"Archie: Riverdale Rescue": Valentine's Day!

I began writing back in October 2013 about the "Archie: Riverdale Rescue" iOS gaming app. It's an oddly addictive game where you are tasked with the improvement and beautification of Riverdale USA using a variety of recognizable characters, such as Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica. A big part of the game also involves building emotional bonds between the various characters, leading to romantic couples, BFFs, and overall friends. I thought it would be fun to discuss aspects of the game that I find exciting, disappointing, and/or note-worthy.

The "Riverdale Rescue" game was upgraded just yesterday. The biggest part of the upgrade was to introduce a bunch of new Valentine's Day content to the game (similar to the recent Halloween and Christmas/Winter upgrades).

Riverdale in "Riverdale Rescue" is still experiencing winter -- which makes sense given the current polar vortexes that keep engulfing North America. But now the snow is decorated with all sorts of red and pink heart designs. Check this out:


But the funnest part about this upgrade has been the various Valentine's Day-themed costumes that people can purchase through iTunes. Check these out:

Archie // Veronica // Reggie // Betty

Jughead // Big Ethel // Moose // Midge

Ginger // Kumi // Kevin // Jason

Cheryl // Dilton // Nancy

I love Kevin Keller's pink tux. Jughead as Cupid is pretty cool, too. But I don't get either Dilton's superhero costume or Nancy's bear costume. I mean, they're cute. I just don't get how they fit into the theme.

Meanwhile, even Hot Dog is getting into the act. I'd noticed after my last "Riverdale Rescue" blog entry that they gave him a winter look. It really doesn't have anything to do with Valentine's Day, but I thought he was too cute to ignore!:


Lastly, there is one unique new element that was introduced with the Valentine's Day upgrade yesterday. It's Spin the Bottle:


Let's imagine me getting ready for bed. I re-visit "Riverdale Rescue" one last time before catching a bit of shut-eye. I am given an assignment for a couple of my characters. I take them to the location of their latest task, but before I put them to work, I'm asked if I want them to Spin the Bottle before the start their new task:


It costs one soda in order to Spin the Bottle. But -- depending on where the bottle lands -- you could end up with a pretty sweet deal. If it's a shared task, the kids might bond together extra well. Or they might finish the task instantly. Or the task might speed up. Or you might receive an extra-large cash prize. I've spun the bottle a few times and it usually works out positively for me. Then again, I have a lot of excess soda. If I only had a handful of soda bottles, I'm not sure that I would want to spin the bottle too often!

Incidentally, players are only offered the Spin the Bottle option for assigned tasks. If you decided to send a couple kids to a random house in order to prepare it for upgrading or to build up a relationship, the Spin the Bottle prompt won't show up.

I'm really curious about what comes next. Spring? Summer? Groundhog Day? Memorial Day? Fourth of July? Also, I wonder if we will ever get to the point where new characters will be created to join the game? Imagine if a future upgrade introduced Josie & the Pussycats! Or Sabrina the Teenage Witch! Or Jinx! Or Cosmo the Merry Martian! That would be a lot of fun!

Either way, it's pretty clear that the game-makers behind "Archie: Riverdale Rescue" have plans for periodic upgrades designed to tweak the game and to excite its fans. Enjoy!