China has the world's largest gaming market, especially when it comes to the mobile sector. Among the 16-thousand new game releases last year, many involved role playing or strategy that are demanding and pricey. Now there's a new mobile game taking off across China, as CGTN's Cheng He reports.

A cute, pet frog, who loves traveling, is winning the hearts of mobile gamers in China. Different from those fierce and nerve-racking competitive games, players don't actually do much except collect clovers and wait. The frog sets off on trips when it feels like it and returns home hours or days later. The game topped the list of mobile apps in China for a couple of weeks with more than three million downloads per day, which surprised the four Japanese developers who came up with the idea.

MAKIKO UEMURA, TRAVEL FROG DEVELOPER HIT-POINT CO., LTD. "The game was originally designed for Japanese players, so there is only the Japanese version. We didn't expect that it made such a splash in China. That's really a surprise."

Uemura said the game targets modern females in big cities. Many players in China say they're getting a taste of parenthood as the Chinese word for frog sounds the same as child. They share postcards and travel adventures from their frog child on social media and complain when it's away from home for too long.

MAKIKO UEMURA, TRAVEL FROG DEVELOPER HIT-POINT CO., LTD. "To distinguish from other waiting games, we made bold moves in extending the time during which players are not in control. Actually, the players are pushed to the side. That is an innovative attempt."

And successful -- as it fills a void in China's 26-billion dollar game market. Travel Frog players say the simple lifestyle of the frog calms their nerves. And it also draws women to take part.

BRUCE LIU NIKKI GAMES "If you open any gaming news website, this is how they label different genres: battle games, war games, action games and female games. Some even don't have a female genre. For about 50 percent of our population, they only have one sub-section. That is not fair. They deserve more games dedicated to them."

Despite the game's sudden fame, many suspect it may end of just another fad. The company is likely to release spin-off toys and books like it did with other hit games. Cheng He, CGTN, Washington.