We Tested Bts World, The Mobile Game That (Slightly) Addicts Teens To The Game

The BTS World mobile application has been downloaded tens of thousands of times in just a few hours. It is inspired by a famous music group. We tested it so you don’t have to.

The wait is finally over. On Tuesday 25 June, the mobile game BTS World was released on different download platforms. It is inspired by a famous K-pop band, a Korean musical genre. A few hours after it was first put online, the hashtag #BTSWorld was already gaining the rank of the most used keywords of the moment on Twitter. We tested it for you.

Who is BTS?

If the game is so popular, it is first of all thanks to its subject, namely the BTS group. Originally from Seoul in South Korea it is composed of 7 singers: Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jin, Junghook, V and Jimin. Their very first song, No more dream, was released in June 2013. Since then, they have won numerous awards and were even named one of the 25 most influential personalities on the Internet by Time in 2017.

Thanks to their music but also their choreography and very studied looks, they are very popular on social networks They have 19 million subscribers on Instagram and an equal number on their YouTube dance channel, where their videos have been viewed 2.7 billion times.

The success went beyond the borders of South Korea in June, they played two sold-out concerts at the Stade de France.

Before forming the BTS group, the 7 young men did not know each other. They were recruited through auditions. Some of them already had a singing or rapping career, others didn’t. It is this adventure that (a little) the application tells about.

What is the purpose of the game?

The game starts with a little trip back in time. We are in 2012: the BTS do not yet exist (or at least not as a group) and you have just signed a contract with one of their members. You’re his manager and you’ll have to find him some travelling companions, then take care of the band by dressing its members, preparing their schedules, concerts, etc.

The application is not quite true to the band’s true story. She is however largely inspired by it and the characters are played by the 7 singers.

A free game in French

The first good news is that the application is available in 13 languages, including French. The bad news is that you’d better have a Wi-Fi connection nearby (or a very good mobile plan) to get started. The game – available on the App Store and Google Play) is divided into chapters. In order to play, it requires several successive downloads, and therefore a large consumption of mobile data.

Finally, it should be noted that the game is free… if you are patient. Each player has credits that can be used to complete missions. These credits reload automatically over time. If you get through it too quickly, you have to wait again, or pay for new credits. Do you see the unchecked spending coming?

What is the application really worth?

In addition to these few technical elements, the application takes the form of a narrative game. That means you can’t expect to have to jump over obstacles or fight bad guys. In the beginning, the player doesn’t do much good: he just scrolls through pictures that look like photo-novels with his fingertips.

The game then unlocks when you start recruiting members. Everyone has a sort of ” card” on which their personal skills are listed. To succeed in a mission, the player must make the right combinations of cards, based on these skills. Some people have compared the game to Pokémon.

If you’re not used to narrative games, the application may seem confusing or even frustrating at first. The scenario is clearly pre-established and it is not possible to influence or even contribute to it. It would have been nice to have more choice in the responses that can be sent to group members by SMS. There is so little variety in them that one wonders whether we can really change history. The developers explained to Le Figaro that our choices can influence our relationships with members, but only to a certain extent. You can’t argue with them, for example.

Nevertheless, the game is easy to play, thanks to a particularly successful design. The messaging interfaces with the singers or their social networks that can be commented on give an impression of realism.

The dialogues are sometimes a bit silly, but it’s actually quite normal. In the introduction, we learn that we are in the skin of a fan who finds himself or herself propelled by chance in 2012 to become the manager of BTS. It is therefore logical that the relationship is not always purely professional (without being completely romantic). The privileged links allow to know more about the members of the group, who played the actors to make the game.

Application excerpts // Source: BTS World

Exclusive contents

The development of the game took two and a half years,” the Netmarble studio told Le Figaro. During this time, many exclusive contents had to be filmed with BTS members. (Very) many exclusive photos are also available: 10,000 in total.

Finally, we will hear songs composed especially for BTS World, even if they are also available on classic download platforms. These include collaborations with Charli XCX and Zara Larrson.