"Trickle: Mochi Mochi Hoppe Daisakusen" Half-Anniversary Commemoration: Over 5-Hour Special Video Released with Gratitude

EPID Games developed and bilibili published "Trickle: Mochi Mochi Hoppe Daisakusen," which is currently holding a special event to commemorate its half-anniversary.

The game achieved a peak ranking of 13th on both the Japanese App Store and Google Play sales charts, setting a new personal best.

This promotion has garnered significant attention, with bilibili producing a special commemorative PV exceeding 5 hours in length. In this article, media outlet Bahamut interviewed Michael, a representative from bilibili, about this half-anniversary initiative.

Q1

Bahamut:

"Trickle: Mochi Mochi Hoppe Daisakusen" has already reached its half-anniversary since its release in Japan. It has also achieved its highest-ever rankings on Apple and Google sales charts (iOS sales rank 13th, Google sales rank 13th). How does the team feel about this achievement?

bilibili Representative Michael:

First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for the support of players worldwide, especially in Japan.

In "Trickle," we regularly distribute many rewards, and we often see comments in the community expressing concern, such as, "With such generosity, can this game really be operated for a long time?" We believe that the wonderful achievements made during this half-anniversary serve as a good answer to that question. We, bilibili and Epid Games, aim to operate this game for a long time, rather than implementing many monetization elements that would cause players to quickly leave.

We believe that these results prove that our operational policy is correct and sustainable in the long run.

Q2

Bahamut:

Many Archons (players) have noticed that this half-anniversary featured not only in-game events but also numerous projects aimed at enhancing brand power. What was the intention behind this?

bilibili Representative Michael:

We have always considered "Trickle" to be more than just a game; it's an IP. Therefore, for the half-anniversary, we wanted to bring this worldview into the real world, beyond just in-game events.

For example, this includes collaborations with the Post Office Net Shop, the GAMERS x Trickle POP UP store, ongoing Vanguard projects, a Famitsu commemorative feature, and an official comic adaptation project. Through these contents, we aim to gradually expand the world of "Trickle" into an "entertainment culture" that transcends the boundaries of a game.

Q3

Bahamut:

What surprised us about this half-anniversary promotion was that bilibili produced a PV that lasted for 5 hours. How did you come up with such an initiative?

bilibili Representative Michael:

It was the result of deep consideration on how to make it a memorable event for the Archons, convey our gratitude, and make them feel that it was "made with heart." We wish to walk alongside the Archons and remember all the adventures and stories they experienced in Aelias. It is precisely because the Archons first descended that Aelias, where everyone now lives, exists. So, we thought, perhaps in a somewhat "clumsy" way, we could create a half-anniversary commemorative PV that all Archons could participate in.

PV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-1zDRyCgf4&t=13s

Actually, at that time, we had another idea. We put out several offline outdoor advertisements for this half-anniversary, and we had a plan to combine the IDs of all Archons to create a key visual to express our gratitude and display it. However, due to issues with personal information protection and legal regulations regarding outdoor advertisements, this idea unfortunately did not materialize. The entire team was very disappointed.

（Outdoor advertisement draft that was rejected）

Half-anniversary outdoor advertisement

Q4

Bahamut:

What kind of story does this half-anniversary commemorative PV depict, and what concept was it designed with?

bilibili Representative Michael:

The theme of the half-anniversary PV is "Drawing a single dream together." The main character is the new apostle "Eed," who is the highlight of the half-anniversary version. She is an apostle who sleeps eternally in dreams, having been in loneliness and confusion for a long time. Unable to distinguish between reality and dreams, she refuses to wake up. But then she meets the Archon, feels warmth under their protection, and re-recognizes the world of Aelias.

Many fragments of memories appear in the PV. These fragments hold the stories experienced by each individual Archon. In-game scenario scenes are reproduced with animation, bringing them back to life as vivid memories. You can see famous scenes of Spiky and highlight scenes of Elfin. The Archons' memories and experienced stories weave a warm dream. For Eed, it is both a dream and a reality, a warm and joyful world.

