Rising to the Top 10 on the Best-Seller List: A 7-Year-Old Game for Women and Its Significance

On August 5, *Shining Nikki* released its 7th-anniversary update, and this seven-year-old game instantly shot into the top 10 of the iOS Top Grossing chart that day. The following day, the “Chasing the Light to the Flower Garden: *Shining Nikki* 7th Anniversary Art Exhibition” officially opened.

Seven years—how has a dress-up game managed to stay fresh over time? The answer may lie in this art exhibition.

01

A Garden Promise That Spanned Seven Years

The *Shining Nikki* offline exhibition is located at the Shenzhen Sea World Culture and Arts Center. The venue overlooks the sea, and people often take leisurely strolls along the coastline.

From August 6 to August 12, another group of people gathered both inside and outside the exhibition hall.They had reserved their spots well in advance through the game; some traveled thousands of li by high-speed rail just to be there; others, living in the same city, took the subway for 48 stops to reach the venue; and still others specifically rearranged their work schedules just to keep this date with the sea of flowers.

As soon as I approached the exhibition hall, I saw a promotional poster featuring Nuan Nuan with her long pink hair standing at the entrance. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree branches and shone onto the poster, and I noticed that even many visitors who weren’t gamers couldn’t help but stop and admire her.At the entrance checkpoint, the poster had transformed into a massive 30-square-meter display. Crowds and expressions of affection gathered there; many people were already holding up their phones while waiting in line to check in, eager to capture the moment.

This is the culmination of seven years of love.In 2019, *Shining Nikki* launched its open beta, marking the fourth installment in Paper Games’ Nikki series. Some players naturally discovered the game through other titles in the Nikki franchise, while others met the pink-haired girl for the very first time in *Shining Nikki*. Player Ayane first encountered Nikki when she was five or six years old.

That Christmas, her parents placed a box of Warm Warm dress-up cards under the Christmas tree. At an age when she didn’t understand much, she only remembered that pretty girl with pink hair. Years later, after a friend recommended it, she officially got hooked on *Shining Warm Warm*—and only then did she recall that moment from her childhood.

Yin Feng, a player who’s been with the game since launch, is no exception. She fell in love with Nuan Nuan while playing *Miracle Nuan Nuan*, and was instantly drawn to *Shining Nuan Nuan* when she saw it—the 3D graphics, gesture-based dancing, and exquisite outfits all lured her into the game. She’s been with *Shining Nuan Nuan* for seven years now.

02

Online: Seven Years in the Making—Breathing New Life into an Old Game

Just one day before the exhibition opened, *Shining Nikki* released a major update to celebrate its seventh anniversary, and this seven-year-old game instantly climbed into the top 10 on the iOS Top Grossing chart.

This update features the main storyline "Chasing the Light to the Flower Garden."In a parallel universe, Nuan Nuan also fought tirelessly to protect the Continent of Miracles, yet she was never able to prevent the world from collapsing. At the critical moment when the catastrophe erupted, her closest companion, Da Miao, was swept away by a rift in space-time, and even the little cape she had sewn with her own hands was reduced to shards.Facing repeated setbacks and having lost her spiritual anchor, Annie Nuan Nuan remained trapped alone in the desolate garden for countless years, gradually wearing herself down through endless cycles of reincarnation, until she eventually became a cold and lonely guardian statue.

The story moved many players, and social media was flooded with their reactions: “Seven years of foreshadowing—it really had me crying my eyes out,” “Nuan Nuan really isn’t just a simple dress-up game; every storyline is so heartbreaking.”

This sense of emotion is also reflected in the clothing. The two “Shining” outfits designed by NuNu, released with the 7th-anniversary update, depict a journey from withering desolation to the rebirth of all things. Featuring built-in dynamic effects that simulate withering and revival, these are currently the highest-quality “Shining” outfits in the game.

Player Yinfeng loves the Fallen Leaves outfit; she finds a lot of meaning in the story behind it. She says, “Fragile yet strong, covering the cocoon with withered leaves—a statuesque sense of eternity. The design is truly wonderful.” She feels that this ability to perceive beauty is something Nuannuan has given her.“Since I’m a science and engineering major, it was Nuan Nuan who helped me truly begin to understand and appreciate beauty.”

A touching moment in the game "Because of the Wind." Image courtesy of the interviewee

Many players share Yinfeng’s feelings. Some players fell in love with poetry because of Nuan Nuan; others started writing fan fiction because of her; and some say that Nuan Nuan made them braver and helped them break free from many constraints, because her “Infinite Girl” backstory “feels really cool.”

