Have you ever looked at the social media out there and thought, “These are cool, but I wish there was a social media platform where I could dress up like a panda and answer bizarre and specific questions about myself.” Okay, you probably haven’t. But if this sound interesting to you, check out Miitomo, Nintendo‘s new social media and first mobile app: Miitomo.

The app plays similar to Tomodachi Life, a title for 3DS in America (also on DS in Japan exclusively). Tomodachi Life gives the player and island to customize and move Miis to and watch them live and interact together. Miitomo is a social version of Tomodachi life but with fewer mechanics. Instead of a player controlling multiple Miis, users make one Mii to represent themselves. The app is available on iPhone and Android.

Miitomo isn’t really a game. It’s not exactly like Twitter or Facebook either. It’s more of a way to share random trivia about yourself and your friends as well as make silly pictures and interact on each other’s answers. The audience Miitomo appeals to is pretty specific– it will click for some people and make no sense to others.

Miis are customizable both in looks and personality. Users can then add friends and see their answers to different questions in the game like “What do you collect?” and “When was the last time you felt deeply moved? What moved you?” You can answer the questions however you want, which opens the door for a lot of touching or hilarious possibilities.

Answers may be public or just shared between you and a friend, but the questions appear at random. The user cannot make any specific question appear, and whether or not they are public is prompted by the app itself. This can get a little frustrating if you see your friends answer a question that you want to, but users can comment on other’s answers to weigh in or answer the question as well. It’s fun to see what kind of question you get asked next. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are way out in left field.

Answers will only ever be shared with friends, which users add by sending friend requests. Friends can be found via contacts on Twitter and Facebook and in person if their device is near the user. The app doesn’t offer much to do without any friends to share it with, so having friends who use it is a near necessity. Sure, you could use it by yourself, but it’s basically the same as talking at a wall since there’s no one to be social with. The app isn’t accessible on computers, so that limits it’s audience for those without compatible phones.

Interacting daily on other’s answers by commenting and answering questions will give the user coins. The coins can be spent on clothes to customize the user’s Mii. Apparel ranges from jeans and shirts to hotdog suits and cat ears. Clothes can always be won in Miitomo Drop, a minigame which plays a bit like pachinko. It’s essentially gambling for exclusive clothing items, and costs in-game coins or “game tickets” to play. Game tickets can be gained by completing daily tasks or from logging into the game every day. New clothing items are added to the store daily as well as seasonly.

Coins aren’t easy to gain. Users can get a set amount of them daily, but clothing costs more than you’d get each day. Users can save up the coins, but it takes time. Sometimes there’s a specific item in the clothing store available for one day only and no way to afford it because of the limited ways to earn money. Coins can also be purchased with real money in the app.

Miitomo doesn’t boast many more features yet. It could end up more fleshed out over time as Nintendo learns what the audience wants and how to improve the app. For now, Miitomo is a fun distraction and sharing site that offers something different than other social media. 

Kudos to Nintendo for making their first mobile app! Miitomo is a solid first step into the world of mobile apps. I’m excited to see how Nintendo grows over time in their venture into creating mobile apps. The company could use the mobile platforms for great things, or just end up falling flat. Only time will tell, and Miitomo makes me excited to see what’s next in Nintendo’s plans.

This writer can be reached via Twitter @ejladd and via email, [email protected]

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