Nicki Minaj: The Empire is the latest celebrity-themed game from the master of such titles, Glu Games, and it’s now available to download for free on your Android or iOS device. Like you would have done in previous titles featuring the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Demi Lovato, you start out in the game as a nobody, hoping to be the next legend of hip-hop. You can enjoy all the perks of being an up-and-coming hip-hop artist, partying in penthouses and clubs, chatting with attractive guys or girls who may be checking you out, and collecting the latest fashions and items for your house. You can even write lyrics for your own raps, record them, and share them with your friends if you’re feeling particularly artistic.
As an up-and-coming rapper, it won’t be easy to make it to the top, and to be on the same level as the Queen of Rap herself. And if you want to sing some verses on “Ain’t Gone Do It” (Nicki’s new song featured in the game), you’ll need to put in a lot of work toward becoming a star. So read on, and check out this Nicki Minaj: The Empire strategy guide, which covers all the essential things you need to do on your road to stardom.
1. Think Stardom When Making Dialog Choices
The game comes with situations where you will need to choose your answers when making conversation with non-playable characters. In many cases, there is no specific right or wrong answer, but it makes sense to answer those questions with your showbiz dream informing your choices. Some of the available choices seem to influence the flow of the storylines, and if you choose the right answer, you may be able to earn money, add new fans, or unlock new goodies for you to buy. You can also use your premium currency to improve the outcome of your conversations. This is strictly optional, though you may experience slower progress if you don’t use your premium currency toward boosting outcomes.
2. Start Missions On Full Energy
Nicki Minaj: The Empire comes with a star system per mission, with five stars being the highest possible score you can get. And if you want to reach five stars in every possible level, you should make sure to start levels only when you’ve definitely got enough energy on you. If you play a mission without the recommended amount of energy, that may hamper your progress, and may even cause you to regress if you aren’t careful. That means it’s important to check your energy bar, and start missions when the bar is full or close to it. Also start those missions when you’re about to level up, with only a few actions needed for you to refill your energy.
3. What To Do (And Not To Do) When Low On Energy
Now if you don’t have enough energy, you should return right on time so you can get the remaining stars, with more energy on you to ensure you a better chance of doing that. That’s what you should do if low on energy. As for what you should NOT do, you shouldn’t even think of trying the time lapse cheat. We’ve tested it out for ourselves and we can say that Glu has nipped things at the bud and made Nicki Minaj: The Empire time lapse-proof. Forcing the issue, might we add, may even get you into trouble, so don’t do it.
4. Monitor The Star Meters On All Missions
When it comes to trying to five-star all possible missions, you should also be looking out for the star meters. That would require you to use some strategy when using your energy. Start out by choosing the actions that take up the most energy, as that’s going to give you the best rewards. But if you’re close to completing a mission, use the action that will give you just the amount of stars in order to make it a perfect five. For example, you shouldn’t do an action that requires five energy units if you only have a couple more stars needed to get the elusive five stars.
5. Add More Friends To The Game
It’s also optional to add friends to the game. But as we’ve learned from recent Glu celebrity-based titles, it’s almost as good as given that you have to add friends if you want to improve your performance in the game. This would allow you to earn more likes for your recorded songs, and with that comes improved sales and star value. Just don’t forget to return the favor and vote for the songs your friends have recorded.
For many people, mobile games are better if you take advantage of any available social elements. So why not give it a try and add some friends (or more friends – the more, the merrier) to the game?
6. Log In Frequently
It isn’t enough that you put in a token effort when logging into the game, meaning once per day will do, even if you don’t get to play much. You will need to keep yourself busy if you want to attain hip-hop stardom, and there are many actions that would require you to wait before you’re given the results. The sooner you get those results, the sooner you can get new missions, and the faster you can climb up the leaderboards.
We recommend logging in every three to four hours, and trying to complete missions, get results, and add to your coffers by cashing in your pay. As time management is the main mechanic of this game, you shouldn’t settle on token participation if you want to complete it quickly.
7. Clothes Make The Man / Woman
You can’t expect to become a big name in the world of rap if you settle for frumpy duds. You need to dress for success, though we should warn you as early as now that the game won’t tell you how much style you’ll get once you buy new clothing items. So how can you go about styling yourself en route to success? We recommend spending more on clothes, as that will usually result in a substantial Style Meter increase. Also, meet or go beyond the expected style bonuses once playing missions that have them.
8. Show Off Your Rapping Talent
Think you can drop rhymes with the best of them? Or maybe you’re less confident than others when it comes to your rapping ability. Regardless of how you feel about this matter, you should give it a try and record your own raps over the stock beats that come with the game. Who knows? Maybe Nicki Minaj herself will choose your rap as her favorite for the week. (That’s what Glu claims – She is, after all, a household name in the music industry!)
At the end of the day, this is one social element/feature in the game that makes it so unique. You may or may not think highly about your talent as a rapper, but you just might get hooked on creating new music and seeing what other people think about those songs!
9. Network In The Chat Rooms
Speaking of social features, there are more benefits to using the chat rooms than simply making new friends. You can use these chat rooms to network around and see if you can get more likes and more sales. Just make sure not to be too pushy, as nobody appreciates a shameless self-promoter who’s overly aggressive at it!
And this completes our game guide for Nick Minaj: The Empire. In case you’ve come across other hints for the game, feel free to share them with us in the comments!