Over the past seven years, *Shining Nikki* has amassed more than 16,000 outfits.The fact that a seven-year-old game has managed to re-enter the Top 10 bestsellers isn’t due to a fleeting marketing trend, but rather to seven years of continuous refinement in garment design technology, the culmination of extensive artistic development, and a narrative that has consistently taken every player’s emotions seriously.

03

Offline: Stepping into That Garden—Seven Years of Accumulation Have Taken on Significance

The "Shining Nikki" 7th Anniversary Offline Art Exhibition amplifies the emotional impact of the game even further.

The exhibition follows the narrative thread of “Chasing the Light to the Flower Garden.” As the “curator,” Nuan Nuan accompanies visitors through the exhibition from a first-person perspective, and the space is adorned throughout with messages she wants to share.At the entrance is a corridor lined with classic lines from the series: “The stars are especially bright tonight, just like the way you look into my eyes every time you gaze at me through the screen.” ““All the moments we’ve shared have been tinged with beautiful hues by time, blooming into one-of-a-kind flowers.” With every step, it feels as though you’re turning the pages of seven years of memories.

Walking through the corridor, visitors are greeted by the visual centerpiece of the exhibition—the immersive garden atrium. Two statues stand facing each other amidst a sea of flowers: “Warm Warm” as “Desolate Grace” with giant wings of withered leaves, and “Warm Warm” as “Rainbow Poem”—as if they were recounting countless memories.Concept art and character set posters for the new storyline celebrating the seventh anniversary are displayed across an entire wall, extending the story that players have just experienced online into the offline world.

Further inside is a flower-themed corridor. Six warm-toned flower-themed photos line both sides of the corridor, each set in a unique floral frame. The entire corridor is enveloped in the scent of flowers, serving not only as an exhibition space but also as a spot where visitors spontaneously take photos and share them online.

The entire exhibition hall is filled with the scent of roses; walking along the exhibition route takes you down the “Flower Path of Fashion.”This retrospective showcases all the dazzling outfits from the first through the seventh anniversary, clearly illustrating the evolution of garment-making technology in *Shining Nami* from its first year to its seventh: the refinement of materials, the precision of modeling, the richness of dynamic effects, and the diversity of gameplay—each year bringing visible iterations and upgrades.

When you press the button on the interactive machine in the exhibition area, the screen will randomly display a “Destined to Shine” outfit, followed by the animation for that outfit from back in the day.I tried it once, and the set that appeared was “Sea of Stars”—that iconic long skirt that has spanned several generations of the Nuan Nuan game. The moment it appeared, I felt as if I had stepped right through the screen to meet Nuan Nuan right there and then.

There were two sections of the entire exhibition that moved me the most.

One of them is the “Nuan Nuan’s Cottage.” The cottage recreates Nuan Nuan’s home from the game, with her photo album, clothes, desk, and the view outside the window all brought to life here. This area first appeared at last year’s Nuan Nuan Birthday Art Exhibition, but it has been completely upgraded this time and features the first-ever in-person display of Nuan Nuan’s family portrait.

"Nuan Nuan's Cottage" was already widely loved last year, and the upgraded version has left players even more deeply moved. Players who step inside Nuan Nuan's Cottage almost always pause and linger there for a long time. Some, overcome with emotion, have written: "My pink-haired savior, let's walk together through our eighth, ninth, and tenth years!"

Another touching highlight was “Colorful Garden,” which was the area with the strongest sense of interaction in the entire exhibition. The wall, originally designed for visitors to color in flowers, eventually became almost entirely a message wall for players. They wrote down the words they wanted to say to Nuan Nuan: “Nuan Nuan, may your life be as brilliant as summer flowers.” ““It’s our seventh year with Nuan Nuan—let’s continue this journey together!”

Before the exhibition, I spoke with some players about *Shining Nikki*, and they shared many memorable moments with me. Player 1017 recalled riding a tandem bike with Nikki along a tree-lined path; at that moment, Nikki was riding ahead of her, just as she always did on every adventure—always leading the way.A gentle breeze blew, and she said, “Every moment I spend with Nuan Nuan puts me at ease.” For Yinfeng, it was walking hand-in-hand with Nuan Nuan through the waves of wheat until the setting sun bathed the entire field in its glow. It wasn’t a spectacular scene—just a simple, authentic afternoon shared with Nuan Nuan.

