Love Live! School idol festival

Love Live! School idol festival (ラブライブ！スクールアイドルフェスティバル) is a rhythm game released for iOS and Android, based on the Love Live! franchise. It was published by Bushiroad and developed by KLab Inc. and was released on April 16, 2013 for iOS and June 6, 2013 for Android devices.

An English version was released on May 12, 2014 under the title "School Idol Festival" at version 1.6. A Taiwanese version was released on May 22, 2014 under Mobimon Inc. at version 1.2. A Chinese version was released on June 12, 2014 under MarlyGames at open beta. A Korean version was released on July 1, 2014 under NHN Entertainment Corp. at version 1.1. The Korean version was shut down and merged with the Global version as of August 10, 2016. The Traditional Chinese version was shut down and merged with the Global version as of May 17, 2017.

An arcade version was announced to be in production on November 27, 2015 and was made available for play on December 6, 2016. A new game titled Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS was announced to be in production on September 21, 2017, and will be released in 2018. Both games will continue to run concurrently alongside each other.

Gameplay
''Love Live! School idol festival'' is a free to play rhythm game which features two modes—Story and Live—and all nine members of the idol group μ's. The school idol group Aqours was later added to the game as a major update (version 4.0) on July 5, 2016 with its accompanying songs, stories, cards and events. The players are free to switch between μ's and Aqours mode in the game.

Live Show
In the game's Live Show, players are free to choose to play songs from μ's discography and ever growing Aqours discography at the cost of LP, an in-game regenerating energy. Songs are divided into 3 attributes: " Smile ", " Cool " and " Pure ". As of version 4.1, players may spent LP in multiple of up to 4, and will get reward based on the multiplier.

Each song can be played in 4 main difficulties: "Easy", "Normal", "Hard", and "Expert". Each group also host a special list of song that came of event basis: Featured songs, Daily song and the "Master" difficulty, with some Master being Swing note. The players are tasked to tap circles properly according to the rhythm in order to receive score. The score can then be viewed and compared to the other players on the leaderboard.

Daily songs for µ's and Aqours (Japanese version only) can be played on B-Side. Exclusive only to the Global version, KLab Games Station, a weekly live stream program hosted by KLab Inc. releases new B-Side tracks every week.

Cards
Players can form their own Teams (up to 9) and mix and match any card as they wish or use the game's auto function to automatically create a team. Each card has their own attributes: " Smile ", " Cool " and " Pure " as well as Skills and Leader Skills. Card rarity ranges from N (Normal), R (Rare), SR (Super Rare), SSR (Super Super Rare), and UR (Ultra Rare).

Cards can be gained by scouting, completing live shows and/or as a reward.

Scouting
Scouting is the main way to add members to the player's list to be used. There are three types of scouting: Normal, Honor and Coupon.
 * Normal Scouting is worth the least, giving the player only N cards or some R cards if lucky enough, but is free or at the cost of 100 Friend Points for each member.
 * Honor Scouting guarantees players R or above cards. Some Scouting are of limited time. Each member scouted this way will be contributed to the "Honor Student Bonus", and when 10 is filled, resets rewards the player with a "Scouting Coupon". The rest overloading the gauge will be added to the next.
 * Scout 1: Using 5 Love Gems, the player only scout once.
 * Scout 11: The cost of Scout 11 is equal to 10 Scout 1, with the added bonus of guaranteed 1 SR or greater.
 * Step-up: The Step-up scout is an equivalent to Scout 11, but will cost less (but the cost will keep rising as the step progress). Only appears in Limited section.
 * Coupon Scouting is the most expensive, requiring Multiple "Scouting Coupon" for one member, but it will be SR or greater, depending on the player's choice.
 * Using 5 will guarantee an SR or a chance for UR. (No SSR)
 * Using 10 will guarantee an SSR or greater
 * Using 25 will guarantee a UR.
 * In addition to the three aforementioned, there's a section for "Support Member", which rewards the player with a Support Member at the cost of 1 Coupon.

Practice and Idolize
Using other cards as, a card's Level can be increased in order to make its stats better. This is known as "Practice". All cards can be used to Level up other cards, but will be lost, so be careful when using rarer cards. In addition, R or greater cards came with "Skill", which can be leveled up by using a card with the same skill name or a support member.

All cards can also be idolized by "Special Practice": using a duplicate card or stickers (in case of R or greater), which increases the card's max level and bond points. In addition to "Idolize", a card gains an addition skill slot when idolized using a duplicate copies. SR and greater cards can be Idolized more than once to increase the skill slots, and R can also be so if the first time is done with Sticker.

School Idol Skills
Version 4.0 introduced a new game mechanic where you can enhance the card's current skill using School Idol Skills. School Idol Skills can be collected randomly by completing live shows. These skills must be placed in a card's skill slot to activate, and each has its own cost, with the one costing more slot giving better effect. Rarer cards can hold onto more slots, and even more after idolized.

