Infinity Nikki is the fifth installment in the franchise from developers Infold Games, and looks to simultaneously build upon the previous installments whilst giving new and old fans alike a new reason to play, but does it manage it?
Telling a new story for Nikki and her faithful companion Momo, players will find themselves in Miraland, a place of wonder and magic, and of course trials and tribulations to be beaten and conquered. Free-to-play and on multiple platforms including current-gen consoles and mobile, it’s a Gacha game, but will it hit Gacha fame? Sorry.
Infinity Nikki is a Surprise for This New Fan
As a ‘hold my hands up’ moment, my entire experience with the long, storied franchise that is the Infold Games’ Nikki franchise came during my time with Infinity Nikki. Not only was I not familiar with what I was getting myself into, but I purposefully avoided knowing anything to give myself a completely clean slate, no expectations, and honest opinions. It’s a refreshing approach, one which I could replicate more often.

A ‘cosy’ game, Infinity Nikki will pit players against… not a lot. There’s not a huge amount of stressful combat, no proper world-ending threat to beat, and no time-sensitive quests you have to complete right away, it’s just a game that allows you to do you, at your pace, when you want, how you want. Set in Miraland, Nikki, and Momo get transported there, with the overarching objective being to collect Miracle Dresses encountered at the very beginning. Fair warning, this is nothing but a vehicle to get you in the world and doesn’t ultimately matter a whole bunch.
The real aim of the game is just to have fun. You’ll spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get the many available costumes, each requiring different materials and currencies to craft, some with abilities (more on that), most just for aesthetic reasons. It’s a dress-up game with flair, but there is A LOT to keep track of.
As mentioned, some of the costumes you’ll craft have abilities that will aid you in your exploration over time. Need to turn on power to further your story or open a new path? Use the Electrician Outfit. How about collecting bugs or grooming animals? Two outfits cover that as well. There’s even an outfit for jumping/hovering and another for attacking the very few enemies in the game.
On top of the ability costumes, you’ll have the opportunity to mix and match a multitude of items to create your own outfit. These do increase your stats, but in my time playing it, the difference was so negligible it didn’t seem to have any real impact on gameplay beyond the fanciful colors you put Nikki in. The sheer variety on offer should be commended, it must be said.

Throughout the vastness of the world, you’ll not only encounter new animals, insects, and people (EVERYONE wants to talk to Nikki) but also mini-games and ‘Style Offs’. The minigames aren’t much to write home about, clearly something of an afterthought or add-on late in the day, but the Style Offs are good fun, with this being an opportunity to ‘battle’ an opponent and deliver the best outfit based upon a prompt/theme at the beginning, out of that which you’ve collected. It’s simple, easy, and quick, but it’s also good fun.
Beyond all the costumes, the aesthetics, and the attempts at drawing in microtransactions – the opportunity for just ‘one’ purchase is bountiful – lies a game with simple, if not fun, and entertaining platforming mechanics, with some even simpler ‘combat’. As mentioned, there aren’t many enemies in the world of Miraland, but you will encounter Esselings, which you will end up ‘purifying’, which is just a nice way of saying you shoot them and they disappear.
Platforming-wise, it doesn’t extend much beyond the double jump/hover mechanic mentioned already, but the developers really thought of everything in the environment, with the focus of the platforming being far greater than ‘jump to this obvious platform, and then this, then this’ etc. Many times there’s an innocuous mountainside or pipe that in any other game would be unclimbable, but in Infinity Nikki this is the route to go.
On the subject of routes, the open-world aspect of Infinity Nikki is to be commended. There’s no pressure on what to do and when, and you can go anywhere at any point, which I’d definitely recommend. After a few hours and the main abilities unlocked, you can spend your time collecting insects, grooming animals, collecting the Whimstars or Dews of Inspiration, or you can just walk around admiring the gloriously pretty environment. It is the definition of a cosy game, and it’s the first time in a long time I’ve not found myself anything other than totally relaxed whilst playing it.
It Can’t All Be Good

From Genshin Impact to Fire Emblem Heroes and a whole lot of others in the middle, Gacha Games are big business and a quickly growing genre. They all feature the same core mechanics, just with their own twist, all aimed at getting us to spend our hard-earning real-life cash for in-game items. Infinity Nikki is no different, and to anyone without a lot of Gacha experience, it can be overwhelming.
Infinity Nikki can be a lot to keep track of at times, especially if you’re playing to complete all outfits, animals, etc. Featuring more currencies than a Currency Exchange, you’d be forgiven for not being entirely sure what you’re collecting, what you’re saving up, what currency is needed for what, and so on. Many times I was just hoping I had enough of whatever currency was needed to purchase the item or outfit required, to be truthful.
The user experience isn’t a great help here either, with a huge amount of menus present in-game. From the live-service aspects of the game with Daily Wishes (basically mini tasks refreshing daily), to ‘Courses’ which are longer objectives, multiple menus for looking at, unlocking and fitting outfits, and so much more, you will undoubtedly feel a little lost trying to find what you’re actually looking for. At one point, I forgot that a certain menu existed which was intrinsically needed to complete my quest, leaving me looking at the screen dumbfounded for a second before my overwhelmed brain caught up.

Another bugbear was the small text in some of the boxes, from quests to item descriptions, it was difficult to read at times and resulted in me moving from my 49-inch to my 75-inch TV just to see if it helped. It didn’t, and it’s something that desperately needs to be addressed.
As mentioned, absolutely everyone you encounter during your time in Miraland wants to talk to Nikki, and a large percentage of them will have a quest or interesting tidbit of information for you to act upon. Both the numerous side quests and the main story itself feel a little hollow though, and I found myself switching off every time there was a longer conversation, I definitely didn’t connect to Nikki at all, with her plight little more than a background to the mechanics, rather than a driving force behind the game. I wasn’t expecting a story, characters, or narrative on the level of some AAA narrative-driven games, but I was hoping to care a little. Regardless, Momo is incredibly cute.

Infinity Nikki is a free-to-play action-adventure game with dress-up elements, collectibles, microtransactions, and more, and is the fifth installment in the Nikki series, released for PlayStation 5, Mobile, and PC.
Summary
Infinity Nikki is a cozy game aimed at gamers who want a carefree exploration, simple mechanics and a gameplay experience that’ll make you unreasonably relaxed and cheery come the time you switch off. A lackluster narrative, poor and congested menus and hollow characters will make some parts of Infinity Nikki feel like it’s dragging though.
HOURS PLAYED: 12
- Doesn't force you into any one direction. Open world and you can truly do as you wish in it.
- The audio is fantastic. From the immersive soundtrack to the ambient sounds, you'll really feel as if you're in Miraland.
- Lots to find, collect and do even if you choose not to pay anything for the microstranactions.
- The menus are unintuitive, far too plentiful and confusing at times.
- An almost non-existent narrative that doesn't matter to the greater experience.
- Poorly optimized text will leave you squinting at the screen, or even moving closer at times.
Infinity Nikki was released on 5th December 2024 and is available on PS5, Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows.
For more Thumb Wars reviews, check out our impressions of the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered.
This and every Thumb Wars review is featured on OpenCritic.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!