Embark on a cozy adventure with Hello Kitty and Friends and restore an abandoned island to its former glory!

If you haven't already heard, Hello Kitty Island Adventure launched exclusively on 28 July 2023 on the Apple Arcade platform. 

The aim of the game is simple: you start off by creating an avatar to join Hello Kitty and Friends on a flight to an island. Things take a turn for excitement when Hello Kitty's attempt to treat everyone to some baked cupcakes causes the plane to hit turbulence and everyone has to parachute out of there asap! 

You land on the mysterious island, which was supposed to be your original destination, except now you had to crash land and your first goal is to reunite with everyone, as they’ve been scattered about the place. 

Doesn't my avatar have Animal Crossing vibes?

Your second goal is to unlock the mysteries of the island and return the place to its thriving glory days.  As you progress and explore the island, you will be able to slowly reveal recipes as you test out different combinations of ingredients. The more elaborate recipes can even be unlocked through friendship levels.

[Hello Kitty Island Adventure: All Recipes (& How To Make Them)]

There are tasks to complete, lots of them. Tasks to track down things for friends, build things using materials found on the island and a crafting table, to solve Zelda Breath of the Wild-inspired dungeons (albeit far simpler ones), and puzzles to unlock more parts of the island.

In addition to tasks, there are minigames to play, fishing and bug catching to indulge in; even photography tasks to complete! There's a whole lot activities to be done, and while similar to Animal Crossing, it is not exactly the same: you get to be involved in setting up the economy and society of the island to make it a success.

First Impressions

What I have been up to so far

Since I happened to have an activation for Apple Arcade for 3 months, I decided to download and try this adorable game. 

I initially installed it on my iPad Pro with the intention of playing with my pro-controller. But for some reason I was not able to connect them, so I switched over to play on my iPhone instead using just the touch screen controls.

The touch screen controls are a bit frustrating as they are either too sensitive or not at all. When I want to run, I end up jumping or  slow walking in the wrong directing, when I want to jump I never end up when I want to land. In total, I played less than 10 minutes as the navigation experience was subpar.

After updating my iPad Pro to iOS16.6, I was finally able to connect my pro-controller! And the difference is as clear as night and day! I am now more invested in playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure for the next 3 months to see if it's worth getting in the long run (or perhaps it might come out on the Nintendo Switch?). 

So much better playing on a bigger screen. This weekend, I'll try playing it on my Mac and pro-controller. 😍

Verdict: 4/5

The game aesthetics are both simple, but effective and adorable! 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a  massive place to explore, with regions being broken up into various themes – volcano area, swamp area etc). Each of those regions are each a colorful feast for the eyes, and makes exploring and playing around in each of them bright and fun. I cannot wait to each one of them and unlock more outfits options too!

Have you downloaded and played Hello Kitty Island Adventure? What are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments below! 

Toki Tori was originally about two decades ago in 2001 on the Game Boy Color, before seeing re-masters of sorts appear on the Wii and Wii U etc... I actually had my first encounter with this game on device called the Palm in the mid 2000s.

So imagine my delight when I got the Nintendo Switch and saw it on the e-shop... on sale! Of course I had to get it and relive my childhood.

It's a very rewarding yet challenging and fun puzzle game. You are tasked with guiding Toki Tori around 5 worlds and their multiple levels. To complete each level and progress to the next, you need to collect all of the eggs. All of this is to be accomplished with a set number of moves and abilities such as building bridges, freezing the enemies, and using blocks, bubble or teleportation etc... 

The first world is relatively simple and with each world and level you get introduced to new abilities. Of course the more you progress, the more challenging it becomes and solving the puzzle really takes some brain power. Thankfully there are videos online to help you out if you do get stuck on  certain levels and it gets somewhat frustrating as you find yourself sort on one bridge or teleport move to complete the level.

One of the features I love is the rewind button by simply pressing the 'Y' Button! This saves time having to restart the level all over again and you can just continue from where you think you made a mistake. It does bring the frustration level down a little but then having to start again from the beginning: you get to trial run some of the moves and redo them to get the right path to collect all the eggs.

There are 5 worlds which offer a set of regular levels. Once you have cleared the regular levels, the 'hard' and 'bonus' levels are unlocked. Both of these advanced levels are even more challenging and makes you really think out of the box, giving the most well-practiced puzzle experts a brain workout for sure. 

From World 2 onwards, there's a Wildcard option which enables you to pass on to the next level. You can only use this once and once you've spent it  you will need to complete the particular level it was used on in the future to have it returned to you. Of course there is the other alternative to search Google and find the solution online to see what you missed out. 

Toki Tori's difficulty is hard but rewarding when you manage to solve the puzzles: it forces you to plan out and execute each move to exact precision and timing, the wrong move could jeopardize the whole flow which results in a failed level. Unlike other puzzle games which are tricky due to infuriating mechanics which are out of your control, in Toki Tori you have more control per se. 