Sticker
Stickers are earned mainly by selling non-support cards of R or greater rarity, or by using them to practice. Also, N sticker (usually gained by selling R cards) can also be gained by completing Live shows, or as a reward for quests. Event Score section (secondary ranking type) of each event may reward ranked player with N sticker, S Sticker (gained by selling SR) or even SS Sticker (gained by selling SSR). Players can use these seal to Idolize their card (but with less effect compared to using the copy). Multiple Sticker of lower value can be combined to idolize rarer cards.

The Sticker Shop is where players can buy "seal shop" R or SR cards, Scouting Tickets, SR Teacher Support Cards, and other miscellaneous items by purchasing them with Stickers. These promotional cards have less skill slots and stats, does not yield Sticker upon sold, but most came Idolized.

Story Mode
In Story Mode, the player works as μ's' or Aqours's helper to manage their training and schedule. These are fully-voiced the idols' voice actresses. In order to progress the story, the player needs to perform various tasks, such as ranking up and performing a certain Live Song. The player is then presented the girls' story as they live their lives as both school idols and students.

After maximizing bond with an Idolized member for the first time, her side story is unlocked. It features her talking with the player, expressing the current event or their feelings.

If players have participated in an event that reward a story (generally Adventure Stroll event), the option to read the story will be available.

Events
Each month, there are in-game events where players can participate to earn rewards, event SR rarity cards, as well as competing with other players in Event and Score Rankings. Rewards can be gained by progressing in an event, gaining enough Event Points and High Score.

As of version 5.2 (Global version) and version 5.7 (Japanese version), there are a total of 7 events (1 exclusive for Japanese version):

Token Collection
(JP: Aikon Korekushon - アイコンコレクション): Players play an event exclusive song on B-Side to acquire event points. The songs require Tokens to play, which players can collect by playing different songs.

Score Match
(JP: Sukoa Macchi - スコアマッチ): Four players compete their scores in the same Live Show. The "High Score" is replaced with "Score Match Point", which also determines the player's opponents: The greater, the tougher.

Medley Festival
(JP: Medore Fesutibaru - メドレーフェスティバル): Play 3 songs in a row with the option to swap the playlist 10 times. Players are given several power ups to enhance their score, increased EXP, help in gameplay or earn better rewards.

Challenge Festival
(JP: Charenji Fesutibaru - チャレンジフェスティバル): Play up to five songs with the option to end the challenge as they wish, with the difficulty increasing as the round number gets higher. Unlike Medley Festival, players do not need to complete all 5 songs in a single session. At the end of the challenge, players will be rewarded.

Adventure Stroll
(JP: Osanpo Rarii - おさのぽラリー): Players will be presented of a map that shows various places where Aqours will visit. Each place has their own set of missions and side stories to complete to unlock the next place. Previously, players had to wait a specific day to unlock the next area. Completing songs gives player "souvenirs" that can be used to purchase items such as Friend Points, event SR rarity card, or backgrounds.

Companion Match
(JP: Nakayoshi Macchi - なかよしマッチ): Four players cooperate to successfully accomplish their goal the LIve Show assign. Goals can either be achieving Full Combo or Highest Score. Players can also host their own private rooms with the option to enable public matchmaking.

School Idol Festival National Tournament
(JP: Sukufesu zenkoku taikai - スクエス全国大会): EXCLUSIVE only on the Japanese server. Bushiroad, the publisher of Love Live! School Idol Festival hosts the annual National Tournament for School Idol Festival players. In-game, players will only be given TEN attempts to play the song with a preset team without skill activation. Players with the highest score with the least amount of greats have a chance to participate in the real life event (assuming the player has registered in the tournament).

Franchise
''Love Live! School idol festival'' has grown into a franchise in its own right, releasing multiple books containing guides and illustrations from the game.
 * 1) Love Live! School idol festival Official Guide Book
 * 2) Love Live! School idol festival Official Illustration Book
 * 3) Love Live! School idol festival Official Fan Book
 * 4) Love Live! School idol festival Official Illustration Book 2
 * 5) Love Live! School idol festival Official Illustration Book 3

In 2015, a Japan-wide competition was also held to determine the best School idol festival player in Japan. This competition culminated in the School idol festival Thanksgiving Festival 2015 (スクフェス感謝祭 2015) on June 6 & 7, the very first event based solely on School idol festival and not the Love Live franchise as a whole. Emi Nitta, Riho Iida and Sora Tokui were present as special guests.
 * In 2016, the entire campaign and finale event was repeated on May 21 and 22, 2016, with guest appearances by the members of Aqours. International players were also invited to participate in the tournament through official SIF events held at anime conventions across the different regions.
 * The event has been confirmed to repeat in 2017.


 * For more information or photos on these events, please refer to Love Live! History.

List of Songs

 * Legend: Masters: ✔ = Currently available, ◯ = Released but unavailable, ✖ = Not yet released

Gallery
List of cards found here.

In-Game =