Will 'Kim Kardarshian Hollywood' take over Candy Crush?

After trying her hand in acting, fashion design and reality TV, Kim Kardashian seems to looking for more ventures. She has branched out into the world of gaming and while it may come as a surprise for many, she's actually dominating it.

In less than a month her mobile phone game, named Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, rose to the top of the charts in Apple's App Store and gained nearly 15,000 five star reviews, making it a small but mighty rival to gaming app giant Candy Crush Saga, which has had only 1185 for it’s latest version. It is projected to make $200 million this year.

It's also very addictive, even for those who aren't Kardashian fans. The tester at women's lifestyle website Bustle said she spent five hours playing Kim Kardashian: Hollywood in a single binge.An employee at a US government office was similarly captivated, accidentally tweeting an update from the game out of their employers' official account. It read: "I’m now a C-list celebrity in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Come join me and become famous too by playing on iPhone!"

Basically in the gaming app, users are encouraged to join the avatar version of Kardashian in their "own celebrity adventure", where they can create their own celebrity – including look-a-likes of real celebrities – and slowly work their way up the slippery ladder of success. It’s pretty much like a game in which users take on the persona of a Sims-like character and complete tasks to rise through Hollywood, one level at a time, until you’re officially an “A listed” celebrity. This includes challenges such as baiting the paparazzi; getting into Twitter wars with a rival wannabe celeb; and dating as many other famous people as possible, yup, that’s surely important.

Furthermore, with Kardashian West’s brand power, the game has reached a wide audience, offering players a glimpse into her life they may not otherwise have seen – while generating revenues from in-app purchases for the company. The game has been praised for its knowing acceptance of the fact that Kardashian isn't really famous for anything, and for making light of the vacuous characters that appear in the game's version of Hollywood. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood encourages players to create their own celebrity alter-egos who can then interact with the alter-egos of real-life friends in multi-player mode, an unusual perk for free mobile games.

Another key to the game’s success is that everything is kept current. Kim Kardashian’s outfits are up to date. ‘Yeezus’ is mentioned a few times – one of the t-shirts available looks like the Yeezus Tour shirt and Kim is wearing her massive engagement ring. It doesn’t look like the Kim from two years ago, or even a year ago and is pretty much up to date with the Kim you constantly see.

It’s for these reasons, they say, that the game has spread like wildfire – with almost all their friends – and Instagram followers – obsessed.

While users can play the game entirely for free, with in-app purchases purely optional, some have become so fascinated with it that they've spent money to aid their virtual journey to fame or fill their fake celebrity wardrobes with imaginary designer gear. A new haircut costs $120, while a jacket can range from $45 to $1750.

Bloomberg predicts that Kim Kardashian: Hollywood could make $200 million this year from users paying for perks such as clothes and dining out.

The game rewards users with dollars and K Coins, which are given out for completing tasks such as networking. Although free users are entitled to these, Kardashian currency doesn't go far when it comes to buying apartments, adopting kittens and even boosting your energy levels thanks to a fancy dessert on a date. When you don't have enough, the app encourages players to part with their own hard-earned cash to live the Tinsel town dream. Prices start at £2.99 on the iTunes store for the Small Star Pack and rise to £39.99 for the Huge Star Pack, which boost in-game currency. For £2.99 players can skip the laborious character charging stage with a Quick-charge Energy Pack. Some would argue that it's a small price to pay for the Kardashian lifestyle.