Trading

*Please note you can join the unofficial Zen Koi 2 Discord server to find in-game friends for trading koi with.*
**Trading** is the method many players use to obtain new patterns and complete the existing patterns in *Zen Koi 2*. The player needs to add at least one in-game friend to start trading.

Some of the daily quests in the game can only be completed through trading. There are several awards the player can earn only by gifting koi to their friends.

Trading is also the only way the player can obtain some special collector's koi patterns: Bēta and Ochiba, which can only be obtained by participating in beta testing.

## Creating a profile

The first time the player enters the Friends menu they will be prompted to create a Profile for trading. They can enter their nickname and select a pattern and two colors for their profile picture and tap the *Create* button to publish their profile.

The nickname cannot be changed after the profile has been created; however, the profile pattern and colors can be changed anytime.

After creating their profile the player can add and manage friends on the Friends screen.

## Adding friends

The player can add friends to their list by entering their nickname and tapping on *Invite*. The nicknames are not case-sensitive. Friendships are mutual: they have to accept the player's invite before both players can begin gifting.

The invites sent by the player are shown at the bottom of the friends list; the invites received by the player are shown at the top of their friends list.

The player can have up to 25 friends added, plus three more active invites.

## Gifting koi

The player can gift a koi by going to its Koi Details screen, tapping the *Gift* button and selecting a friend from their friend list.

The player can gift most of the koi they own with some restrictions:

* Only koi level 9 and below can be gifted. Trying to gift a koi with level 10 or higher results in an error message.
	+ Any koi bred or cloned by the player can be gifted as long as it is level 9 or below.
	+ If the player has only one koi in their My Koi list, that last koi cannot be gifted even if it is cloned or bred unless the player places at least one more koi in their koi list.
* The koi the player has received as a gift cannot be regifted. However, the player can still clone that koi to give away.
* Collector's koi can be sent to anyone. Progressive koi require the recipient to unlock the respective pattern first.

If a friend the player is gifting a koi to has no open slots in their inbox the koi will not be sent and will be returned to the player's koi list instead. If that koi is a progressive the friend has not unlocked yet it will also be returned to the player.

## Accepting gifts

Any koi successfully sent to the player appears in the player's inbox. If the player is currently in the game they will get a notice on the main screen, otherwise the game does not notify the player they have a new gift.

In order for the gifted koi to appear in the player's collection the player needs to accept it first by pressing a button in their inbox. To accept the koi the player has to have at least one empty koi slot available.

The player's inbox has eight slots. The player will not be able to accept gifts from friends if all eight slots in their inbox are full.

**Note:** purchased or cloned koi and koi sent by the game as a daily reward also appear in the player's inbox. Similar to the koi gifted by friends, they occupy slots and count towards the 8-slot limit. However, these koi can be received and accepted even if the player's inbox is currently full.