Trickcal: Chibi Go

Trickcal: Chibi Go, also known as Trickcal: Re:VIVE or simply Trickcal, is a South Korean free-to-play auto battler role-playing mobile game developed by EPIDGames. Initially released in South Korea in 2021, it was re-launched and self-published by EPIDGames in September 2023. A global version was published worldwide by Bilibili Game in October 2025, and a mainland Chinese server followed in December 2025.

The game won the Best Game Award in the 2024 Korea Game Awards. Speaki, a character in the game, became an internet meme, spawning the creation of Raising Spiki, an unofficial MMO based on the character.

Gameplay

Trickcal: Chibi Go is an auto battler fantasy role-playing game with card collecting elements in which combat is divided into two parts: the “team build" phase in which the player selects cards to strengthen their party, and the “battle" phase utilizing auto-chess mechanics. The player can manually activate characters' “senior skill" abilities during this phase.

Trickcal is characterized by its level of interactivity with characters on-screen. At any point, players can pull a character's cheeks, such as in stories, the screen, home screen, and during dedicated animations with accompanying voice lines. The game also features daily tasks.

Story

Trickcal: Chibi Go is set in the world of Elias, a fantastical realm inhabited by chibi characters who live under the protection of a world tree named Yggdrasil. The player is a human transported to Elias who is shortly appointed the leader of a religious organization called the Order of Yggdrasil. The main story chronicles the adventures of the "Master" and their attempts to solve the conflicts that arise between the different races of Elias, which include sprites, werebeasts, elves, elementals, phantoms, dragons, and witches.

The story is divided into the main story (the chapters of which are unlocked via the "Crusade" campaign mode), side stories for other game modes, and limited-time "Themed Theater" story arcs that each focus on a specific playable character.

Season 1

Characters

The gluttonous figurehead queen of the sprites. She boasts above average physical aptitude but below average intelligence. Erpin serves as the Master's usual sidekick in the main story.

Voiced by Jeong Yoo-jeong (voice actress) (Korean), Yuriko Anderson (Japanese)

The current High Priestess of the Order of Yggdrasil and the power behind the throne of the Sprite Kingdom, having raised Erpin since childhood. Despite her constant nagging of Erpin, she cares deeply for her.

A smart yet lazy cat werebeast. Her name and references to a little red book she owns are puns on communism.

A friendly dog werebeast who is prone to be taken advantage of due to her kindness.

The mayor of the elven city of Monatium and an avid engineer. Despite being primarily responsible for the advanced technology of the elven race, she often uses her inventions to gain an underhanded advantage over the other races of Elias.

A copycat phantom whose affinity for pumpkins and dressing up embodies the spirit of Halloween. Her current impersonation target is the sprite priestess Ner.

Development and release

Development began in 2019 under the name Roll the Chess; a beta was released the same year which was considered a failure by developer EPIDGames. However, the cheek-pulling interactions with the characters were well-received. Therefore, the decision was made to remake the game with the cheek-pulling mechanic as a core aspect. The prototype of the game named Trickcal was first released on September 27, 2021. Due to the incomplete state of the game, with bugs such as payment errors and login failures, it was negatively received. They decided to end the service, which only lasted for two hours. It was initially expected to be relaunched in October, but the two reworkings of the game nearly bankrupted the company until the EPIDGames CEO mortgaged his home for to raise funds and continue to rework the game. The game was re-released in South Korea as Trickcal: Re:VIVE on September 27, 2023.

The global version of the game, developed by Bilibili Game, was announced in January 2025 during the 2025 Taipei Game Show. Originally also named Trickcal: Re:VIVE, it was changed to Trickcal: Chibi Go in May 2025. Pre-registration was also opened. A demo was featured at the 2025 Tokyo Game Show. It was released on October 9, 2025, on iOS and Android. The Chinese server was opened on December 18, 2025.

Reception

The original 2021 release saw 50,000 concurrent players but was negatively received, with comments like "the cheek-pulling was the only positive thing in the game".

The 2023 version of the game was well-received by players, and topped the list of “Korean mobile games we would love to see get a global launch” published by Pocket Gamer in 2024. It generated $4.5 million in the first year of the game's release. By August 2025, the Korean version of the game was downloaded 500,000 times, and had a five-star rating out of 35,000 reviews on Google Play Store. By April 9, 2026, the game ranked fifth in the highest grossing games in the Korean Google Play Store and as well as in the Japanese Google Play Store and iOS App Store, placing 11th and 13th, respectively.

Internet memes

Speaki's Korean voice lines, such as and became viral as a meme in the Japanese internet, following the game's global release, nicknaming the character "Spiki". Various MAD videos were uploaded on sites like YouTube and Niconico Douga about the character. Denfaminico Gamer called the meme the “strongest electronic drug”.

Raising Spiki is an unofficial browser-based MMO based on the character. It was released on August 6, 2026. In the game, players take on the role of Spiki and can hunt enemies in the field, including challenging bosses at altars with time limits, to acquire equipment or grow pumpkins in a pumpkin patch. It was officially recognized by EPIDGames after the company donated server hardware to the developer. The game became available on mobile on August 21, 2026.

See also

Princess Connect! Re:Dive - Japanese auto-battler game that inspired the Re:VIVE name