Despite a Japanese release and minimal marketing effort, casual mobile game Travel Frog has dominated China’s F2P mobile charts since its December launch.

According to developer Hit-Point, Chinese players comprise 96% of the game’s 22 million downloads.

Although Travel Frog is racking up installs on the UK, US and Chinese stores, it still remains in its native Japanese. Hit-Point — which currently has 12 employees — is working on an international version of the title in response to the rapidly emerging international player base.

The game revolves around raising an adorable cartoon frog, which requires regular feeding, but also leaves on extended adventures. It returns with mementos that can be shared on social media; a mechanic that has proven to be a major hook. On Chinese social network Weibo, Travel Frog posts have been searched almost 2 billion times.

Much like the Japanese developer’s wildly popular previous release Neko Atsume — where players could collect cute stray cats — user involvement is somewhat limited and non-committal. Additionally, both titles prioritise independence; periods of time spent out of game serve as a key mechanic.

According to newspaper China Daily, the game has successfully “tapped into the trend among younger generations in China to search out 'Zen-like' activities”.