These iconic scenes have been featured in the *Shining Nuan Nuan* “Chasing the Light to the Flower Garden” offline exhibition.In the “Colorful Garden” area, players can select small flower stickers to place next to their most unforgettable memories—scenes of watching sunsets with Warm Warm, painting together, and riding bikes together, all displayed on the walls. Every little flower sticker represents an exclusive memory connected to Warm Warm.

04

It’s not just a dress-up game—it’s seven years of growing up together.

The final section of the exhibition is a grand celebration of love.

The organizers invited Zhang Jiayi, the popular stylist behind Zhang Shaohan’s concert looks, to design two custom outfits for Nuan Nuan, which are being displayed in person for the first time here.A 6-meter-tall, articulated wing installation—replicating the “Wasteland Grace” outfit from *Shining Nuan Nuan*’s 7th-anniversary celebration—is suspended high above, its wings gently fluttering with lifelike grace.

On three walls, more than 200 fan-created works were on display—some were invited by the official organizers after garnering significant online attention, while others were selected through a call for submissions.

No one who sees this wall of artwork can help but marvel at the players’ creativity and passion for the game. Someone took a photo of the wall and posted it on social media, writing, “This isn’t just a wall—it’s clearly the overwhelming love of the ‘Warm Moms’!”

This scene is, in fact, a microcosm of the vast UGC ecosystem that *Shining Nikki* has cultivated over the past seven years.Over the past seven years, as the game’s fashion, photography, and DIY features have continued to expand, countless stylists have used their boundless imagination to transform outfit ideas into tens of millions of completely unique creations. In *Shining Nikki*, the protagonists of this creative journey are not only Nikki herself, but every single player as well.

Player Caysiee said that, for her, Nuan Nuan has long been more than just a game—"it's more like a companion, a testament to her youth."

Player Ayane says that Nuan Nuan is her best friend, who has witnessed her growth, accompanied her to a summer camp in the UK, and joined her on a trip to Xinjiang. Whenever they arrive at a scenic spot, she takes out her Nuan Nuan doll to take photos with the scenery.

Last semester, she made a mistake on her exam and didn’t achieve her dream of ranking in the top ten, but as soon as she opened the game, Nuan Nuan became her source of comfort.In the game, she can freely express her own sense of style without having to conform to external standards, enjoying a rare sense of cyber fashion freedom. Nuan Nuan is a gentle yet determined girl who, even after facing repeated failures, refuses to give up on saving the Miracle Continent.

Ayane takes Nuan Nuan on a trip. Photo courtesy of the interviewee

Player 1017 recalls that during her third year of junior high—the most stressful time—she logged into the game very late. As she stared blankly at Nuan Nuan, Nuan Nuan said something to her that went something like this: “Does your teacher give you a lot of homework? Why aren’t you asleep yet so late at night? Middle school is really stressful, isn’t it? I used to be like that too, but you should still try to get to bed early.”” She cried for a long time.

Yin Feng posted a quote she really liked on social media: “America has Barbie, Japan has Hatsune Miku, and China has Nuan Nuan.” She said she doesn’t make friends often, but thanks to *Shining Nuan Nuan*, she got to know a girl who shared the same account—from middle school through college—and the two even went on a trip to Qingdao together.“It still feels magical and surreal to me,” she said. “A single game brought us together.”

As the “Shining Nuan Nuan” offline exhibition drew to a close, Nuan Nuan left a message: “Before we knew it, our journey through the garden has come to an end.Seven years ago, we met with innocence and anticipation; back then, the seeds were still small, and our dreams had only just begun to sprout. Since then, we’ve walked through countless long seasons together.” It was like a journey of mutual growth, where we accompanied and witnessed each other’s growth over the years.

During the exhibition, temperatures in Shenzhen reached as high as 36°C, and heat warnings were issued several times. Yet the gamers still made their way to the event as planned, writing on social media: “The weather may be scorching, but our hearts are warm.”

“Shining Nikki” isn’t the only dress-up game out there, but it has managed to forge such a deep and powerful emotional bond with its players.From 2019 to the present—a span of seven years—more exquisite outfits, heartwarming storylines, continuously refined dressmaking techniques, and this thoughtful way of cherishing players’ emotions have collectively ensured the game’s enduring popularity and created countless unique coming-of-age stories between countless girls and a pink-haired girl.

Just as the quote in the exhibition says: “You always say that I’m the one who’s been there for you as you’ve grown. But I know that the one who’s always given me the courage to keep moving forward has always been you. It’s because you’ve been by my side that this long journey has felt so warm.”