midway

学園アイドルマスター

about:

Gakuen Idolmaster (referred to in fandom as gakumas) is the perfect combination of my two favorite tropes in animes - school life and idols. Here you a student at Hatsuboshi Gakuen, a school for future idols and producers to grow their skills. As a student on the producer track you need to scout potential talent and grow them towards success. it's pretty much a roguelite raising sim with cute idol girls. Very similar to gameplay mechanics of idolly pride or uma musume.

why i recommend it:

Because this is my dream scenario of academia, focus on trainee life, and genuinely enjoyable characters. in past imas games i felt like the overflow of idols led to some becoming so one dimensional there was no fun in getting to know them (looking at you Noriko the donut idol)

while note all the girls are my favorite, their personality and history ties directly into the game play. The weak and sickly idol has a lower HP, the former ballerina scores higher in dance than other areas, the sleepy idol stores up all her boosts for one final point score at the end. it really makes you feel like you are producing them in a way that best suits their personalitites.

quick resources

• A Beginner's Guide to Gakuen Idolmaster by sw\tch
• Play Gakumas in English via GAKUM@s localization

memes