I’m not sure how to feel about this game.
Nintendo Badge Arcade is a free to start 3DS game that allows you to customise your 3DS homescreen. You earn badges by playing a virtual crane game machine similar to what you would see at a local arcade.
Here is the catch: to play you need to pay $1.30CAD to get 5 free plays. This lets you have a chance to receive badge. When you successfully grab one, you can then customize your 3DS Home Menu with badges.
You can play the practice game machine once a day, and if you play the practice game you get a chance to win a free play… No guarantees though.
You can affix the badges to your home menu without even being in the game and save certain styles for certain themes. Not only can you affix them to free spots, but you can also assign folders to a badge.
The only character in the game is a rabbit. I am not a fan of him, his soul purpose is to politely ask you to pay with your real money in order to play the game. He will usually have a spiel when you first sign on, and I find myself mashing through his conversation so I can get into the actual game. His conversations also work as advertisements for other games in the eshop. Mr Rabbit reminds me of a used car salesman on a TV commercial.
Speaking of signing on, this part is painstakingly slow. You have to be connected to the internet to play the game, and it can sometimes take over a minute to sign in.
Unfortunately, this is a game with micro-transactions, and I would love to pay something like $15 bucks to play the game whenever I want. I haven’t spent any money on it and I find I just start up the game when I have my 3DS already turned on and about to play some other game.
A positive about the game is you can earn a lot of badges without paying anything. Personally I just like playing the crane game, I don’t need any of these badges messing up my homescreen.
The actual crane game is fun to play. Unlike every other machine in the world, the virtual claw machine in Nintendo Badge Arcade is not rigged against you. You can pick up multiple items in a single round.
If you enjoy crane games, collecting and customizing your home screen menus, you will find some enjoyment from Badge Arcade.The game has charm and is well made (I mean, it is a Nintendo game), but I just can’t get over the micro-transactions. Spending real money to get a virtual low quality badge is not worth paying real money to most people, me included.
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