to enter other people's codes ans show you all the users who you have entered the codes of.

Inviting Friends:  This is separate from the invitation code section.  You will find this area in the same place you go to add friends.  You may invite friends from this area.  It sends the invite directly to the users you indicate.  I hear this can be used to invite Facebook friends, but as my account is connected through LINE, I can only cover how this part works.
     You will see a list of all the friends on your list who do not currently have a LINE Play account linked to their LINE account.  There will be an invite button next to it.  For every user you invite you get 1,000 gems.  You can do this up to 100 times.  that's 100,000 gems total!

Events:  Every so often LINE Play will have an event.  Some of these events will have gem prizes that you can win.  They usually range from 3,000 gems to 70,000 gems a win.  However, it usually costs 3,000 gems for each play.  There is no guarantee you will win a gem prize.  You may get a house item, avatar item, hearts or occasionally cash.  Keep an eye on the events section to watch out for these events.

Hearts:  Every time you give someone a heart you get 10 gems.  Every time someone gives you a heart you earn 10 gems.  Though the amount of hearts you have are limited, the amount you can receive is not.  If you give out 20 hearts per day, that's 200 gems.  If all of those 20 users give you a heart back, that's another 200 gems.  That is a total of 400 gems per day.  You could get more if you get extra hearts to give out or if more people heart you.  Also, you will get 50 bonus hearts (60 total) when you heart an official avatar that is currently being promoted.  You will be able to tell if you see a yellow shine in their heart bubble. (See image to the right for example)

Recycling:  Sometimes you get clothing you don't want from the gacha or events... Sometimes you get duplicates (Duplicates can not be worn at the same time, and are thus useless).  When this happens, you can recycle these items to earn gems back.
     The gems are small, but if you recycle a rare or super rare, you will get a significant amount of gems.
     Mondays are bonus days for recycling.  So do all of your recycling on Mondays to get the most gems back for your items.
     Keep in mind that not all items will give you gems when you recycle them.  You can see how many gems each item will be recycled for on the recycle screen.  So be careful, and keep track.

Baths, sit downs and Food:  Sometimes when you enter a room (Your own, another users or an official avatar's) your avatar will have a bubble over their head.  There are 3 bubbles.  Look for the item in the room that matches that bubble.  A soap bubble indicates they want a bath.  A chair bubble indicates they wish to sit.  A fork indicates they wish to eat.  However, you can't just sit anywhere or eat anything.  You have to tap the specific item that has the bubble that matches the one over your avatar's head.
     Some houses won't have a bath or food.  If you enter a room and you see a bubble over your avatar, but can not find the corresponding item in the room, don't panic.  That bubble will remain until you find a room where there is an item that matches the bubble.  So just try another room.

LINE Play 101: Basic App Functions + Review

LINE Play
     Line Play is a social game application that involves creating an avatar and dressing up, playing games, meeting new friends, chatting, hanging out with users, updating your diary, decorating your home and more.
     Because this app has a lot of features (Some of which are hidden), I intend to make the LINE Play app into a series of updates.  Each one covering how to fully utilize one of the many features.  I will include helpful hints and some features many users didn't realize existed.  For now, let's just go over the basic functions, and the pros and cons of this app.
     When you first create your account, you can do so by linking either a Facebook, Twitter or LINE account.  When building your avatar, you can use a photo of yourself that the app will use to try and create a character that looks the most like the real you.
     There are 3 types of avatars.  Choose wisely, because you can not change your avatar type, once you have decided on it.  The types are male, female and animal.  These three avatar types will grant you access to the items for that avatar type.  This means male avatars can only access male avatar items.  Animals can only access animal items.  Lastly, female avatars can only access female items.  If you intend to create an animal type, be aware that animal avatar items are a mix between male and female, but sway heavily toward female.  So animals get more froufrou dresses than suits.
     You've built your avatar!  Now to explore the basic functions.  The landing screen changes frequently, so it may not look the same to you as you read this, as it does when I am typing it.  However, generally the landing screen gives you access to the more popular functions in the app.  Your home, the lounge, the mini games, the gacha, etc.
     The top should display notifications from friends on the top left (It looks like a little bell).  This will tell you whenever your friends update their diary, comment in your diary or guestbook, give you a heart or send you a gift.
     Top right shows your daily quest status, Cash and Gems.  The cash is a paid currency that gives you access to cash only gacha, events and certain features in the mini games.  The gems are the free in game currency that you use for gem gacha, shoppes, events or other items in the mini games.  You also have the option of buying more gems.  However, gems are easy enough to earn.
     Daily quests are tasks that can be performed every day to earn you extra gems.  For more details on daily quests, I will be adding a post specifically about those later.
     On the bottom there are a few buttons.  Let's cover those.  First is the Friends button.  Clicking this will show you all of the users you have added to your friend list.  Clicking the individual users on the list brings up a little box that shows their current avatar, their "status", whether or not they are online, their hearts, friend count, a block button (For people you dislike), a visit button (To access their home), a chat button (For PMing them), a diary button (To access their diary.  There will be a little red N above it if they have new posts), and a gift button (To buy them an item from the gift shoppe).  You can also delete friends from this list by clicking the gear button in the top right.  You can search for friends (For those who have large lists) with the search bar function at the top of the screen.
     Back on the landing page, next to the friends button at the bottom is the Chat button.  This is used when you have an open chat with someone on your friend page.  If there is a red dot above it, you have a new message.  You can access all of your private chat logs via this section.  You can also delete old chats.  You can only private chat with people on your friend list.  Also, all private chats are one on one.  No group chat feature has been added to this area.

