I’ve played Infinity Nikki almost daily since it launched in November 2024, and over the past year, I’ve seen all the drama, the ups, and the downs unfold in both the game and its community.

Version 1.5 introduced some changes to the game that were poorly received by the community. Even with the huge backlash and noticeable drop in player base, the company behind Infinity Nikki, Infold, have yet to address all the concerns and disappointments from 1.5. One significant change that went unaddressed was the replacement of the original introduction and tutorial, which greatly affected Nikki’s character and story.

Between versions 1.5 and 2.0, there were six updates, two of which were major: one introduced a whole new Asian-inspired map, and the other introduced the long-awaited housing system.

Version 2.0 introduced a brand-new region, a new storyline and many new gameplay elements. This update also gives the player the option to choose which region and storyline they want to play at any time, so new players can start in the new region straight away.

With so many ups and downs over the year, is Infinity Nikki still worth playing, particularly in Chinese? Well, the short answer is, yes.

Let’s discuss some aspects of Infinity Nikki in more detail, so you can decide for yourself if this is a game you want to try.

What is Infinity Nikki?

Infinity Nikki 《无限暖暖》is a free open-world cosy exploration adventure game with dressing up that’s available on various platforms, including PC, mobile and PS5.

You accompany Nikki and her feline companion, Momo, as they travel across Miraland on a journey to discover its mysteries and uncover the Miracle outfits. Along the way, you’ll discover hidden areas, solve puzzles, complete jumping tasks, play mini-games, find collectables and much more.

Is Infinity Nikki free-to-play-friendly?

As Infinity Nikk is a free game, the company monetises it by selling cosmetic items such as poses, makeup, decorations and outfits.

Before we begin discussing how friendly Infinity Nikki is for free-to-play players, let’s clarify the cash shop and gacha system.

The Cash Shop and the Gacha System

The shop and gacha banner changes every 5 to 6 weeks. So far, there’s no confirmation from Infold on a rerun plan or schedule.

Cosmetics offered at the shop can range in price from ~$1 to ~$45. Occasionally, some items and sets are offered for free.

The gacha system features 5* (10 pieces) and 4* outfits (8 or 9 pieces). A featured 5* outfit may require up to 200 pulls to obtain, and collecting all its variations can take up to 400 pulls. The currency used in the gacha system can be earned by playing regularly or by purchasing with real cash.

Are there ways to obtain outfits for free?

Yes! Although the amount of pulls may sound scary, Infinity Nikki is actually very friendly to pure free-to-play players or low-spending players. With regular play, you can expect to learn enough currency to pull for a complete base 5* outfit every 3-4 months.

In the 12 months that I’ve been playing Infinity Nikki, as a very low spender, I have 6 complete base 5* outfits.

Pulling outfits from banners is not the only way to earn pieces to dress up your Nikki. The game offers many permanent outfits and 1000s of individual pieces that you can earn for free by playing, and more are added with each minor expansion.

Version 2.0 is a major expansion and adds over 10 free permanent outfits, including one 5 outfit and many individual pieces.*

An event season lasts 5-6 weeks and always includes at least one free outfit, and many have offered multiple free outfits and several individual clothing pieces. You can only collect them while the season is active, but once you do, they’re yours forever!

Free outfits are nice and all, but most importantly…

How much do the outfits affect gameplay?

The dressing up is, of course, entirely dependent on clothing pieces; the more clothing pieces you have, the more combinations you can make. Completing outfits and unlocking variations also affect the colours available when dyeing the pieces.

What about the other gameplay elements?

Infinity Nikki is not just a dressing-up game; there’s another side to it: the story, the exploration of the massive open world, and many, many puzzles, challenges and mini games.

To explore the open world and complete some of the puzzles and challenges, you will need outfits with special abilities. There is a free version of every ability required to complete every element of the game, so nothing is locked behind a paywall.

However, some of the 5* outfits from the gacha banner offer minor to significant upgrades to these abilities. Although this doesn’t mean you must have these outfits to complete any content, remember that everything can be cleared with the free outfits; these upgrades do make life easier when doing some of the story, open world and event challenges.

The dailies are also very simple: collect some plants, take a photo, give likes in the colourbook, and they are not affected by ability outfits!

Since the release of Infinity Nikki (Nov 2024 – Dec 2025), I feel that out of the eighteen 5* banner outfits, four have offered big upgrades over the free version. It’s a very small amount that even free-to-play players can easily collect, but only time will tell if this will increase.

FOMO (fear of missing out)

FOMO (fear of missing out) is inevitable, especially for a game where the business model is to release limited-time cosmetics. The feeling of FOMO can, of course, be reduced by avoiding or reducing exposure to social media.

Personally, I’ve found that the more I play and the more cosmetics I collect, the less FOMO I feel. It’s down to three reasons: firstly, Infold frequently release similar looking pieces; secondly, I’ve engage less with the dress up part of the game, and focused more on the other gameplay elements; and finally, I’ve noticed that I rarely use many of the items pulled from banners—I’ve found a few favourites, and tend to stick with those.

To conclude…

It goes without saying that those who want to collect everything are easily affected by FOMO and don’t want to regularly spend hundreds, should stay away from any form of gacha game.

For everyone else, especially those who aren’t overly obsessed with the dressing-up part, will find Infinity Nikki very free-to-play friendly.

Should you play Infinity Nikki to improve your Chinese?

As a Chinese second language learner, Infinity Nikki is a fantastic game to play in Chinese. The dialogues of the main story and the main story of each event in Infinity Nikki are fully voice-acted. Along with Chinese subtitles, it makes a brilliant learning tool.

Infinity Nikki is a game that I’ve been playing fully in Chinese for over a year and it has improved my Chinese greatly.

I mentioned in my previous Infinity Nikki post that I’d love to recommend it to all learners, and my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s not a viable option for all learners, but it’s definitely a good choice for a learner with good experience in Chinese (preferably with a knowledge of over 2,500 characters).

There are a few features that are particularly helpful for learners, allowing you to take your time and go at your own pace.

First, Infinity Nikki lets you review all earlier dialogue within a scene (though once the scene ends, this option is no longer available).

Second, nearly all dialogue advances manually rather than automatically.

Finally, the game uses a clean, sans-serif font that’s easy to read and works well with OCR tools.

Final Thoughts

Infinity Nikki is a live-service game, and the core gameplay, gacha system, and cash shop could change drastically over time. That said, in its current state, the gameplay, aesthetics, and, in my opinion, a reasonably fair gacha system are more than enough for me to keep playing. On top of that, the game helps to supplement my Chinese reading and ensures I engage with Chinese regularly.