Anipang

Anipang is a South Korean mobile puzzle game available through Cyworld Appstore and Naver Social Apps. Anipang is a social network game in which users compete with each other. It was developed by SundayToz. Service began on 11 October 2012, and within 74 days, the game had been downloaded more than 20 million times, making it the first South Korean game to achieve that milestone.[1] On the strength of popularity, Sunday Toz has released a sequel titled "Anipang 2".[2] This game is under consideration for entering the North American market.[3]

Anipang
Developer(s)SundayToz
Producer(s)Jinho Kim, hyong ho park
Designer(s)Designer Hozo (South Korean)
SeriesAnipang, Anipang 2, Puzzle Anipang
EngineSamSung Android OS
Platform(s)Android, iOS
ReleaseSeptember 2, 2009
Genre(s)Puzzle

Cause of popularity

The first aspect is that this game is a short-term game, with sessions lasting one minute. Therefore, this game is good for passing the time when commuting or going outside to subways or bus stations. The second aspect relates to social networking services.[4] This game is based on the Kakao Talk system, so users can send messages to their friends related on kakaotalk friends. Also, Anipang's structure is simple and middle-aged people prefer to play this game.[5]

Controversy and influence

Anipang has been criticised by mass media in South Korea, because its basic structure is very similar to other mobile games. As a result, mass media and broadcasting people have accused the developers of copying other companies' ideas.[6] Another controversy has arisen over the gambling system; for example, Anipang: The Sichuan has a structure similar to the game of mahjong.[7] and there are other problems because of the bug. This bug programme causes the high score to rise automatically.[8]

Impact

This game was released in 2011 and became popular in South Korea mobile market, because Anipang is the first mobile game based on a social networking system in that market. There were over 5,000,000 users in 2011, and more people took part in and enjoyed this game after years. There are now over 20,000,000 users, the highest number of users in the mobile game market in South Korea. The stock price of the developer SundayToz has risen rapidly over the past three years.[9] Sunday Toz has opened an Anipang pop-up store in a department store in South Korea.[10] In 2015, Anipang 2 entered the overseas mobile market, reaching countries such as Japan and China. The community application 'Line' helped to spread Anipang.[11]

Sequels

The first sequel to the original Anipang, Anipang Sanghai, had a game structure based on the original Anipang.[12] There were more than one million advance bookings for downloads of Anipang Sanghai prior to its release.[13]

The second sequel to the original Anipang was Anipang Matgo. This game is based on a traditional Korean card game called hwatu matgo, while the design is similar to other Anipang games.[14]

The third sequel to the original Anipang was Anipang: The Sichuan. This game is based on the program named Sichuan. This game is similar to the Chinese game mahjong.[15]

References
  1. Ramstad, Evan (2012-10-09). "Anipang Grabs Time, Hearts of South Koreans". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. 대호, 이 (2014-01-14). "선데이토즈, 카카오 퍼즐게임 '애니팡2' 출시".
  3. 민주, 박 (2015-07-25). "[터치!Up&Down]선데이토즈, 대표작 '애니팡2' 북미 출시 앞두고 상승". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22.
  4. Wee, Willis (2013-05-24). Anipang-sundaytoz-kakaotalk-story/ "Maker of Korean Hit Game Anipang, SundayToz Talks About Its Story". Tech in Asia.
  5. 선미, 정 (2015-06-16). "모바일 게임 '애니팡'의 장수 비결 "아줌마, 아저씨를 사로잡다"". Chosun Ilbo.
  6. 이선희 [Lee Seon-hi]; 정주원 [Jeong Ju-won] (2015-10-30). "한국, 게임소송서 英에 패배 법원 "영국 게임을 표절했다"…줄소송 예고 "국내 게임산업 뿌리까지 흔들 큰사건"". Maeil Business Newspaper.
  7. 김지영 [Kim Ji-young] (2015-12-02). "판 깔린 카카오 맞고 사행성 논란 넘을까". Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05.
  8. 강물처럼의 게임세상 칼럼 (2013-05-28). "애니팡 고득점 버그 , 천만점을 넘겨라".
  9. 문영수 [Moon Young-su] (2014-01-06). "[Stock] '애니팡2' 파급력 크네…선데이토즈 급증". Daily Game.
  10. 이, 상원 (2015-11-13). "선데이토즈 애니팡 팝업 스토어, 백화점에서 만난다".
  11. 배옥진 (2014-05-11). "'애니팡2' 첫 해외진출, 라인 타고 일본 유력".
  12. 이상원 [Yi Sang-won] (2015-08-17). "선데이토즈, 신작 '상하이 애니팡' 사전 예약 돌입". Jeonja Sinmun.
  13. 이상원 [Yi Sang-won] (2015-09-03). "상하이 애니팡, 사전 예약 신청자만 100만 명 넘어". Jeonja Sinmun.
  14. 김시소 [Kim Si-so] (2015-08-26). "이정웅 '"애니팡 맞고" 카카오게임하기로 출시' 모바일 고포류 선데이-다음카카오 협력". Jeonja Sinmun.
  15. 디스이즈게임 (2015-03-03). "짝짝 붙는' 모바일 퍼즐 게임 '퍼즐맞고', '애니팡 사천성'과 크로스 프로모션 실시".
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