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Yo-kai Watch has never become the Pokémon competitor Level-5 likely wants it to be, despite its ambitious efforts. Even if the Nintendo 3DS games are more derivative of the monster-collecting genre than an inspired take on them, Yo-kai Watch did have at least one truly fantastic entry: Yo-kai Watch Wibble Wobble. But as of May 31, the iOS and Android game is going offline for good, the studio announced.
“We’ve had a wibbly wobbly adventure, but soon it will be time for us to say good-bye,” an in-app announcement reads. “As of April 2nd, 2018 all in-app purchases, using real currency will be disabled. ... You can still keep playing the game on your device until May 31st, 2018.”
Level-5 will shut down Wibble Wobble’s servers on May 31, rendering the game unplayable. It’s a sad ending for the entertaining mobile game, which unfortunately failed to grow much of an audience since its launch in 2016.
Yo-lai Watch Wibble Wobble is a match-style puzzle game, where Yo-kai heads replace blocks and the game board is a big ol’ circle. The point is to string together as many Yo-kai “wib wobs” (yeah, yeah, I know) to rack up bigger ones and unleash combos to damage enemy Yo-kai. Winning the battle under certain conditions will let you capture that Yo-kai for your team; you can also spend in-game currency to unlock new ones, or combine them to create different monsters as well.
All of this makes for a deep game that commands all of your attention. Even with free-to-play conventions like a cooldown timer and a paucity of in-game currency, I found myself spending hours and hours playing Wibble Wobble. I traveled across its map, where progressively harder monsters lived; I replayed levels in the hopes of accomplishing the conditions that would give me the right to add a Yo-kai to my party.
I don’t dislike the main Yo-kai Watch series; I even think the anime is perfectly pleasant. But Wibble Wobble was the franchise’s shining star, at least for me. I’d recommend dipping into it now before May 31, but it may not be smart to get too invested — you’ll have to mourn the game’s death just as you get addicted.