Some levels are relatively easy but others, especially as you progress, makes you wonder if it actually can be solved or not. The satisfaction comes from having solved or realizing what was the critical step to solve the level. Yes, even if you play cheat and find the solution from the countless of videos available on the internet it is still satisfying. 

Not only are the graphics and animation easy on the eyes, the soundtrack is adorable and catchy! So even if you are stuck on a certain level, it helps to soothe the frustration somewhat. 

Verdict: 4.5/5

Toki Tori is an adorably charming game which is fun and tricky at the same time. It really gives your brain a workout and the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when is complete each level is indescribable: it's like you feel you gain more intelligence with each level you complete as you are forced  come up with perfect solutions throughout the game. 

It's totally worth the money, more so when it is one sale on the Nintendo e-shop.

So if you love yourself a good puzzle game, or simply want to have it on the Nintendo Switch, you should get it! 

Do note that this blog post may contain product affiliate links. If you purchase something through a link on this blog post, we may receive a commission, which goes into the upkeep of this blog.

If you haven't heard already, there's a new Pokémon game in town and it is supposed to help you sleep better.  You don't catch Pokémon , but get to befriend them to help you raise a Snorlax each week - the bigger the Snorlax gets, the more rewards you get in game. The more you sleep, the better it is.

Gameplay

Playing is really easy,  all you need to do is sleep using your mobile device with the app or get the Pokémon Go Plus+ to record your sleep. If you don't want to over work (and overheat) your phone's battery, the Pokemon Go Plus+ is a must get! 

Shopee - SGD$79.90

Now on to the gameplay which consists of a bunch of tutorials, guiding you from your first sleep session on getting started and orientated: introducing the Snorlax which you have to feed each week at different locations and get rewards, at the the same time befriending Pokémon to help you gather ingredients for cooking and feeding your Snorlax of the week. 

Unlike the usual Pokémon games where you catch them, in Pokémon Sleep you befriend them instead. So I doubt they are transferrable to the other Pokémon games, and the Snorlex you meet at just for show (or feeding so to say).

Other than that change in catching to befriending, it looks like the levelling system is here to stay: not only do Snorlax and each Pokémon have a levelling system, but so do the Recipes for cooking. The higher the level, the more things you can cook and more skills/capabilities your befriended Pokémon unlock to feed your Snorlax of the week. 

Then you have Incenses, and rare Pokémon with feed requirements, and evolution items to buy etc… For evolving the Pokémon you have befriended you'd need items and candy. So the more you sleep, the more rewards... It's not called Pokémon  SLEEP for nothing. 😁

As with the games series, you will work with a professor to studying the sleep patterns and gain rewards.

Meet Professor Neroli Did you know, neroli is an essential oil that comes from bitter orange trees?

According to the app, the ideal amount of sleep is 8.5 hours. You can do 2 sleep sessions each day but they must be 90 minutes minimum. You set an alarm within Pokémon Sleep to remind you to go to bed and then set one to wake you up. There's also the function to play relaxing sounds to help you doze off.

If you use your mobile phone, not only is your battery life at risk so is your privacy -  the game will record your sounds (which are supposed to be only saved locally and wiped every 24 hours) to determine what mode of sleep you are in. Hence the reason why I prefer using the  Pokémon Go Plus+ as the app does not need to be running to use and it can easily sync the sleep data in the morning via bluetooth.

Types of Sleep

There are 3 types of sleep: Dozing, Slumbering and Snoozing.

Based on the duration of your sleep at the different stages, various Pokémon will spawn the morning after. They have multiple ‘Sleep Styles’, so in terms of collecting there's the Pokémon, their sleeping styles and did I mention you can even befriend Shiny Pokémon?

You use biscuits to befriend the Pokémon and add them to your team. They will then collect the berries and ingredients to feed the Snorlax and for cooking recipes.

Certain types show up based on the quality of your sleep. You are initially gifted a Pikachu and if you use Pokémon Go Plus+ you get an extra Pikachu helper wearing a nightcap. 

And that's how Pokémon Sleep works. It also includes tips about healthy eating and other aspects of your life, especially about sleep. If you are looking for something to motivate you to improve the quality of your sleep by gamifying it, then this is the perfect app.

There's the monetization part of the game but I find it pointless, as I see it more as a motivation for better sleep rather than grinding and playing to get the highest level per se. If you want to grind and play something more play worthy then Pokémon Go would be a better choice. Pokémon Sleep is more a lifestyle enhancement app which gamifies sleeping - perfect if you want to reward your sleep but not really worth paying anything in-game for. 

Have you played  Pokémon Sleep? Let us know in the comments below!