Japanese Trends in Mobile Games

Japan and video games have had, since the beginning of this activity, a beautiful idyll. For many decades, they have been the leading country in this industry, which has become a real economic engine. Nintendo is the giant that comes to mind, but there are other productions that are all the rage inside and outside Japan's borders. These, following the current trend marked by fashions, do not occur on consoles, but are designed for cell phones, the favorite devices of Japanese society due to their accessibility and connection speed.

Consolidated Mass Games

In small pocket devices, we have seen in recent years how the presence of gaming applications has been growing to practically unimaginable limits. Beyond new creations, they have also made the leap to small practical screens that were previously made physically in specialized premises such as poker, now present on platforms open to any operating system, whether iOS or Android, and that offer games and card championships against other users at the moment and with total normality.

In Japan, classics are also the order of the day, and the two games that lead the download list are from the Pokémon saga. The first and most played is the 2023 title Sleep, available anywhere in the world. Its operation is attention-grabbing, as it rewards users for sleeping and, depending on how long you rest, more creatures appear on the screen when you wake up. Slightly different is the now classic Pokémon Go, which encourages walking and makes use of augmented reality to demonstrate skills as a trainer.

Completing the podium is a title that is not of Japanese origin, but Turkish, but that has entered the country very well: Royal Match. Released in 2021, it's a puzzle game that invites the player to connect three or more objects to score points and overcome different screens. The objective is none other than to advance between areas and build a castle. Part of its appeal lies in the sheer number of challenges it poses. While it is true that in both Europe and America it has accumulated millions of downloads, one of the continents where it has received the most acclaim is Asia.

Original Japanese Productions

On the lists of the most downloaded mobile applications in the country there are also other productions, perhaps more unknown to the general public, but which enjoy great popularity. One of them is Disney Tsum Tsum, which has two different versions: one for Japanese and one global. With more than 70 million registered accounts, the goal is none other than to order the items of a store before it reopens. It is a classic puzzle, although adding the component against the clock that gives it a different emotion to other offers.

Monster Strike was, in addition to a popular anime series, one of the games released for the Nintendo 3DS ten years ago. What few will know is that there is a version that brings strategy and multiplayer combat to any cell phone with the aim of cooperating to hunt monsters. Something similar is proposed by Dragon Quest Walk, released in 2019, and like Pokémon Go encourages you to walk in real life to unlock enemies and interactions with other characters. Therefore, having the geolocation of the device activated is essential to enter the fight.

And we finish with one of the latest novelties, less than a year old, and which is growing in number of fans. We're talking about Monster Hunter Now, which uses augmented reality to take this acclaimed saga of video console titles to another dimension. The avatar is placed on a map, where you can interact with the different creatures, triggering a battle of just over a minute. The purpose is none other than to collect resources to improve weapons and armor in order to level up and become a difficult opponent to beat.