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Japan’s disgustingly cute mobile game ‘Alpaca Evolution’ hits 4 million downloads

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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Japanese mobile game publisher Cocosola has announced that its Alpaca Evolution game has surpassed the 4 million downloads mark. I was pretty surprised back in March when it was announced that the game had reached a million downloads, so naturally, 4 million is no small feat either. The object of the game, as I previously mentioned, is to bash your fellow alpacas and absorb them into your own body so you can evolve into something of an alpaca monstrosity. Yes, it’s very weird, but at the same time it’s sort of cool too. You can see more about how it works in our demo video above. While the gameplay is painfully simple, the character appears to have hit the same kimo-kawaii sweet-spot as Ponos’s Battle Cats. And like Ponos, which is capitalizing on the appeal of these cute characters by expanding into merchandising, Cocosola is selling game-related goods as well. If you pop over to runatown.com, for example, you can check out a wide assortment of Alpaca Evolution iPhone cases (pictured below). The game was originally released back in February, meaning that these four million downloads have come within the very short time span of less than three months. So…

Japanese mobile game publisher Cocosola has announced that its Alpaca Evolution game has surpassed the 4 million downloads mark. I was pretty surprised back in March when it was announced that the game had reached a million downloads, so naturally, 4 million is no small feat either.

The object of the game, as I previously mentioned, is to bash your fellow alpacas and absorb them into your own body so you can evolve into something of an alpaca monstrosity. Yes, it’s very weird, but at the same time it’s sort of cool too. You can see more about how it works in our demo video above.

alpaca-niisan
4 million downloads in less than 3 months

While the gameplay is painfully simple, the character appears to have hit the same kimo-kawaii sweet-spot as Ponos’s Battle Cats. And like Ponos, which is capitalizing on the appeal of these cute characters by expanding into merchandising, Cocosola is selling game-related goods as well. If you pop over to runatown.com, for example, you can check out a wide assortment of Alpaca Evolution iPhone cases (pictured below).

The game was originally released back in February, meaning that these four million downloads have come within the very short time span of less than three months. So its pace thus far is impressive to say the least.

Cocosola says that new updates to the game are on the way very soon, bringing new evolutions for fans of this very strange game. (Cocosola, via VS Media)

alpaka-nii-san

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Japanese tower defense hit ‘Battle Cats’ marches on, now with 4 million downloads

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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The Japanese tower defense game Battle Cats from Kyoto-based developer Ponos has just surpassed 4 million downloads, this according to Gamebiz.jp. This comes shortly after the title passed the 2 million downloads milestone just last month. The game was initially released for iOS back in November, with the Android version following at the end of December. The title has been a top 50 iOS app in Japan for the majority of 2013, and a top 5 stallworth in the strategy category. The Android version has done even better, starting out a little slow, but staying in the top 25 of all Android apps for Japan since early January, with the exception of a few days. Personally I’m a huge fan of this game, and I’m really glad to see it doing well. I confess, that Puzzle & Dragon’s has displaced Battle Cats somewhat in my gaming time, but if I can ever get past chapter 3, round 48, then I expect my addiction will re-kindle pretty quickly. While I haven’t yet cracked the problem of beating chapter 3, some readers have inquired about beating chapter 2. So here’s a short video (above) which gives an overview of that round. I…

The Japanese tower defense game Battle Cats from Kyoto-based developer Ponos has just surpassed 4 million downloads, this according to Gamebiz.jp. This comes shortly after the title passed the 2 million downloads milestone just last month. The game was initially released for iOS back in November, with the Android version following at the end of December.

The title has been a top 50 iOS app in Japan for the majority of 2013, and a top 5 stallworth in the strategy category. The Android version has done even better, starting out a little slow, but staying in the top 25 of all Android apps for Japan since early January, with the exception of a few days.

battlecats

Personally I’m a huge fan of this game, and I’m really glad to see it doing well. I confess, that Puzzle & Dragon’s has displaced Battle Cats somewhat in my gaming time, but if I can ever get past chapter 3, round 48, then I expect my addiction will re-kindle pretty quickly.

While I haven’t yet cracked the problem of beating chapter 3, some readers have inquired about beating chapter 2. So here’s a short video (above) which gives an overview of that round. I hope it helps!

If you’re a fan of Battle Cats, feel free to share your tips or invite codes in the comment section below.

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Otaku Camera for Android gets a boost, rockets past a million downloads

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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Tokyo Otaku Mode’s popular photo app Otaku Camera has recently received a big boost by recently being featured on Google Play in 42 countries, including the US and Japan. We’re told that this has helped the Android version of their app has hit the one million download milestone within a very short time. Currently the iPhone version of the app is doing ok too, with about 400,000 downoads to date. And if the momentum can continue over on Google Play, then perhaps two million total downloads is not too far off. We did a brief video demo of Otaku Camera last month, highlighting some of its main features (see video below). The company has been providing downloadable photo frames in the app via its frame shop. Currently the frames are free, although I expect later they will introduce some paid frames. Tokyo Otaku Mode is perhaps best known for its wildly popular Facebook page, which has more than 10 million fans. Currently the Tokyo-based startup is making an effort to monetize that fan base, and developing a mobile presence is one aspect of that initiative. You can learn more about TOM by checking out our in-depth feature from back in…

Otaku Camera Featured-smallTokyo Otaku Mode’s popular photo app Otaku Camera has recently received a big boost by recently being featured on Google Play in 42 countries, including the US and Japan. We’re told that this has helped the Android version of their app has hit the one million download milestone within a very short time.

