 |
A Tetris-like mobile phone game has enthralled Koreans of all ages with its simple and addictive features.
Anipang, a mobile application developed by SundayToz, has become the latest mobile craze. The one-minute game, provided by the country's most popular social messaging service Kakao Talk free of charge, has gained huge nationwide popularity since its release in September.
According to its producer, the app has been downloaded some 20 million times in total and about 67 percent of smartphone users in the country have the game set up on their mobile phones.
The majority of its addicts says they were not fond of either online or mobile games before but have gradually fallen into the world of 49 cartoon animals once they gave it a go with friends or colleagues.
The players, connected through the mobile messaging service, are spurred to play more games to beat their Kakao Talk friends, with rankings and scores being updated in real time. This competitive element plus the one-minute time limit makes the game more addictive.
But apparently, there are certain downsides that this game has brought to its users and even nonusers _ unwelcome disturbances and possible health problems.
Many of those who have no interest in it are complaining about getting unwanted messages such as "heart" requests from their acquaintances in the middle of the night _ one heart is a necessary item to play one game.
Health experts warn users of such risks as worsening eyesight and neck aches if they play the game for too long.
![[INTERVIEW] North Korean defectors bear brunt of remittance scams](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/75c261156ac7415fad92dc1d7c1b30cf.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Foreign-born entertainers seek to revolutionize local industry](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4a6b2bd3d23044d699dee3c5bb956863.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
