China’s latest gaming hit is Tabi Kaeru, a travelling frog from Japan

A Japanese-made game about a frog is the latest mobile phone offering to prove a hit among China’s millions of gamers, state media reported.

Tabi Kaeru, or “travel frog”, has topped the charts on Apple’s app store in China for free downloadable games.

A topic of the game on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, has also been viewed 400 million times.

The game was developed by the firm Hit-Point. Players collect clover leaves and use them to buy food and other items to help the frog in its travels around the world.

The animal later returns with “gifts” and snapshots of where it has been for the player.

Some players are so hooked they are using software to cheat and boost the numbers of clovers they can collect, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.