Nintendo Badge Arcade

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Nintendo Badge Arcade is a free-to-start application available from the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. The game involves collecting badges in various Nintendo-themed crane-game minigames, which can be used to customize the 3DS HOME Menu. It was first released in December 2014 in Japan, and later in November of 2015 for the Western world.

Gameplay

The game takes place in a digital arcade hosted by a pink rabbit called the Sales Bunny, a shop assistant who provides information and news to the player. The main hall is the menu of the game, where the player can select one of the various modes. From the main hall, the player can press to access one of the modes, press to place badges, press to view their collection, and use and , the , or the to navigate modes.

To earn credits to play on the badge-catcher crane machines, the player can pay real money, earn free plays, or enter play codes. Five credits cost ¥90 in Japan, $1.00 in the United States, £0.90 in the United Kingdom, and $1.30 in Australia and Canada. The player must have the funds in their Nintendo eShop account in order to purchase plays with real money; a Nintendo eShop Card or credit card is needed to add funds to the account. The player can earn free credits by playing the Practice Catcher once a day, or by receiving them as a gift on special occasions; first-time players receive five, free plays. To use play codes, the player must tap the bunny on the touch-screen in Badge Catchers mode and select "I have a play code!"; a play code can only be used once.

At certain times, the bunny will offer the player the option of increasing the number of plays to purchase at one time. The player can return to the original payment structure by tapping the bunny on the touch-screen in Badge Catchers mode and adjusting the Bundle setting.

The player can use badges to decorate the HOME Menu on their 3DS by placing them in open slots next to the software icons or by attaching them to folders; some badges also serve as software icons. Players can decorate with badges by accessing the badge box. Outside of the game, the badge box can be accessed through the HOME Menu Design settings; in the game, the Place Badges option in the main hall directly navigates to here. To attach badges to folders, the player must first have created a folder on the HOME menu; they can then be attached from the badge box settings as long as they are not already being used. The player can also use themes to customize the look of the HOME Menu; themes change the Menu's background and look of the folders.

Players' progress is saved automatically at specific times; such as whenever a play is completed on a badge catcher. During a play, if the system is turned off, loses power, or loses the Internet connection, the player can lose progress made since the last save as well as any remaining plays. Progress cannot be restored, and lost plays cannot be refunded.

Modes

Badge Catchers

The default crane used in Badge Catchers.

The Badge Catchers mode has a variety of catchers based on Nintendo franchises, such as Super Mario and Animal Crossing. The machines and badges available change with real-time updates. To control the crane, the player must press and hold or the yellow button on the touch-screen to move it left. Releasing the button will drop the crane and, if successful, collect any badges within its range. There are different kinds of crane-machines, as well, including a hammer and a bomb. After the player has used one of the catchers, they can swap to a different one for the next turn by pressing or between plays. The player can press to return to the main hall; once a number of plays has been started, the player must use them all before returning.

The contents of the badge catcher can also be reset by tapping the bunny and asking him to reset them. When a badge catcher's contents are reset, all badges still in the machine will be returned to their original positions and new copies of any badges the player has caught will be used to restock the machine; resetting does not affect the players collection of caught badges.

Practice Catcher

The Practice Catcher mode is a daily practice-version of a badge-catcher. Once a day, the player is given five plays, ten plays, twenty plays, etc. on a featured, practice catcher to play on for free. In this mode, the badges are replaced with "dummy badges" made of wood, and there is sometimes a "bonus" badge in the catcher. The bonus badge can have a red or blue target printed on the hidden side, making it a game of chance. When the player gets the super bonus, they earn three free play-credits for the red targets and one for the blue. The player can also earn free plays by catching practice badges; earning one free play for every ten practice badges. Additionally, clearing the practice machine of badges with plays still remaining will refill its original content.

Additional modes

The Collection mode is where the player can see all of the badges they've collected so far. The player can view the number of badges owned, sets started, sets completed, and which category a set belongs to. As the player gets more badges, they will level-up and there will be upgrades made to the main hall; the upgrades being changes made to the statue for the collection. The first level-up, the "entrance level-up," occurs when the player acquires 20 badges.

The Miiverse Gallery mode has posts that players have made to Miiverse to show their customized Home Menus. It is a curated space, so posts are chosen and recommended by Nintendo.

The Theme Shop is a section of the arcade that can be accessed if the player has completed the objectives for a "special offer". The special offers are timed events where the player will need to buy a certain number of plays during a period of time in order to receive the bonus theme being promoted.

The Help Desk is a section of the arcade where the player can change the categories in their badge box, sign-up for the newsletter, or set-up info sharing. The player can also find out about badge problems, transferring data, and access the digital, instruction manual.