     The next button on the bottom of the landing page is the Add button.  This is for adding new friends or accepting friend invites.  You can also use it to search for users if you know their username.  You can also use it to browse through the official avatars (Avatars include Cherry, Cancam, James, Rilakkuma, Hello Kitty, Betty Boop, Snoopy, Katy Perry and more).
     The add area also has the "Invite" function.  This is a great way to earn extra gems if you are still a new user.  You can add up to 100 friends from your LINE or Facebook.  Each time you invite someone, you earn 1000 gems!  Additionally, there are unlockable discounts in this area.  Once you have invited 50 friends you will unlock a 90% off Face Shoppe (one time use) discount.  This allows you to change your face.  Invite 100 users and unlock a 90% off Deluxe Room (A larger house to add more items into) discount (Also one time use).

     The last button at the bottom of the landing page is the "More" button.  This is the best button.  It gives you access to almost every part of the app.
     At the top of the "More" page we have 4 buttons.  Profile, Closet ,Diary and Settings. (See image to the right)
     Profile takes you to where you can change your username and "status" message.  You can also change your badge and see how many friends and hearts you have earned.  You can change the background colour of your avatar's icon, set your avatar picture as your profile image on LINE, use your avatar in the LINE Camera app, check your invitation code, delete your avatar or log out.
     Every user has an invitation code.  Copy this code and give it to people to use.  Every time someone uses your code, you and they both get 1000 gems.  Every time you use someone else's code, you both get 1000 gems as well.  However, you can only enter 10 codes, ever.  Also, only 20 people can ever enter your code.  Once 20 people have entered your code, it becomes invalid.

     The Closet (On the "More" page again) is where you can dress your avatar.  You can also recycle clothing you don't want.  I will go into that more in a future update.
     The Diary is where you can post images and write updates.  People can view your diary, add "like" stickers and comment on the posts.  The diary is also where your guestbook is.  People who stop by may leave messages for you here.
     Settings is where you can access many features.  You can access your profile from here (Though that seems odd since you could access it from the more page already), buy gems, see how you have been spending your gems (Though it doesn't always update, so it isn't great at keeping track), see where your gems have come from, buy cash, buy hearts and check for extra hearts, read notices (Updates for the app), change your notification settings, toggle your sounds, change the language of the app, toggle your keyboard sounds, adjust your privacy settings (Allowing people to search for you, seeing who you have blocked, etc), manage your storage, view help and about sections of the app.
     Back on the "more" page, under the top 4 buttons we have all of the main sections of the site.
Gacha: Where you can pay gems or cash to try and get random items out of special coin machines.
Shop: Were you can spend gems to buy items for your avatar or room.
Game: Where you can access the app's mini games section.  (There are currently 4 mini games.  I will go into detail about them in a future update)
Lounge: Where you can chat with other users in public rooms.

