Update 2016-04-15: The game is now also available in the US iTunes store.

In September Sailor Moon Drops, a Sailor Moon game for iOS and Android, was released in Japan. An English version of the game, now called SailorDrops, is now available in the Canadian iTunes Store and Google Play Store. Since this game is free American users should have no trouble downloading it. You’ll just need to switch your iTunes store to Canada (using the link on the bottom right of iTunes) and registering a Canadian iTunes account with a new e-mail address. Don’t like having to jump through these hoops to play this game? How do you think we enjoy watching stuff on Hulu?!

Update: It seems that this game is region locked and not playable on US iPhones. Hopefully the game will be out in the US soon.

The game is all about matching sets of three symbols to make chains and complete levels by getting certain points in a certain number of moves. The mechanics were a bit of a mystery in the Japanese version but this English version with English tutorials should be quite easy to follow.

The Japanese game has had a number of events and I’m not sure what the event schedule will be for the English game. A lot of them were date sensitive so starting those later in the English version wouldn’t make a ton of sense.

Be sure to add me as a friend. My username is Sailor Moon News and my ID is ww3a6189c. I probably won’t be the one playing but my girlfriend is pretty much obsessed with this game so if she switches from the Japanese version to this one, that account will have a lot of activity.

The Sailor Moon Drops Puzzle game was released today for iOS and Android devices. This free game is only available in the Japanese iTunes store but with a little bit of work you can set up an account and download Japanese games on a North American iPhone. I’ll include instructions to do so later in this post. Though the game is free it does include microtransactions meaning you can do in game transactions to buy items which will let you keep playing. To download the game use the links to the Google Play Store or iTunes store.

I’ll include a brief explanation on how to play, based on what I’ve managed to figure out. I don’t read Japanese but can infer enough about how to play just be touching around the game. Menus are easy enough to navigate. On the main screen hit the pink button then the blue button. Just tap the screen to advance through the Japanese dialog cut scenes. You’ll see Usagi meet Luna and transform into Sailor Moon. The game will walk you through going into a game screen. On the game screen hit the pink button a few times and follow the on screen instructions to make a move and make a 3 item match. Gameplay is like Bejewled and Columns. You swipe a gem to move it a single position. Make matches of 3 ore more to get points. Try to chain combos if possible. You’ll clear the level once you reach a certain number of points. Your remaining moves are in the top right corner. Filling up the pink bar on the top right gets you three stars. On the level select screen simply tap the level you want to play. In general you can advance through menus hitting the pink buttons.

The game becomes difficult based on the number of moves you get and the shape of the level. A rectangular puzzle is somewhat straightforward but odd shapes become difficult to navigate.

The game, being freemium, can’t very well let you play forever! The game’s currency involves hearts and gems. Hearts are needed to play and gems are used to buy hearts or other items. You start with 5 hearts and, if they are consumed, they are replenished at a rate of one heart per 30 minutes. Unlike many games you will not lost hearts simply by playing but only by losing. If you complete a level you will still have all your hearts but if you lose and want to continue Tuxedo Mask will show up and allow you to

On the main map you can scroll up to see where the game will advance to. Ami can be seen not far up, followed by Rei then Makoto and Minako. The map goes through a lot of Tokyo with locations such as Naru’s parent’s store Osa-p, the Hikawa Shrine and eventually into areas which appears to look like a Dark Kingdom stronghold and a Crystal Spire. After completing 10 stages I unlocked Sailor Mercury. It seems likely this trend will continue every 10 stages. Though I can’t read the text in the cut scenes it seems to somewhat follow the story of Sailor Moon as she argues with Mamoru at first and befriends the other girls going along on her journey. We also see villains such as Queen Beryl and Jadeite. It’s unclear just how far the story will go with the given map. It’s always possible that more content could be added at a later date.

The game allows you to register friends. This lets you compare top scores with others you know who have the game. Each user has a unique code. To view it and add friends simply click on the green arrow on the map screen then the little picture of Usagi with a heart. You can change your name here. Your ID is unique and this is what you give to friends. Click the “ID…” button to register a new friend. Might I suggest added 4a24eec?

Setting up a Japanese iTunes account is free and relatively easy to do. iTunes accounts are tied to a specific store. Mine was tied to the Canadian store. Many readers may have accounts tied to the US store or some other country’s store. If you happen to live in Japan then good for you the game is already in your store. If not there are a few simple steps you can do to register a Japanese iTunes account and switch the store back and forth on your phone. I followed a tutorial similar to this one and it worked just fine for me.

I don’t have an Android device on hand. If you have any trouble using the Google Play Store link try checking out this tutorial which seems to work for getting a Japanese game downloaded. Leave us a comment if this works for you so that I can amend the post.

Source: The Official Sailor Moon Site

Keep reading for more screenshots of this game.

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A new Sailor Moon video game has been announced on the official Sailor Moon site. Sailor Moon Drops is a puzzle game for iOS and Android devices being released by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on the screenshot, probably has gameplay requiring the player to match similar types of objects into sets of three. The most popular game this seems to resemble is Bejeweled which was itself inspired by the gameplay of a 90s game called Columns. The game will be free but it seems likely that it will have microtransactions, meaning that players will be able to pay to play longer or get some other in game advantage. There is currently no release date for this title.

Currently the game is open for pre-registration. Why pre-register for a free to play game? Well according to the game’s official site, this will allow users to get a few exclusive bonuses which appears to be two booster sets and 10 gems. Many microtransaction games will have some sort of in game currency which is accrued while playing that can be used to unlock special functions, continue playing to bypass some sort of time out penalty or retry a stage after failing. How common and valuable gems are in this particular game isn’t something we’ll know for sure until we get more information.

If you intend to play this game you should feel free to pre-register through the official site. First select your device from the buttons and then select to pre-register through e-mail or Twitter. I avoided signing up through Twitter when it asked for authorization to post using my account and access my direct message history. I signed up through e-mail which included filling out my e-mail address in the large white text field and then clicking the red button at the bottom of the page. The confirmation e-mail that I receive mentioned, in Japanese, that a serial code would be sent to me once the game is released which can be used to unlock those exclusives.

Many games are region locked in some app stores, which may be the case for this. For example if you have a non Japanese iTunes account you will not be able to use it to download games from the Japanese iTunes store. Since the game is not yet released we don’t yet know whether or not it will be region restricted. Bandai Namco Entertainment releases many games exclusively for North American and Japanese audiences, though many of their anime themed games which appeal to both audiences are in both app stores. It is easy enough to set up a Japanese iTunes account in order to download free games. This page has step by step instructions for doing so. I’ve successfully followed similar steps on my Canadian iPhone and am now able to simply switch from one account to the other in order to download Japanese games. The Japanese games will play fine regardless of which account you are logged in to. Should this be necessary to install the game, I will repost the details once the game is released.