In what could have easily been a game for the stylus-ready 3DS, Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble is a surprisingly strong mobile game that has the engaging gameplay and delightful art style you would come to expect from LEVEL-5. It does have familiar free-to-play mobile tropes like needing energy to play a stage, getting three-star ratings on every stage, and optionally purchasing in-game currency with real money.
At the same time, it has a solid RPG system adapted from the widely successful Yo-Kai franchise with a tremendous variety of Yo-Kai; Wibble Wobble itself has come to American markets based solely on its popularity in Japan. And at least this editor can understand why. I thought that matching bubbles together would be rather limited and boring, but I can't stop popping.
1. Combo Like Crazy
The first of two main strategies for efficiently clearing Wib Wobs (which I'm calling bubbles from now on) is to pay attention to the combo system. Every time you clear a bubble that's size two or larger, you'll start a combo chain. From then on you have about three seconds to pop another bubble that's size two or larger to continue the combo. The longer the combo, the more bonus damage the bubble deals. Pretty simple.
All you need to do is create large bubbles and pop them within the three-second window. If you activate a Yo-Kai's Soultimate move, you should consider creating a small size-2 bubble right after the move finishes to continue the chain… just to be safe. You also won't want to create any bubble larger than size 6 or so, because unless you are in the middle of Fever Time, it takes a while for the game to string bubbles together to create a larger one, enough time that you might miss the three-second window altogether.
The other caveat, of course, is that it can be difficult to target bubbles as their swishing about the fishbowl playing field. Luckily, you have enough time to make a quick size-2 bubble if you make a mistake and still hit the three-second window in time. Whew!
2. Or String Yo-Kai Like Crazy
The other strategy is about stringing long sequences of bubbles and popping bubbles that are only size-5 or bigger. Typically, no matter what the playing field looks like, you'll find some way to finagle five or more bubbles together. You might be surprised by what the game calls “connected” when it seems like two like-bubbles are about a half-bubble apart from each other.
The main benefits of this strategy are that you'll consistently deal large amounts of damage to enemy Yo-Kai, your Fever Time gauge will fill much quicker, and you'll build the spirit energy for your party much faster. Sometimes, though, you may not find a long string of bubbles and it can be tricky connecting lots of them together as they bob around the playing field. And you don't get the benefit of the bonus combo damage.
3. Don't Dawdle Around
Wibble Wobble is not the type of game where you can sit back and relax. It may look a little like Puzzles & Dragons, but you and the enemy don't take turns dealing damage, and the enemy will constantly attack you at regular intervals until you run out of HP. In fact, you should look at your overall HP total as a timer rather than anything else, and any healing you receive just means extending the clock.
Once you've created a bubble of incredible size, you should already be on the lookout for another opportunity on the board. Don't panic, though. Just popping bubbles willy-nilly isn't going to get you far and won't get you the star rating nor the score you want… though it may get you through a stage if you're desperate.
4. Get Through First Two Areas Quickly
The first goal in Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble is to get through the first two major areas, Uptown Springdale and Mt. Wildwood (not including the sewers), so that you can unlock all of the additional functions in the general menu. This includes the store so you can purchase items, fusion so you can create more powerful Yo-Kai, a Map Warp for easier traversal, and Missions which reward you extra Y-Money and items for completing objectives.
So at the very least, you'll want to get access to the Missions first which unlock right at the beginning of second area after defeating Sgt. Burly, especially if you're a completionist (like me) and want to collect ever Yo-Kai medallion before advancing to the next stage.
5. Have A Party of Yo-Kai Made of Different Colors
When I mean “colors,” I mean the actual color of the Yo-Kai as bubbles. This is different from the Yo-Kai's tribe, which actually does contribute to their attack power depending on the enemy your party is targeting. Having a party of similar tribes actually enhances their overall strength.
So why am I talking about colors? Well, mainly because some Yo-Kai can be so similar in coloring that it can be difficult to tell them apart while they're tossing around the playing field. And being able to immediately recognize how to string together bobbles is at the heart of gameplay. Of course, the ability to recognize patterns is different for everyone, so you'll notice right away if the mix of Yo-Kai you have make your eyes go all spirally.
6. Don't Spend Too Much Y-Money on Crank-a-kai Machine
For 3,000 Y-Money apiece, the Crank-a-kai is fairly expensive given that 3500 Y-Money costs roughly $4.99. With Missions unlocked and playing the game throughout the day with the natural timed refills for energy, you'll probably collect about 4,000 Y-Money, so you can earn yourself at least one crank every day. Since cranks using Y-Money tend to give out B-rank and A-rank Yo-Kai (with a small chance of S-rank Yo-Kai), that's not a bad deal, though it's still expensive.
By comparison, you might want to spend 6,000 Y-Money to purchase 50 Spirit instead, giving you the opportunity to earn Yo-Kai naturally through drops, along with all the experience points that brings anyway. Besides, you'll earn more a than few tokens that give you free cranks like five-star tokens from defeating bosses and special coins earned through events. If you do choose to spend Y-Money on cranks, I advise doing it early in the game for the sake of starting with a stronger party and investing time into these stronger characters right from the beginning.
7. Instead, Spend Y-Money on Spirit and Level Caps
In terms of bang for buck, Y-Money is best spent on spirit (6,000 Y-Money for 50 Spirit is the best deal) so that you can continue the story and attempt to capture Yo-Kai to fill out your medallium. Besides, you'll earn about half of that 6,000 yen back just by grinding through levels and you'll get a lot of experience points along the way.
You'll also need to spend Y-Money to increase the level cap of your Yo-Kai at every ten levels, so it's wise to save some in the bank if you see that your main party is about to reach their level cap milestones.
8. Avoid Food Items Apart From The Most Finicky Yo-Kai
In my experience, food items which are meant to increase the likelihood of receiving a Yo-Kai after a battle don't impact the drop rates that much. I've had my fair share of purchasing 2-heart and 3-heart food items and spending them about ten times on ten different attempts on a Yo-Kai… and getting squat.
The only time I've had success is purchasing the rather pricey 4-Heart items from the shop and using them only for the rarest of Yo-Kai. By that I mean Yo-Kai from special stages or any Yo-Kai rank B or above. Otherwise, I find it better to save Y-Money for more spirit, or even more cranks, instead.
9. Save Experience Orbs for New Yo-Kai
Experience orbs will drop frequently as you progress through Wibble Wobble, with some orbs available in the shop at a fairly steep price. It can be tempting to use the orb on your main party members once you receive them, but it's better to save them for later Yo-Kai down the road.
You'll eventually find a better-ranked Yo-Kai for your team whether it be through drops, fusion, or tokens for the Crank-a-kai, and they'll start off at base level. That's the perfect time to use your stock of experience orbs so that your new Yo-Kai can be as close as possible to fighting shape for your party.
10. Save Attack-Based Soultimates for Fever Time in Score Attack
If you can manage it during score attack attempts, save your party's Soultimates during fever time to score the most points. Getting through stages quickly is important too of course since you're racing against the clock. Every stage you pass will get you some precious seconds back on the clock, and you can extend your time by 10 seconds at the price of some Y-Money at the end but you can only do this once.
Bonus: Friend Requests!
Friends can give each other extra spirit for free if they can find each other on the map, so it's a good idea to send friend requests to people you know who are playing Wibble Wobble too. You will need that person's friend code, which is generated randomly on your profile. By leveling some specific Yo-Kai through a few missions, you will able to be expand your friends list beyond the starting limit of 10.
If you don't know that many people who play the game, you can check out various player code sharing threads like this one on Reddit. And by the way, that image above is indeed my profile, so do send a friend request.
