Go back

First, bit of history

I don't think I even knew that Cookie Run was a thing until Kingdom's release had all my Twitter mutuals posting about Custard Cookie III. I thought the game's artsyle and characters were cute, but didn't pay much attention to it. And I honestly don't remember why I suddenly decided to pick it up, other than thinking it would just be a silly funny cookie game that I would drop after a month.

I downloaded it somewhere in June of 2022, during one of the Cookie Odyssey updates, I believe chapter 1 or 2. In the prologue, I thought this all was kind of funny, but I wasn't hooked immediately. The two banners at the time were Crunchy Chip Cookie and Oyster Cookie. Nowadays I have Crunchy at 2A and Oyster at 2* :). By the time I reached the Dark Cacao chapters, which were the last World Exploration chapters at the time, I really liked the game actually. Dark Cacao Cookie and his kingdom are my favourites to this day! :D

An illustration from CRK's chapter 14. Dark Cacao Cookie raises his sword, which illuminates everything purple.

Just look at him. So cool and awesome.

Chapter 13 is actually where I sort of got stuck at the time, when my team sucked and I didn't know what I was doing. But Cookie Odyssey unlocks after clearing chapter 14, not 12, as that is when it chronologically takes place. But anyway, I played it, I didn't finish chapter 1, but I enjoyed it immensely. Even though I did not know what was happening or what they were talking about half the time. I think it was at that point that I realized just how expansive the story of this game is.

Anyway, I think I played for about 4-5 months total of this game, and I quit in November during the BTS collab. No, not cuz of the BTS. But because the rhythm games were impossible to play on emulator (at least I don't know how), and my phone was dying trying to play that game. Frustrated, I deleted it, and didn't touch it for 2 years...

Fast forward to 2024, and I'm like "Hey remember that funny cookie game with cool lore? Yeah, that one? Let's play it again." And so I did. I downloaded it again in the end of May, or June, I don't remember, basically around the same time that I originally downloaded it, which is kind of crazy?? Either way, you must imagine my surprise when the silly cookie game presented me with this title screen.

A title screen from one of CRK's updates. Mystic Flour Cookie sits in the center, depicted similarly to Buddha. She towers over Dark Cacao Cookie, who faces her on the top of a mountain.

Badass, right? Wait, what's happening?

Yeah, so. The story has obviously progressed quite a bit since I last played, it has been 2 years after all. Some gacha games don't even last that long (RIP Magireco English). This update also seems to heavily feature Dark Cacao, my favourite character, so let's go I guess??? I wished there was somebody who could explain to me what was going on, but I figured everything out quickly enough.

But first, I was bombarded with rewards as a returning player, which was fun, plus the missions reminded me of how the game works and caught me up on new mechanics, which was nice. And I had a unique opportunity, as a "new" gacha game player, to just enjoy the game as a game, not bothered by grinding or being efficient in everything. If you're new, I can't recommend enough to enjoy not knowing shit and being showered with rewards for doing nothing as long as possible.

So I got myself Dark Cacao and White Lily through Might of the Ancients, which left me only needing Golden Cheese to complete the lineup (I have her now :3), I equipped Beascuits on everyone, I speedran World Exploration, which was now separated into Crispia and Beast-Yeast, speedrunning Cookie Odyssey isn't really a thing because of the limited amount of quills you can get per day, but I got through it as quickly as I could to catch up, and man was I by then fully aware of how amazing the story is.

And so I got utterly obssessed. I scouted every piece of information I could find on the wiki, I set out to beat every piece of story content and I read all the stories from the Tower of Records, plus watched some on Youtube which aren't available in-game (add Holiday Express as a Special Story, you cowards!). I was particularly impressed by the Triple Cone Cup story, to the point of becoming obssessed with those characters as much as with the Ancients. Polychampions foreva! <3

Um, so, I'm having fun :D I am epicfranb on the Dark Cacao server, if you wanna add me! No promises that I will always be able to accept people, since the friend limit is so small </3

Why do I like this game?

I guess I can start with why I like this game over other Cookie Run games? There's a few reasons. One is that this was the first game I played, therefore it is most familiar to me. Two is because I really like the story, as I mentioned. Stories from Ovenbreak are really good too, but I got the impression that they are more scattered, meanwhile Kingdom started off with a strong story and it continues to develop that story, so everything feels connected. Even side stories usually tell us more about the world, or places we don't really see in the main story (like Parfaedia, I really like Parfaedia). I like it over Tower of Adventures, the only other CR game I play, because that one feels too grindy? The game modes feel samey after a very short while and the rewards are abysmal. Meanwhile, CRK, while not without its own set of issues, is probably the most generous gacha I've ever played, it doesn't take too much effort or time from me, but I can get really into it if I wanted to, but, of course, I am playing first and foremost for the story.

That said, I do find some of the game modes pretty fun. Kingdom Arena is only really fun if you have a good team - I'm lucky to be running THE current meta team, so actually looking at the opponent's team and calculating in my head whether I will win or not is pretty fun. I consistently get to Elite II now, my goal is to get to Grandmaster next season to get that juicy Burning Spice trophy <3

But I guess what I like the most, and where the battling part of the gameplay shines brightest, is when a new time-limited game mode releases and you're figuring out which teams work best. I loved the Duskgloom Sea event where you had to explore islands and find useful effects to prepare for the boss fight at the end, and I liked that using low-rarity characters was what would actually get you the most points as long as you get the necessary effects along the way. In the Big Bao fight, this was the case as well, but for me a summoner team actually worked best. I've never seen Oyster Cookie deal so much damage! Error Busters was fun until you figure out that you need 2 specific cookies and 3 specfic effects, otherwise the boss will one-shot you instantly.

Other than battles, there's a kingdom-building aspect, and that I love a lot actually! Decorating is pretty fun, but my favourite thing is messing with the cookies who are just walking around minding their business. I like carrying them around, watching their animations, seeing them talk to each other (especially when they stumble upon each other naturally). I like making areas dedicated to certain cookies and then watching them on their personal decor and taking silly screenshots. two screesnhots of Hollyberry Cookie and Wildberry Cookie in a bar-themed area in my kingdom. The caption reads 'When my son is old enough to go to the bar with me'.

I really like their relationship actually.

All in all, I find this game quite relaxing and enjoyable, but this may be partly because of a mindset shift I had relating to gacha games. There was a time when I played 3 gachas at the same time, did all dailies and completed all events every day, it burnt me out very quickly until I realized it wasn't fun for me anymore. I deleted one of them and the second soon followed when I stopped liking the events there. The last one was Magireco, which I then played for a few more years, until it stopped being fun and I deleted it as well. Since then, CRK was the only gacha I played, and after I took that 2 year break, I've come to a realization that... This is just a game. It's literally fine to miss things and not do everything everyday and to suck at it and to be unlucky and to waste materials and to not be 200% efficient. Being a "newbie" in Cookie Run games showed me how fun it can be when I am truly taking it easy and don't let it become a chore. Heck, and even if it does become a chore? I'll just stop logging in. Easy. Delete it if I don't feel like going back. I know that time will come and I'm fine with it. I'm just not scared of missing out anymore. It's just a game, and the fun of being f2p in gachas is making use of what you have, and even if I miss out on the next OP meta unit (like I literally did, RIP Stormbringer) it's fine, I'm gonna have fun with it anyway.

And there's that :D

Go back