Hello Kitty: Mahou no Apron

Overview

Hello Kitty to Mahou no Apron (loosely translated to "Hello Kitty and the Apron of Magic"), later known as Jewelpet to Mahou no Apron (or "Jewelpet and the Apron of Magic"), then as Rilu Rilu Fairilu to Jewelpet no Mahou no Apron (or "Rilu Rilu Fairilu and Jewelpet's Apron of Magic") is a cooking game developed and released by Examu for arcades in Japan on July 26, 2010. After numerous updates, it was later discontinued on August 31, 2017.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the cute-themed company Sanrio, Mahou no Apron has players cooking and preparing numerous dishes (such as curry rice and hamburgers) alongside characters from multiple Sanrio franchises (with earlier entries focusing on Hello Kitty and later versions focusing on Jewelpet and Rilu Rilu Fairilu). Some versions include guest characters from Examu's Arcana Heart fighting game series.

The game's cabinet houses two LCD screens, the bottom of which is a flat-facing touch panel used for the game's main touch controls. In addition, the game includes two buttons below the touchscreen and two knobs on the front side resembling the control dials for a kitchen stove. The game also utilizes trading cards dispensed by the machine, allowing players to change characters, unlock secret dishes, and improve their score.

Similar to the Cooking Mama series, each dish takes multiple steps to complete, with each step acting like a separate mini-game.

It later received a handheld adaptation on December 12, 2013 with the Nintendo 3DS game Hello Kitty to Mahou no Apron: Rhythm Cooking ♪, which later received overseas releases by Bergsala-Lightweight in Europe (released on November 6, 2015 as Hello Kitty and the Apron of Magic: Rhythm Cooking) and North America (digitally released on January 28, 2016 as Hello Kitty's Magic Apron).