Currently the iPhone version of the app is doing ok too, with about 400,000 downoads to date. And if the momentum can continue over on Google Play, then perhaps two million total downloads is not too far off.

We did a brief video demo of Otaku Camera last month, highlighting some of its main features (see video below). The company has been providing downloadable photo frames in the app via its frame shop. Currently the frames are free, although I expect later they will introduce some paid frames.

Tokyo Otaku Mode is perhaps best known for its wildly popular Facebook page, which has more than 10 million fans. Currently the Tokyo-based startup is making an effort to monetize that fan base, and developing a mobile presence is one aspect of that initiative. You can learn more about TOM by checking out our in-depth feature from back in February.

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On My Mobile: Metaps’ Yusuke Kobayashi

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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This is the first in our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones. We recently heard from Tokyo-based smartphone ad company Metaps, which just raised $11 million in series B funding. As a semi-related follow up, I thought it might be fun to ask someone from Metaps how they use their own Android phone. Yusuke Kobayashi was kind enough to participate in the first of what we hope to be a continuing series called ‘On My Mobile’. The goal is to take a look at the notable applications that folks in Japan’s tech industry use themselves, in the interests of better understanding Japan’s mobile space. In the interactive graphic below, you can see a couple of screens from Yusuke’s Android phone. He elaborates a little on three of his favorite applications: MT2 Free – This app is site viewer of Japanese 2channel which is a huge bulletin board site. I often use this app to get various information about entertainment, society, sport, etc. Also, the user comments for this app are pretty funny. Sudoku Plus – This app is puzzle game with numbers. I use this app to kill…

This is the first in our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones.

We recently heard from Tokyo-based smartphone ad company Metaps, which just raised $11 million in series B funding. As a semi-related follow up, I thought it might be fun to ask someone from Metaps how they use their own Android phone. Yusuke Kobayashi was kind enough to participate in the first of what we hope to be a continuing series called ‘On My Mobile’. The goal is to take a look at the notable applications that folks in Japan’s tech industry use themselves, in the interests of better understanding Japan’s mobile space.

In the interactive graphic below, you can see a couple of screens from Yusuke’s Android phone. He elaborates a little on three of his favorite applications:

  • MT2 Free – This app is site viewer of Japanese 2channel which is a huge bulletin board site. I often use this app to get various information about entertainment, society, sport, etc. Also, the user comments for this app are pretty funny.
  • Sudoku Plus – This app is puzzle game with numbers. I use this app to kill time and exercise my brain.
  • Revenge Of Dragoon – This app is social game, and the most interesting thing about it is its story and the card battle.

You can mouse over the image below to explore more of Yusuke’s preferred applications.

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Ewww! Japanese ear-picking mobile game hits 1 million downloads

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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Japan has more than its fair share of strange mobile apps and games, and we hope to show you a few of them every now and then on this site – just because they’re fun. One such application is called Everyday ear-picking, which has just reached the 1 million downloads milestone. The game has you cleaning some stranger’s ear, as he provides feedback (in Japanese) as to how your doing. If you’re lucky, you might fish out some really big blobs of ear muck, which you can then add to your collection book. In the latest update to the game, the developers have added even bigger pieces of ear-muck for you to fish out [1].　Check out the video below for a closer look at how it works. While it’s pretty amazing that an ear-picking/cleaning mobile game even exists at all, it’s perhaps even more amazing that a million people have downloaded it. Initially released back last fall, the iOS version has been a steady top 50 ‘entertainment’ app for about three months now, while the Android version peaked last November when it was a top 5 game on Google Play in Japan for about three weeks. But overall, it’s a…

ear-picking-gameJapan has more than its fair share of strange mobile apps and games, and we hope to show you a few of them every now and then on this site – just because they’re fun. One such application is called Everyday ear-picking, which has just reached the 1 million downloads milestone.

The game has you cleaning some stranger’s ear, as he provides feedback (in Japanese) as to how your doing. If you’re lucky, you might fish out some really big blobs of ear muck, which you can then add to your collection book. In the latest update to the game, the developers have added even bigger pieces of ear-muck for you to fish out [1].　Check out the video below for a closer look at how it works.

While it’s pretty amazing that an ear-picking/cleaning mobile game even exists at all, it’s perhaps even more amazing that a million people have downloaded it. Initially released back last fall, the iOS version has been a steady top 50 ‘entertainment’ app for about three months now, while the Android version peaked last November when it was a top 5 game on Google Play in Japan for about three weeks.

But overall, it’s a good example of how a fun, unique idea with a dash of humor can hit a sweet spot with casual gamers in Japan, even with ridiculously simple artwork and gameplay. (via Gamer.ne.jp)

  1. Did I just write that sentence? I think it’s time to call it a day!  ↩

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