And most importantly, the UID of each and every Archon. This was a truly grand project. It is because the Archons were here that we have these wonderful memories in Aelias. That's why we wanted to include the names of all Archons in the PV.

Q5

Bahamut:

In the half-anniversary commemorative PV, I saw many Archons searching for their nicknames. Were there any interesting episodes during the production process of this video? It must have been very challenging to produce, wasn't it?

bilibili Representative Michael:

Including all Archons' UIDs in the commemorative PV was indeed a truly grand project. During production, simply importing hundreds of thousands of entries frequently caused PCs to freeze, and rendering and exporting the video took an enormous amount of time. If it stopped midway, we had to start all over again. Ultimately, we had to split the complete list into several parts and proceed with the work little by little.

Considering the privacy of the Archons, we also masked the list, but this process was extremely long... Within the limited production period and display constraints, we wanted to include as many Archons as possible, so we cut down on time to the absolute limit. The target was limited to Archons who registered from the service launch until February 26th, completed the tutorial, and reached Archon Level 20. Even so, we had less than three weeks left for production. We were really worried about frequent rework in the process, but fortunately, we managed to make it in time.

Few people would do something like this, but we believe it is meaningful for the Archons. In fact, many people searched for their nicknames, and influencers and creators also enjoyed it.

Q6

Bahamut:

Many players evaluate "Trickle" as "one of the easiest two-dimensional social games to play." Is this an intentional design concept?

bilibili Representative Michael:

Yes, that is one of the most important concepts of "Trickle." What we want players to experience is "ease, warmth, and stress-free" time. Therefore, from the initial stages of game design, we have tried to avoid designs that would make players feel pressured. For example, there's no need to log in for long hours every day, nor do you need to pay to get apostles.

In fact, even without spending money, you can eventually collect all apostles if you invest time. Previously, you had to log in at fixed times, noon and night, every day to receive candies, but we received feedback from the community asking to be able to receive them via mail. So, the operations team immediately changed it to mail reception in the next version as requested. This should relieve the pressure of having to log in at a fixed time. We want players to always feel happy and relaxed when playing "Trickle"!

Q7

Bahamut:

In addition to existing training and combat, are there any plans to add more casual mini-games or other playful elements to increase player enjoyment in the future?

bilibili Representative Michael:

Actually, we currently have several mini-game-like contents available. These do not require deep thought or long playtimes; you can easily launch them anytime and play for about two minutes to find yourself laughing.

Going forward, we plan to continuously provide even more casual and fun content with updates. We don't want players to feel burdened by thinking, "I absolutely must clear this today."

Above all, playing casually and relieving stress—that is our original intention.

Q8

Bahamut:

Some players have commented that "Trickle" hides sometimes melancholic or even crazy settings behind its cute appearance. How does the scenario team balance the humorous parts with the serious stories when writing the narrative?

bilibili Representative Michael:

Simply put, the development team first builds an emotional connection between players and characters through cute and comical daily depictions. For example, making players naturally feel, "This character is the comedic relief."

Then, at critical junctures in the story, these characters show a serious side. This evokes feelings like, "I was moved," "She has grown," or "She has become a reliable presence."

As an example, there's an episode in the 100-day anniversary version where Queen Elfin bakes a cake to celebrate the Archon's 100th day of descent. Just when the story's emotions are heightened in such scenes, unexpected gags or bizarre developments might be inserted the next moment.

Even if the worldview contains a bit of madness or melancholy, being with companions makes it feel warm and healing. And by laughing, they can overcome that moment. This is the philosophy behind storytelling in "Trickle: Mochi Mochi Hoppe Daisakusen."

Q9

Bahamut:

"Mochi Mochi Hoppe" (squishy cheeks) is one of the game's biggest features. Are there any plans to incorporate more dynamic facial expression changes in combat and dialogue scenes to make character expressions even more lively in the future?

bilibili Representative Michael:

Players are attracted to this game not only by its story and cute, unique characters but also by the unique interaction where you can pinch a character's cheeks anytime.