LINE Play…what IS this?

As you know I’m always on the lookout for nice new App games, as I’m always curious to see what’s out there. And I’m not at all averse to the social sites on the internet, I’ve found it’s a great way to meet new gaming friends. So when I came across the app that’s name LINE Play, I jumped right in. What a wondrous and sometimes strange world I landed into! LINE Play is best described as a dress-up social experience, where you create your own avatar and send her to live in a small house. The house is barren at first, but not to worry: you can decorate it to your hearts content. Your little character is the very grateful recipient of all the clothes and accessories you can think of. You can change her face, her hair and you can even give her a magic twinkling circle that follows her everywhere she goes.

So what do you do in the game? That part is less clear. There are some simple mini games to play, in the three-in-a-row variety. And you can have your character go for instance to Pirates island to fish. Or into the Square (last time I went I found myself in Times Square) where you walk around with lots of other avatars, and high five them. You can clean your room, water your plants and take a nap and do the same in friends rooms. When you write in your diary, you can even add real pictures and other stuff about yourself. In the lounge you can talk live with other people online, and inviting other players as your friend, they can see your diary and even contribute to it. As a parent myself, this all sounds a bit scary to me. Your son or daughter could easily get acquainted with someone who they don’t know, but who can see into everything they do in the diary. Made me think of the reason why Nintendo shut down its Swapnote.

The main purpose of the game isn’t socializing, or so it seems. The main focus is very clearly on earning gems, and spending them. You get an invitation code that others can enter (max. 10 times), or you can add others invitation codes (max. 5 times), netting the both of you 1.000 gems every time this happens. It’s fun to spend the gems them on the Gatcha machines. There are always offers to be had, getting clothes for instance from the Santa line of items. Usually the first item is reduced, and if you buy 10 spins on the machine that decides which item you will get, you get one for free.

The Gatcha machines decides what you will be getting, so a surprise every time. You need gems for all your clothes, changes to your character, accessories and decorate your house. And you need lots of gems for everyting too. So players spend a large part of their time acquiring gems. The other part is spent on getting hearts, which you get from friends that send them to you. But even they are aimed towards getting gems, as both you and the friend you “heart” get 10 gems for them. And if you haven’t gathered enough gems yet, you can always buy them for real money. The game is very persistent in trying to get your attention with special offers for them.

Even with the little time that I spent in the game I do understand the need for these gems. You see other avatars that look amazing, and have very cool homes with all the latest special items, and you want them too. And the items that you can get truly look so detailed and cute. If you are a collector, it would be hard to resist. It’s a pity though, that the game seems to boil down to spending gems and finding ways to earn more of them, not by doing some serious gameplay and achieving things, but just by plunging into this social platform and acquiring “friends” just to get gems from them. I think I will jump out again, I’ve seen enough.