     I am going to give a fair warning about the Lounge, while we are on the subject.  If you are 13 or under in the US, you are not supposed to access the lounge (According to Line Play TOS).  If you are a parent of a child intending to use this application, I would be wary about allowing them to access the lounge area.  Teens and young adults often discuss incredibly inappropriate things publicly in the lounge.  Anything from cursing and vulgar name calling to descriptions of sexual activity and violence.  The LINE Play lounge is no place for a young person.
     Under these sections on the "more" page are the last 5 selections.
Cash: To buy cash currency with real money.
Gem: To purchase gem currency with real money.
Heart: To buy hearts with real money.
Event: Access any current event LINE is currently holding.  These usually are random gacha events.  You can also enter coupons or gift codes here, if you have any.
Official Facebook: Will take you to the official LINE Play Facebook page.
Notices: Same as in the settings area, this takes you to the updates section.
     Now let me discuss my take on the app.  I have been playing since October of 2014.  I am playing on the newest version of iOS.  I always update the iOS and app right away, when updates are available.  The app has issues with crashing.  My app crashes on a daily basis.  Sometimes several times within a session (anywhere from 0-7 times an hour).  The app makes your phone run hot.  It will overheat, the longer you run the app.  It also drains the battery, so the phone should really be plugged in while playing for extended periods of time.
     I have a female avatar and find that there is little available for any females not wanting to dress like a baby doll.  The dresses tend to be over the top frilly and cutesy.  Which is great, if that's your style.  Not so much if it isn't.  Many female users play with male avatars because of this fact.
     The lounge can be incredibly offensive.  The 10 and 20 user rooms are the worst.  Avoid those if you want a conversation that is less vulgar.  The 5 user rooms are hit or miss.
     The mini games are fun, though they have limited plays and you will need to wait for the power to refill to play the games more.
     The gacha have a lot of themes, which are good.  They have a lot of limited time gacha to get items that wont be available later, which I like.  However, many gacha are 3000 gems a play, and some gacha are cash only.
    The art for the app is clean and attractive.  I believe the graphics are the main feature that attracts many users.
     I find the chat bubble text in the squares to be a bit small.  I have difficulty reading it.  This is an issue for me.  It is not so bad in the lounge chat rooms, however.
     When you reply to comments in your diary, it does not notify the person you are replying to.  I find this to be something that could easily be addressed, but has not been thus far.  It's an easy fix that I am disappointed to find has not yet been dealt with.
     In conclusion I think it's a cute app, but the community can be a bit off putting.  If not for the community I would call this a tween-teen app.  However, because of the community conversation, I would say teen and up would be more appropriate.  The app has a lot of bugs/issues that have been present for a long time, that have not been fixed, regardless of constant updates.  All of the updates seem to feature adding new gacha or changing the appearance of the app, rather than addressing the actual usability.  Because of this I can not give this app a very high rating.
Rating: 3/5

• Free
• Category: Social Networking
• Updated: Feb 25, 2015
• Version: 2.9.2
• Size: 82.5 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese
• Seller: LINE Corporation
• © LINE Corporation

Rated 4+

Polyvore

Polyvore
     A great app for individuals interested in fashion, interior design, or just shopping or being creative.  Polyvore features a wide selection of clothing, beauty supplies, interior decor and more.  It even allows you to create your own collections, sets, and heart the things you really love.  Find friends that like the same things you do and share fun finds!

     When you create your account the application will show you a few items that you will have to choose your favourites from.  This will help the application understand what your personal style is to help it determine what should be displayed on your feed.  If you don't like any of the options, don't fret.  You can unheart them later.
    Your feed are suggested content for you to view along with any content from other users or official accounts you are "following".  I will get into that later.  You can browse your feed to view items to heart or inspire you.  You can click them to find out where to buy them and how much they cost.  Along with additional options. It also shows how many other users have liked that particular item.  You can see an example of this in the screen shot to the right.
     The buttons at the bottom determine what part of the application you are viewing.  Switching from the feed to the browse button will allow you to search for specific keywords with the search bar at the top.  You can also browse their predetermined categories, which change regularly, depending on what is currently trending.
     You can also use the search bar to find your friends by typing in their Polyvore username.
     The create button will take you to a black page where you can add content, flip it, cut it out, add other items that go with it, to create your own set.  You can create a clothing set that you would love to wear or a bedroom set for the future home of your dreams.  You can even play with magazine pages, art and text.
     To the right you can see some examples of sets I created.  For more samples you can visit my Polyvore page by clicking here.
     Lastly, let's cover the "Me" button.  From here you can add a profile image and change your username (The username can only be changed once.  This is because the username becomes your URL).  You can see how many views your sets have gotten (And how many hearts), browse your sets and collections.  See what you've hearted.  You can see the users you have added, and who has followed you.
     From here, you can also decide to unheart things if you decided you no longer like it.  You can delete sets and other basic profile maintenance.

     Here's where it gets a bit not picky for me...  Look at the screen shot to the right.  This is apparently a list of all the users I follow... This is day one of joining the app... The odd part?  I never added any of these people.  The app automatically adds a bunch of popular and official accounts to your follow list to control what appears on your feed.  I dislike this feature.  I want to add who "I" want to add.  On the bright side, you can remove these users from your follow list.  On the down side, this is done manually, one at a time.  I would highly suggest doing this first.  Or at least the first day.  Once you get all of those out of the way, you can start adding people you actually want to follow!
     All in all, I enjoy the application.  It's easy to navigate and has a clean and simple layout.  I love being able to easily put together sets (I used to do this manually with Photoshop.  This is so much easier).  I don't like the forced following feed, but this isn't a big deal, since those accounts can be easily removed from your feed, if you want.  I would say this is the perfect app for anyone into design, be it fashion, clothing, magazine, etc...  Plus, it's free!
Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Lifestyle
• Updated: Feb 24, 2015
• Version: 4.6.1
• Size: 23.1 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Polyvore
• © 2015 Polyvore, Inc.

Rated 12+ for the following:

• Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
• Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
• Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
• Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence