I find myself playing Monster Hunter Now quite a bit. I’d probably say it’s the game that gets most of my attention, more so than any other game, whether it’s on my phone or not. While I can’t boast massive hours of playtime—being a mobile game, it’s designed for short bursts—it’s rare for a day to pass without me at least diving into it once.
I’m committed to completing daily tasks, keeping up with seasonal challenges, upgrading my gear, and yes, even splurging a little in the in-game store occasionally. Basically, I don’t need additional incentives to stay hooked. Yet, a new feature has nudged me to open the app every morning, even on days when I’m not in a gaming mood.
As we approached the end of last year and season three of Monster Hunter Now wrapped up, the Season 4 update introduced something fresh: the Friend Cheering function. Every friend on your list now proudly displays a heart on their card. Tapping the heart sends a cheer, boosting their maximum health for the day.
Logging in always reveals if someone sent you a cheer while you were offline. You get a set number of cheers daily, and when you look through your Friend list, you can easily see who’s already received your moral support. The increase in health is minimal, though there’s a limit on how much your HP can rise from it (probably to prevent any kind of exploitation), so it’s not likely to turn the tide in a fight.
Cheering comes free of charge and doesn’t impact your daily grind—it’s perfectly okay to ignore it, and your Monster Hunter Now experience wouldn’t really suffer.
It’s pretty clear this feature aims to boost engagement. If Niantic can demonstrate to investors that players spend more time on the app—regardless of whether they’re actively playing or just logged in—it’s going to reflect well. I realize these community features often start as complimentary additions before evolving into battle pass perks or items for purchase in the store.
Still, the thrill it gives me is real. Similar to the little thrill of a dating app match, knowing full well it might lead nowhere, the chances are slim for it to bloom into anything substantial.
It’s not about the people on my friends list either; there’s only one person on it I know in real life. The rest are folks I connected with on Reddit. People on the Monster Hunter Now subreddit frequently share their friend codes to help each other with Friend Quests. So, while I don’t share strong bonds with any of them, I genuinely want to cheer for them every chance I get.
Previously, Daily Quests were my first stop when I launched the game. Now, I find myself flipping straight to the Friend List! Though I never caught the Gacha anime craze, Monster Hunter Now might just be that game for me. Its gameplay might not be as immersive, its world less sprawling, and it’s definitely not as exploitative—but it brings me joy far more often than it causes frustration. In today’s world, that matters a lot.
