Chrono Ma:gia may be the over-the-top Japanese card game you’ve been craving

Chrono Ma:gia has launched on Android in North America, Australia, and Japan. The competitive card game, similar to the likes of Hearthstone and Elder Scrolls: Legends, was developed by the team behind Puzzle & Dragons — the first-ever mobile game to generate $1 billion revenue.

Like Puzzle & Dragons, this is another manga-filled title with tons going on. It features AI opponents as well as online multiplayer so you can battle against others around the world. Its Play Store description boasts about the number of skills and strategies available, but I also suspect a wealth of in-app purchases. 

It also features pop-up models of the creatures seen on the cards, which is a nice touch that man digital card games are missing. It also adds to the overall feeling of being in a Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon. If that ain’t enough, it boasts an “all-star” voice cast including Ayane Sakura and Kentaro Tone!

You can download it from Google Play now and it’s currently sitting on 2.5 stars due to a number of negative reviews, many of them regarding the apparent request for users social security numbers.

Under types of “information we collect,” the Gungho privacy policy states that this includes details “such as the individual’s first and last name, home or other physical address, email address, telephone number, and social security number.” Sounds terrifying.

However, the company has stated on Twitter that it doesn’t ask for social security details and I haven’t encountered any such request (but please do get in touch if you have) — it only asks for a username, which I entered as “Mr Donuts,” without issue. 

There are only two (reasonable) Android permissions to accept, far less than Blizzard’s Hearthstone requires, and Blizzard’s own Privacy Policy also states that it may require your personal information such as your “name, home address [and] phone number.” That information can be necessary to deliver on certain parts of a service, though it doesn’t mean you should agree to it, if you’re uncomfortable doing so.

Nonetheless, I’ve reached out to the company to inquire specifically about the social security number issue and will update this article should I receive a response. 

It’s great to see people take such an active interest in privacy — now certainly is the time — and if you still have concerns, please don’t install this app and read all privacy policies carefully.