Miitomo: Nintendo launches first-ever mobile game in Japan

Miitomo is expected to reach the UK later in March

Miitomo launched in Japan on 17 March (Nintendo)

Miitomo, Nintendo's first-ever mobile game, has been released in Japan.

The game is expected to reach the UK later this month, and lets players create their own Mii avatars and interact with friends.

Miitomo is very much a social app - users add friends within the game from their Facebook and Twitter networks, and spend most of their time answering a barrage of questions about their likes, dislikes and ambitions.

Users can look at their friends' answers to these questions and commment on them, all the while earning coins to spend on clothes and other equipment.

The only recognisably game-like element is Miitomo Drop, a pinball minigame which users play to earn more coins.

Nintendo's held off from developing a mobile game for a long time, and most people suspected they'd end up creating a more conventional platformer or adventure game.

Instead, Miitomo works like a social network, although one with far more cute animated characters than most.

Players can export their existing avatars from Tomodachi Life, a similar social game for the Nintendo 3DS, and it's also possible to link an existing Nintendo account to the game and use it to gain points, which can then be spent on content for other platforms.

Early reviews of the app from members of the games press have been positive, although there's a few concerns about how much it'll retain its appeal after extended use.

Regardless, it'll likely appeal most to existing fans of the world of Nintendo, and if you don't like it, there's another four Nintendo mobile games on the way, all produced by Japanese studio DeNA.