Miitomo, the first mobile Nintendo app released yesterday and is already a huge success with over 3 million users worldwide. Nintendo is known for popular series like Super Mario and ‘The Legend of Zelda’ but Miitomo is something completely different. It’s a social application where you’ll get to know your friends a little better. I’ve been playing it for a day now and tell you what’s it all about.
Create your Mii
First thing I needed to take care of was my own Mii. You can create this from scratch or you take a picture of yourself, which will be transformed ,to your new digital face. Not satisfied with how you look? You can change practically everything, ranging from facial expressions to the length of your character. If you even created a Mii character on a Nintendo console or handheld you basically know what to expect. Once created, you can take some great pictures with it that can be saved on your phone with ease. The best part about your character is that it will speak, that’s right, everything you type, will be voiced thanks to an automatic voice that reminded me of the Google Translate voice.
The best part of it all is that you can even select the kind of voice you want to give your characters, ranging from close to realistic voices or high-pitched hilarious voices. Typing and especially hearing your and your friends’ answers pronounced by the little Mii is extremely funny and even a reason to download the application on your mobile phone!
Get to know your friends
Creating a Mii character isn’t the goal of this social game, however, getting to know your friends is. By linking your social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook) to your Miitomo account, you can start looking for friends. When you’re in the same room, you can even use special software to befriend the person you want to add on your list. Once you’ve added friends, you’re set to really start playing Miitomo.
Every day, the game or one of your friends ask you a random question ranging from ‘What’s your favorite television show’ to ‘What was the last thing you bought’. By answering them, you reveal a little more of your personality. People in your friend list can visit your Mii and check out the answers you gave. The same goes the other way around of course. It’s fun to visit your virtual friends and see what they had to answer. This results in some hilarious situations since your friends don’t always answer the questions seriously.
Besides reading the answers, you can give hearts (likes) to certain answers, which will give the Mii owner some extra Miitomo points or even small My Nintendo account bonuses. Giving hearts isn’t the only possibility, you can always respond to their answers by starting a chat right under the original question. All in all it doesn’t sound as much but it’s definitely fun to get to know some of your friends better thanks to the questions. The only real concern I have right now, is if this stays fun after a couple of weeks messing around with.
Dress to impress
A Nintendo game won’t be a Nintendo game with little extras, same goes for Miitomo. The biggest extra is the shop where you can buy new clothes. The shop is updated on a daily basis so you’ll always find the item you’ve been looking for. If you change your clothes regularly, you’ll get more style points which will once again give your more Miitomo points or game tickets but what are those game tickets? Well, you’ll need those to play Miitomo Drop.
Miitomo Drop is the closest to an actual game in the Miitomo app. In Miitomo Drop you can first drag one of your friends to the left or right side of the screen before dropping him/her down. Based on where this character lands you’ll score unique clothing or candy. Of course the main reason to play Miitomo Drop is to unlock unique costumes such as a hotdog outfit (no joke) but the candies give you a way of unlocking extra answers of your friends. You see, there are no losers in Miitomo Drop!
To download or not to download
Now, the real question is, is downloading Miitomo worth it, well it actually is. It’s a free download so you can’t really lose a lot by doing so. The only major letdown is the way you have to look for friends however. If you don’t have them on Facebook or Twitter, or don’t know them in the flesh, you can’t add them to your list. You can take a QR code of your character but this won’t add the character to your list, by scanning the code, you can see the profile of the other user but he/she will not be added to your list. It’s a typical Nintendo way of handling friends but it’s something that could eventually hold Miitomo back from really becoming great. As it is now, it’s a fun experience that’s definitely worth trying thanks to the great questions, Miitomo Drop and the store. Be sure to try it with some of your friends!
