We’re not really talking about mobile games here, are we? Well, despite that, there are actually some diamonds in the rough if you’re lucky enough to find them. Parasite of the Day is one of their games.
Parasite of the Day is a 2020 parasite management sim made by the sole Japanese developer Jima under his Zxima studio. The game requires you, the hostbody, to take care of yourself with the sole purpose of keeping a “cute” sentient parasite alive, all for the sake of science.
You appear to be either willing or unwilling to give your body to science, and the Find Future Foundation has decided that you are a suitable subject to attach a parasite to. Parasites speak to you, like a robot watch that records your survival process.
Throughout Parasite of the Day, you have to eat food, drink water, and inject potions of various kinds to keep your body healthy and, in turn, keep your parasites happy. There will be times where you get a chance to talk to the parasite, and in these moments you can choose to be kind or be mean to it. Doing all these things will increase your vitals, which includes health and affection. Also, you can get seizures from time to time.
The dialogue in this game is refreshingly funny, and the pixel aesthetics are simple and effective. The parasite was really cute, but maybe that was just because its tendrils were connected to me, making me think it was cute.
Like most free games on mobile, there are ads Parasite of the Day. However, the way they include them feels like part of the game itself in some ways. First of all, if there is a random commercial, one of the characters will yell “COMMERCIAL TIME!!” as if it was all part of the experiment. It’s funny.
Watching ads is also part of the minigames known as ‘tests’ in the game. I’m not completely through it, but as written, there are 3 tests you can do to receive points Parasite of the Day: a precision-timing needle-threading game, a swiping-agility robot building game, and literally watching an ad. If you see the ad, you will automatically get the highest score and the robot watch will praise you on how well you looked at the ad. Me personally? I laughed.
If you don’t like the ads, you can pay to get rid of them, with a microtransaction option from $5.99 removing all ads while still allowing you to earn rewards from ads. However, all payments in Parasite of the Day will also turn off random “COMMERCIAL TIME” ads, including the cheapest $1.19 option that gives you a laser pointer for threading the needle, which is all sorts of useful in that mini game.
The problem is, no only about keeping parasites alive. The game is also about get the hell out of it and get the hell out of there. But I’ll let you figure it out for yourself, because I highly recommend it for you. It’s all a lot of fun! Sure, it’s been out for a few years now, but I’m always on the hunt for a good mobile game and if I find it, you’ll know.
Parasite of the Day available for free in the App Store and Google Play Store.
