Yes, I do have games on my phone. And this is a pretty good one. STYLZ: Daily Runway brings to mind classic fashion games in the style of syn Sophia. Better in some ways, worse in others – it will live or die based on how active the playerbase is and whether or not the microtransactions get worse.
I think a lot of us really enjoy the idea of designing and dressing up our characters – we’ve got MMO transmogs, Fashion Souls, multiple Destiny dress-up subreddits, Stardew Valley outfits, whatever is happening with Baldur’s Gate mods, Monster Factory (in its own way), and so on. Truly too many to list. But not so many of us have tried a pure dress-up game. And while I don’t think STYLZ can fully match a high-quality dedicated retail release, it offers a really solid base and a great sort of genre demo that I expect will keep me coming back for a little bit longer than most mobile games.
The game guides you through the basics reasonably well and has a solid gameplay loop. You listen to customer requests and suggest clothing pieces they might like for experience, cash, and diamonds (freemium currency). You use a ticket to sign up for themed fashion shows (Contests) where you try to beat out real players around the world. You can get free tickets by voting on those very same fashion shows, so players are heavily incentivized to actually participate beyond just entering. Cash and diamonds can be used to buy new clothing pieces which you can dress either yourself or your customers in, and you never lose them once you purchase them.
In the boutique assignments, the customer will tell you a story about what they want and it’s up to you to decode it. Sometimes these are relatively straightforward. Sometimes they are not. Here is a real prompt from the game: “A pink one-piece outfit packed with a bubbly feel. Ah! Could you match it with whipped cream-colored accessories?” You can say “Sure!” for free and try to figure it out yourself, or you can say “What?” for 2 energy and she’ll spell out that she wants a pink girly dress with white accessories.
This is literally the worst prompt I’ve encountered so far because she says the very broad “accessories” when what she actually means is “jewelry.” I found that one out the hard way. I think some of these “bad” prompts are the result of a less-than-perfect translation. I’ve also found a couple spots where there is text not in English.
Generally paying the 2 energy will give you a guaranteed hit. You can filter the items by color, style (girly, romantic, casual, etc), material type, and specific clothing types. Once you’ve made your selections you can spend 1 energy to suggest a decent fit for less rewards or 2 energy to suggest a perfect fit for more rewards. So you have some flexibility in how you spend your energy depending on how you’re trying to maximize your rewards and what risk you’re willing to take.
If you fail a suggestion, sometimes you will be asked if you want to watch an ad for them to take it anyway. It’s kind of unintentionally funny but sometimes when you pick an item that meets their prompt, it will totally clash with the rest of the outfit they walked in wearing. It gives me a little chuckle to see the fashionistas in awful outfits.
Sometimes you even get the chance to recommend a literally identical item to something they’re already wearing and they’ll still gush about it. As you complete requests you will unlock higher reward tiers for them and new personalities to work with. Success also brings a little flourish and some haptics – just enough to tickle your brain.
Various NPCs around the city will give you access to many different rotating fashion Contests. The Contests will give you one or more specific requirements you have to wear and a theme you’re trying to convey. You get bonus points for wearing a previously unworn item, wearing something from whatever the newest collection is, and for wearing something on trend.
Other than that, your points come from the percentage of other players who choose your outfit when they see it in the competition. Discounting the rigged tutorial Contest that isn’t actually online, I’ve gotten a 5 star rating exactly once and it ruled. I had 75% of the vote in that one and I have not been able to replicate it so far. Entering gets you some small rewards and season standing but getting 4 or 5 stars will net you bonus rewards.
Leveling up in the early game unlocks some extra features. Leveling up later on seems to mostly just give you extra makeup shades. Unlike some fashion games, you can change your hair or make up for free any time as long as you’ve unlocked the specific styles before. You can also change your outfit on town screen, wishlist items, buy items you see other player characters wearing, and a few other things. There is a weekly leaderboard that gives you some extra diamonds depending on your performance. Consistent play has gotten me to A rank without performing particularly well.
The game technically lets you design your character, but the options are incredibly thin. You can change height and skin tone, but you can’t really create a character that looks meaningfully different in most ways. Basically you are playing as a 1950s Barbie. You can noodle around a little, but that’s about all it can manage.
So far the free-to-play hooks don’t seem too bad. You can buy currency and ad skip, but I haven’t found myself warning either. All the ads are optional extra rewards, and the game economy so far is balanced well enough without them. There is a play period around level 7 or 8 where you will probably find your in-game cash pretty low as your boutique requests ask for things you don’t own. But once you manage to buy them once, you have them. So a few strong staples go a long way, allowing you to save your money for bankrolling your full outfits for Contests.
Accessibility
There are no meaningful settings or options.
Verdict – STYLZ: Daily Runway
Styling missions are rarely “just right,” but the thrill of a high score in the player-voted Contests mostly make up for it. It’s frustrating when a requirement can only be filled by one specific item, but hopefully the clothing selection will continue to expand at a good pace. It doesn’t quite match the intangible fun factor of the syn Sophia catalogue, but it does distinguish itself within the free-to-play app space.
Reviewed on iOS.
Developer: NAVER Z Japan Corp
Publisher: NAVER Z
Pros
- Fills a niche that hasn’t been met by a console game in a while
- The live voting Contests are difficult, but it feels great to get a 5 star rating on one
- Free-to-play with a reasonable in-app purchase structure that you can safely ignore
Cons
- Some style challenges only have one right answer
- Styling prompts can be confusing and some text has not been fully translated
- Offers many body customizations, but very little in the way of meaningfully different body types or racially diverse characteristics
Review covers version 1.3.0
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Good
