China’s latest gaming hit is Tabi Kaeru, a travelling frog from Japan
A Japanese-made game about a frog is the latest mobile phone offering to prove a hit among China’s millions of gamers, state media reported.
Tabi Kaeru, or “travel frog”, has topped the charts on Apple’s app store in China for free downloadable games.
A topic of the game on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, has also been viewed 400 million times.
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The game was developed by the firm Hit-Point. Players collect clover leaves and use them to buy food and other items to help the frog in its travels around the world.
The animal later returns with “gifts” and snapshots of where it has been for the player.
Some players are so hooked they are using software to cheat and boost the numbers of clovers they can collect, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
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Players said on social media they loved the gentle pace of the game amid the pressures of modern life.
“There are so many places I want to visit but can’t. The frog does it all for me,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Oh my frog! When it was at home, I always wanted to get it out, but when it’s gone I can’t help checking every few minutes to see if it’s back home.”
Hit-Point is also the developer of cat-watching mobile game Neko Atsume, which found similar popularity among gamers around the world, including in China.
