Kik Messenger Emoji Guide

Do you often use an emoji to impart an emotion, emphasize a point, or just add a little something to your Kik messages? Here’s some great news if you do: Kik Messenger has launched its Smiley Shop. With many collections in every possible emotion, the Smiley Shop is certain to have the perfect new emoji for you. You are about to read all about it in our Kik Messenger Emoji Guide, which begins immediately after we settle one pressing question.

What is the plural of emoji?

emoji (noun)- a picture used to convey an emotion or feeling

Emojipedia says that in Japan, the native country of the emoji, the correct plural is emoji, but also points out that there is no plural form in the Japanese language. Since we do have plurals in English, the Associated Press Stylebook says, in English, emojis is the correct plural of emoji. The Oxford dictionary sits on the fence, with its emoji entry showing both versions as the plural. Emojipedia agrees that both emoji and emojis are acceptable when referring to two or more emojis.

Now that we have that settled, let’s look at the Kik Messenger Smiley Shop.

Ah, but that brings up another question: If this is where we come to get our emojis to use in Kik Messenger, why is it called the Smiley Shop? Here, we have to take a guess, and my guess is that Kik knows a lot of people still call any little picture placed within a text or email message to express an emotion a smiley, and those who call them emojis will recognize the smiley term.

Now, we can look at the Kik Messenger Smiley Shop.

The Kik Messenger Smiley Shop

When you are getting ready to kik someone, in the bottom corner of the text screen is a smiley face. When you click on that, you have a choice of standard smileys (emoticons) from which to choose to insert in your message. Press on any of the standard smileys and it pops into place for you.

If, however, you want something special, something more, and you understand that plus means more, you will be curious as to what lies behind the little plus sign (+) at the end of the smiley array. When you press on the plus sign, the Kik Messenger Smiley Shop opens right before your eyes.

The first option you see is the Mystery Pack. We will come back to this shortly. Scroll just a bit and you come to the collections. At the moment, The Guac Flock is my personal favorite. Click on a collection (I suggest The Guac Flock) to see all the emojis in that particular style. If none of the ones on the front screen tickle your fancy, press on See All Collections for more.

Choosing Your Emoji

As you enter a collection and scroll down, you’ll find an emoji for every possible emotion you could ever want to express in a Kik message. I think Hass-ta La Vista, Baby is absolutely adorable (get it, “Hass” avocados?”). Press on Hass-ta La Vista, Baby (aka Hass) and you’ll see his stats:

• Starting at the top, we see Hass’s image and full name.
• Next, his collection is identified.
• Following that, we see that Hass is a ‘common’ emoji expressing a “cool” mood.
• Then, we read that Hass is available in a mystery pack.
• At the bottom, the gold block to the left tells you Hass costs 50KP. Don’t worry — KPs are a form of Kik Messenger currency that won’t cost you one red cent.
• And, the pink block gives us the option to view Hass in a (mystery) pack.

Mystery Packs and Classes

When you choose to see Hass in a pack, you see him once again with the rest of the flock. You also get an offer to buy three mystery members of The Guac Flock for 150KP.

Now, if we can get Hass for 50KP, what bargain is it to get three of them for 150KP? And what is a KP?

Three emojis from The Guac Flock is a bargain because other members of the Flock cost a lot more than my beloved Hass. One factor is class. There are four classes of emojis in the Smiley Shop, which are (lowest to highest): Common, rare, epic, and legendary.

To see the difference in KPs, let’s go back to the collection’s main screen (go back ‘<‘ once). In the middle of the top row, you’ll see Spread Me On Your Toast emoji. Notice the gold circle around her. Click and read her card.

Spread Me On Your Toast (Toast) is a “rare” emoji. She costs more, too, at 250KP. If you get Hass and Toast in your mystery pack, you are already 150KP ahead of purchasing them separately.

And Toast is far from the most expensive emoji.  Scroll on down and choose an emoji with a red circle around it, maybe Loaded with Fiber, and click. Wow, he’s “epic,” and costs 750KP! And right above him, in the middle with a blue circle, is Sadvocado, a “legendary” emoji that will cost you 4,000KP.

