I’ve been playing Magikarp Jump non-stop since it’s release last month and I have no idea why. The simple clicking freemium apps offers none of my usual video game criteria: there’s no combat, very little story and there’s more grinding than an early 2000’s Chinese World Of Warcraft gold farm. Still, I can’t help but log-in to see my little fish and pond every few hours, feeding and training it’s denizens, until one gets to strong and I have to repeat the process all over again.
After playing this game more than anyone in my life thought I’ve should, I’ve learned a few things along the way. Here’s what you need to buy, collect and understand in order to have the baddest Magikarp on the block.
Friendship Items, Decorations Make For A Happy Pond
I refuse to spend any real money on Magikarp Jump , choosing to waste my monthly gaming allowance on anything but a fish jumping simulator. If you're unlike me and willing to shell out actual money for this game, you can grow a gigantic Magikarp in no time. Buying every single Friendship Item and Decoration would be ideal, but if you still want to be able to afford lunch the next day, you might not want to spend every dollar on imaginary diamonds.
My top three Friendship Item buys are Charizard, Gengar and Slowpoke . With those three, you can get tons of JP, diamonds and rare items that will level up your fish in no time. If you're a free-to-play loser like me, you can still get some pretty fancy friends to cheer you on. Pikachu, Meowth and Bulbasaur can all be earned by winning Leagues and Litten is dirt cheap. With those four, combined with the Manaphy and Feebas that come swimming along after the app hasn’t been used for awhile, I can grow a karp to level 35 in no time.
Decorations have a constant effect on your fish, but have less of a noticeable difference. Finding out which one you should spend your diamonds on can be daunting. Do you need extra coins from events, more food in your tank or more JP from training? I find it best to spend your first couple hundred diamonds on Parasect Puffballs and a Substitute Plush , both of their effects are way to useful to pass up.
Earning enough diamonds to buy a Litten and the best Decorations can be hard, so try not to waste the precious premium currency. If you get an ordinary Magikarp without a unique bonus from the pond, try not to reroll. I wasted my first 100 or so diamonds trying to get a perfect stat, gold karp, only to regret that decision when I needed an ecosystem for my portable biodome.
Once you’ve gotten past one million JP, growing your fish gets way more difficult. Hundreds of thousands of points are needed just to move the leveling bar just a little bit and the game can get even more tedious. Every trainer rank takes more time to level up, meaning that gaining progress in the Leagues takes forever. It takes me two or three fully evolved Magikarps playing the same League fights just to go up one level.
Creating an uber-karp isn’t easy, nor is it worth the effort. I’m not sure why I play this game, but I can’t stop. Now I know what real addiction feels like, staring at the tail end of a pixelated Pokemon, pointing it around a fish tank since it’s to stupid to notice the food directly in front it’s face. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch a fish slam itself into a tree.
