On March 13, I attended the final demo event for Roco Kingdom: World before its official launch at the Canton Tower. In terms of content, the event was almost indistinguishable from any other event I had attended before—yet even so, it left a profound impression on me.
Because the image of the players inside and outside the venue differed greatly from my previous experiences.
On the way from the Canton Tower Plaza to the event entrance, I met many people gathered there because of "Roco Kingdom." However, upon closer observation, they shared little in common—two girls dressed in Hanfu were posing for photos with large balloons of the starter trio on the plaza's first floor; a boy carrying an "ita-bag" was standing in front of the creature wall, telling his companion stories about VIP status and the Royal Griffin; further inside, a group of fashionably dressed individuals were discussing their experiences of returning to the Roco Kingdom browser game during online classes...
The most prominent commonality among these people with completely different personalities and hobbies was simply that they had "played Roco Kingdom" before.
During the era of rapid internet普及, the Roco Kingdom browser game, with its simple controls and no need for client downloads, became a childhood memory for nearly every member of Gen Z in China. This is also why the "Roco Kingdom" IP still holds such immense appeal fifteen years later, able to bring together Gen Z individuals with vastly different personalities.
For the yet-to-launch Roco Kingdom: World, such a deep accumulation of IP history has already created a starting position that could almost be described as an "easy win." Currently, pre-registrations for Roco Kingdom: World have surpassed 50 million. The Gen Z players who held special nostalgia for the original Roco Kingdom browser game have now largely entered the workforce, making spending on "Q-Coins for VIP status" no longer the hesitant decision it once was.
On this foundation, Roco Kingdom: World could achieve decent results in a short time by simply cobbling together a client using content from back then—in fact, this is the path most "childhood memories" from the same period have taken.
However, upon officially entering the demo area, I discovered that over the past few years, Morefun Studios had firmly crossed out that path.
Unlike most demo events with strict procedural guidance, the offline demo for Roco Kingdom: World was quite casual in its flow—there were no written instructions, no staff explanations, and even the account on the device I received was a "second-hand account" left over from previous demo sessions, with much of the main story already completed.
Even so, once I got my hands on the game, I quickly felt the charm of Roco Kingdom: World. Building upon the worldview of the original 2D browser game, Morefun Studios has given a "3D translation" to familiar locations like "Shopping Street" and "Kingdom Castle," preserving classic elements while meeting the demands of modern gaming. In the process, they have created a wealth of explorable content for Roco Kingdom: World.
For example, as an open-world creature-collecting game, creatures with varying abilities play an irreplaceable and crucial role in the player's exploration journey in Roco Kingdom: World. In terms of movement, features common in modern open-world games—such as gliding, scanning, and fast travel via mounts—are all integrated into the existing creature system, serving as special non-combat abilities for creatures. When it comes to map exploration, whether it's sparkling spots on the ground, mineral crystals occasionally found at the foot of mountains, or various puzzles hidden throughout the vast world, players must rely entirely on the creatures they have captured to interact with these elements.
This means that for a new player of Roco Kingdom: World, continuously exploring the special uses of various creatures throughout the game flow is itself an interesting experience that constantly brings freshness.
Moreover, the important role creatures play throughout the player's entire game journey naturally endowed Roco Kingdom: World with another core gameplay loop that keeps players hooked besides "exploration and treasure hunting": dex collection. Regarding this mechanic, within just a brief tens-of-minutes demo session, I already experienced various collection methods such as "battling," "throwing balls directly," and "challenging specific levels." Later, during the press conference, Kaishui, the lead designer of Roco Kingdom: World, revealed more creative designs related to this gameplay feature.
Completing the full creature dex of hundreds of creatures in Roco Kingdom: World is a very "grindy" process, but at the same time, constantly unlocking creature icons does provide a unique sense of accomplishment. Therefore, to refine the experience and keep only the best, Morefun Studios has added more rewards to the creature collection mechanics in Roco Kingdom: World beyond the common methods mentioned above. For instance, in addition to standard stats and personalities, players in Roco Kingdom: World have the chance to capture Shiny Creatures. These Shiny Creatures not only provide the thrill of "winning the lottery" but also grant players special appearance dyes, possessing dual rarity attributes.
Furthermore, to further expand the playability of dex collection, the multiplayer features that were crucial during the Roco Kingdom browser game era have been creatively inherited in Roco Kingdom: World. Although the map content volume in Roco Kingdom: World has grown exponentially compared to the browser game era, thanks to the efforts of the Morefun Studios team, the most convenient multiplayer feature, "teleport to a friend's location at any time," has been preserved.
At the same time, Morefun Studios has been very generous with resource yields during multiplayer interactions. After performing a "hand-holding" interaction with an online friend, they can actively share creature resources from their world instances, including Shiny Creatures. This means that if you are fortunate enough to discover a rare Shiny Creature while exploring the open world, besides catching it yourself, you can also summon your friend to your location and gift them a present.
The diverse interactive content, abundant creature dex entries, and convenient multiplayer functions combine to create a positive gameplay loop in Roco Kingdom: World that continuously provides positive feedback.
Once you clearly see this point, the initial question—whether Roco Kingdom: World is merely cashing in on nostalgia or aiming to create a new enduring title for the current era—becomes much easier to answer.
Besides the gameplay potential of Roco Kingdom: World itself, another highlight of the press conference was the distribution plan introduced by Jane, Head of Marketing at Morefun Studios and Publishing Lead for Roco Kingdom: World, which covers players of different types.
For veteran players of the Roco Kingdom browser game, Roco Kingdom: World offers comprehensive upgrades in visuals and gameplay based on the original IP, aiming to recreate the "Roco Kingdom" from their memories as faithfully as possible. Veteran players who register and activate the new game through the browser game's SIM card event can instantly transform into their "childhood Little Roco" selves, regaining the most classic avatar and skin appearances. By participating in the "Bond Report" event, they can also earn "exclusive medals" and "exclusive titles" that replicate the experience of their first encounters.
In addition, Roco Kingdom: World will continue to expand its influence through a series of collaboration events. Within Morefun Studios' own IP ecosystem, players can claim collaboration rewards such as outfits and gun charms from Arena Breakout and Arena Breakout: Infinite after completing the "Play with Morefun" event tasks post-launch. In the broader cultural and entertainment sphere, Roco Kingdom: World will collaborate with Shanghai Animation Film Studio to release Year of the Horse-themed creatures, partner with Luo Tianyi to release a collaboration theme song, and work with Posts & Telecom Press to publish the first-ever creature dex book...
Through these multi-pronged collaboration strategies, besides awakening long-buried childhood memories of veteran players, Roco Kingdom: World also aims to achieve an "IP evolution" that retains its original flavor while fitting the context of the current era. This is not only to inject fresh vitality into this fifteen-year-old IP but also to continue fulfilling the vision stated by Enzo, President of Morefun Studios Group and creator of the Roco Kingdom IP: "to provide quality social games for a generation."
Fifteen years ago, when I first encountered the Roco Kingdom browser game, I was literally an "elementary school student." Back then, after class, I would always gather with classmates to discuss the latest plot developments and the creatures we had caught. For me at that time, the idea that "in the future, everyone will grow up, take different paths, and go their separate ways" was a concept that never even crossed my mind.
Of course, as everyone has personally experienced, what followed still happened—"Time is like a wild donkey; once it starts running, it doesn't stop."
But after concluding this Guangzhou trip dedicated to "Roco Kingdom" and meeting peers who had reunited because they "played Roco Kingdom," I found myself developing a contrary attitude toward something that should have felt perfectly normal.
Perhaps, with the help of Roco Kingdom: World, we can truly step back into