Not All Collections Have Mystery Packs

Sometimes there is no mystery pack available. Here’s how you can tell if there is.

Returning to the main Smiley Shop screen, let’s go back to the top section. You can see that only The Guac Flock has a mystery pack available right now.

You can also tell when viewing an emoji’s card. Go down to the Collections section again and enter the Smiling Dead block. Click on the Playing Dead emoji. At the bottom of his card, the gold bar goes all the way across. There is no pink square with the View in Pack option because he is not available in a mystery pack.

Getting Your Emoji

The mystery pack is surely a deal for higher-value emojis, but since it does not let me specify the emojis in my pack (hence the word mystery), I may never get Hass that way.

Luckily for me, Hass is cheap. I can have my heart’s desire for far less than the mystery pack price. When I press the gold box at the bottom left of Hass’s card to get him, the next screen asks me to confirm using 50KP. Fortunately, I have 100KP available. I can get Hass, so I click Confirm.

Kik Messenger puts Hass in my locker. I get to watch him go there in a nice little video clip. To use Hass, I begin a normal message then click the smiley face at the bottom of  message input screen that led me to Hass in the first place. He is there and ready to go into my message.

If I did not have enough KPs to buy Hass, the Smiley Shop would tell me. To have him, I would have to go visit the Kik Points bot (see below).

What is a ‘KP’?

In Kik Messenger’s Smiley Shop, the price for every emoji is listed in KP, or ‘Kik Points.’

You may have Kik Points and not realize it. If you do not have enough to purchase your fave emoji, you can earn more KP by chatting with the Kik Points bot.

The Kik Points bot is quite generous, so it will not take long to earn enough KP to buy even a legendary emoji. Today, for example, I earned 180 KP by chatting with the Kiks Points bot. I accepted his offers to visit the Smiley Shop (100 KP) and then to watch an interactive ad from one of Kik Messenger’s partners (80 KP). I also took a chance on his “spin and win” game. It all took less than a minute.

To find the Kik Points bot, use your Kik browser (the globe icon in the menu bar). Scan the list of bots for the Kik Points bot and select it.

Kik the points bot with a quick ‘hello,’ or wait for it to kik you. It’s sure to offer you some free points on your first visit. Sometimes the points bot will offer you a deal and you’ll accept it only to see a notice that the offer has expired. Do not let this upset you. The Kik Points bot will offer it to you again, and this time it will not be expired. He usually makes a couple of offers per day before offering you a chance to “spin and win” more Kik Points on his game. The points bot has new offers every day so visit regularly.

Gift a Kik Messenger Emoji

You can buy an emoji to use in a text message to a friend. You can also buy an emoji to gift to a friend.

Let’s say you want to send a big smile emoji to a friend. You can go through the collections like we did with The Guac Flock, or you can go to the lower section of the Kik Messenger Smiley Shop home screen to see all of the big smile emojis available in the collection (the fourth smiley on the top row).

Select the big smile smiley to see all big smile emojis in all collections. Choose one and purchase it with your KPs as usual.

Now, enter your locker by pressing the lock at the top of the Smiley Shop home screen. The top section shows your emojis. Pick one for your friend.

The next screen looks like the usual emoji card except for the bottom, which has an option to gift on the right side. Select Gift. A list of your friends appears. Click on the name of the friend to whom you want to gift this emoji, add text to the message, and send.

Cancelling a Gift

Maybe you realize that you sent your friend that very same emoji six months ago, or that you sent a broken heart instead of a kiss. As long as the recipient has not accepted the gift, you can call it back.

In your locker, you have a Gifts in Flight section (third section down). Click on the emoji gift. A confirmation screen appears; select Cancel Gift.

Now Work Your Emoji Mojo

Emojis are proof of the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” They let us send a quick laugh, lend support and share affection, even create a tender moment. With Kik Messenger’s Smiley Shop, you can find the perfect emoji for the moment. Follow the tips in our Kik Messenger Emoji Guide so you always have on hand the perfect Kik emoji for when words just aren’t enough.