
u/ExtremeConnection26

This is how North Korean Android gaming looks like. Because most people lacked the ability to connect to the intranet, Bluetooth multiplayer mobile games was a popular, highly advertised feature in North Korean games. Today, online intranet multiplayer games such as a Clash of Clans bootleg exist.
Edit: You can scroll through the 20 images by pressing the left and right buttons. If you don't know, "Intranet" isn't a typo, it's what North Korea has instead of the Internet.
In North Korea, Android devices are the main gaming platform. Most North Korean games are bootleg versions of foreign games, though there are original games such as Nalsae's Escape (날새의 탈출), shown in the first two images. (Though this game could be a heavily modified version of another game, as some of the animations look familiar, though I don't remember what game do they remind me of at all).
In North Korea, mobile games and apps cost money, and also can still have microtransactions (but not ads). The gem prices in North Korea's bootleg version of Clash of Clans are significantly more expensive than even other microtransaction and game prices in North Korea. Today, mobile games in North Korea can be downloaded both through app stores like My Traveling Companion and physical app stores. Physical app stores used to be the only option for downloading apps in North Korea. There is also a modified version of WeChat!
Some of the biggest North Korean game publishers are Samheung Information Technology Exchange Center, which also developed the My Traveling Companion app store, most of the games in the store (non-game apps are more commonly from other developers, though there are also many from Samheung) many non-game apps and a payment app, and Daeyoung Information Technology Exchange, another major game developer which has its own app store, "Daeyoung".
According to NamuWiki, "North Korean mobile games are developed under private sector leadership, while the state monopolizes management, supervision, and release platforms to control them. Private investors hire developers to plan the development of game applications. Although the private sector is permitted to develop games, they can only release them under the name of educational or research institutions or enterprises, and individuals must bear all investment risks resulting from development failure. Game planning primarily involves copying or imitating games that were popular overseas. This is because copyright awareness is weak in North Korea , and utilizing the source code of existing games can significantly reduce development costs. Foreign games are imported as cracked versions from China, and the game titles and languages are translated; in this process, violent or sexually explicit elements likely to trigger censorship are removed or localized in a North Korean style. In contrast, in South Korea, where a game only requires review by the Game Rating and Administration Committee to be officially released in the market... Unlike other countries, it is quite difficult because approval must be obtained from about 10 agencies, including the Ministry of Social Security , the Ministry of State Security , the Ministry of Information Industry , the State Quality Supervision Committee, the National Language Review Committee, the Central Bureau of Industry and Fine Arts, and the Publishing Censorship Bureau. Naturally, bribery and connections are essential to pass the censorship, and because approval must be obtained from multiple agencies, the cost of bribes sometimes exceeds the labor costs of the developers. It is said that North Korean game development often involves a short-term hit-and-run approach because other copycat games appear within three months of a game's release. To keep competing games in check, a method is also used where bribes are given to censorship agencies to delay the approval of competing games and thus monopolize sales while delaying their release. Even after going through such a difficult process to get released, the state agency that lent its name takes about 20% of the profits. According to testimonies from North Korean defectors, if a mobile game is made well, one can earn about 50,000 dollars. In North Korea, where there are few means for individuals to legally start a business and earn money through their own abilities, application development can be considered a high-value-added business. This is because about 50,000 dollars is a substantial amount that can buy an apartment in downtown Pyongyang in North Korea."
This song sounds like might be from a 2000s Korean MMO. (They sound like that) Does anyone know which game is it from?
This the My Traveling Companion (North Korean app store) page for a bootleg North Korean Tetris Android game.
Did you know THQ was going to release their own Tetris DS game before Nintendo, developed by Japanese developer TOSE? Unfortunately, THQ breached the license agreement, and the game was cancelled.
Did you know that the hacking minigame in Bolt (Image 1) is a blatant ripoff of Nintendo's Japan-only game Project Hacker: Kakusei (Image 2)?
This is how Angry Birds 2 looks like in North Korea
This game's bootleg North Korean version ditches the "Rubber Gun Shooting" name used in the original mainline series's bootleg North Korean versions, instead using a direct translation of "Angry Birds"
[Android][2013-2019] Original game this North Korean game is a bootleg translation of.
This is one of many games published by on the North Korean app store "My Traveling Companion". This game was published by the app store's developer, Samheung Information Technology Exchange Center, which has published a lot of games that were bootleg translations of non-North Korean games, which were often games that were Chinese or more popular in China, but not neccessarily Chinese.
You might have heard about Pyongyang Racer, but North Korea has made more racing games, like this one, all the way back in 2009!
youtube.comThere used to be a glitch where if you hit the Free plan limit on a chat with attachments, you could (at least on mobile) press "Branch in new chat", and send one or two extra messages before it would show "Free plan limit reached" again. Now, you can no longer Branch when the limit is up.
They most likely did this as a lazy fix to this bug, as it otherwise wouldn't make much sense to change it so you can't even Branch in new chat before the limit is up.
An hilarious example of how broken ChatGPT's ad "relevance" system is, I was talking about North Korean games and apps. Even through it wasn't political, because North Korea is a topic often talked with "defection", it gave me this.
It previously also gave me a "compare between X" website called something like "Top10s" or something, most likely because it detected a numbered list. The ad "relevance" system is completely broken, sometimes hilariously so.
I don't even speak Spanish, and I managed to realize the translation of "Play up to 8 players via Local Wireless" on the back of the box of Homie Rollerz was just completely wrong.
Is there any video scrolling through the apps of the "나의길동무" (My Traveling Companion) app store?
I've already seen several screenshots of the store, but I want to know if there are videos scrolling through the store's app selection.
This Twitter account has a treasure trove of photos and videos of never-before-seen North Korean mobile apps and games! They even have their own modified version of WeChat! You need to see this!
WeChat Tweet link There is an endless amount of games I've never seen before while trying to find more North Korean games!
We all know Pokemon Leaf Green LGTR, right?
Is it still possible to disable Server/Guild tags via CSS? When I try to paste in CSS from 2025, it's not working.
reddit.comNintendo DS games released in Korea
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The TMNT: Smash-Up Teaser Trailer is filled with deceptive marketing. It starts out by claiming the game is "From the dudes that brought you Super Smash Bros. Brawl", despite Game Arts not being the main developer of Brawl. Then, it shows what's clearly meant to be fake gameplay footage.
The trailer also uses the world "Brawl" several times, likely to trick people into thinking the game is officially related to Brawl.