How this cute travelling frog conquered Hongkongers’ hearts (and phone habits)
Smartphone game Travel Frog is only available in Japanese, and has just one character, who players can’t control. But it’s still wildly popular in the city
Hongkongers’ desire for freedom, emotional fulfilment and even parenthood are thought to be firing the viral popularity of a Japanese smartphone game in the city.
Travel Frog, also known as Tabi Kaeru, has become a regular fixture at the top of the iOS App Store charts in Hong Kong and China only a few weeks after its release, having been downloaded by millions of users already.
Created by Hit-Point, the maker behind 2014’s cult cat-rearing game Neko Atsume, Travel Frog follows the adventures of a cute cartoon frog with wanderlust.
“It’s not a companionship, but more a feeling of connectedness that players get out of it,” says clinical psychologist Jamie Cheng. She says: “You’re fulfilling a need through the frog: having a simple life outside of the office, going wherever you want without restrictions.”
It also shares many of the features which made its predecessor wildly popular in East and West alike, namely its cute, whimsical aesthetic and intuitive gameplay which makes it accessible to players despite only being available in Japanese.
Save China’s pandas by raising a virtual one? Mobile game slammed for being too simplistic
In the game, players keep a virtual frog which – unusually, for a game – they cannot control or interact with in any meaningful way. Instead, the frog frequently leaves its small hut on trips around Japan, bringing back souvenirs and photos.