As is always the case when I attend the Tokyo Game Show, there were a few things I played in the Indie Game Corner that just didn’t quite merit their own articles. There are a lot of different reasons for that which I won’t go into here, but the end result is that I usually have at least a few games that I want to talk about that don’t fit anywhere else. Thus, I make a place for them. And that place is here.
Hungree Bunny from Feelcerca Games is absolutely adorable. It’s also been out for about a year and a half, so I didn’t feel good about making a hands-on story about it. Anyway, it’s a puzzle game that uses Reversi as its base, but instead of placing tokens you’re placing bunnies. And instead of trying to have more pieces on the board than your opponent, you’re trying to reach the various food items to eat them. Because the bunnies are hungree, you see. It has a lot of the usual free-to-play trappings, but if you like Reversi and/or bunnies, it’s worth a try.
With Cuppa is a virtual pet simulator from Gravity Game Arise that is based on a series of four-panel comics. You take care of an adorable Kappa (a Japanese creature of folklore who aren’t normally so cute), feeding it treats, dressing it up in clothes and hats, and petting it. You can also play some minigames with it, including one where you’re moving down a stream towards a waterfall, jumping and collecting flowers along the way. The flowers can be used to buy items you can use to take care of the Kappa. Another very charming effort, though I am a bit wary of the monetization. Free-to-play virtual pets can be pretty nasty that way.
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees () from Broken Rules has been out on Apple Arcade for a while now, but I’ll never skip a chance to mention it. The game is drop-dead gorgeous, rather moving in its own way, and is all about swinging. Friends, I will never turn away a game all about swinging. You can play this right now, of course. It’s on a variety of platforms, but I assume if you’re reading about Tokyo Game Show on TouchArcade that the easiest means for you is going to be your iPhone or iPad.
Bitsummitと東京ゲームショウに『英単語の始まり エテュモロギア』出展決定！言語が失われた世界で単語の核である『語根』が進化したモンスターが大暴れ！語源と語源を合成して現代の英単語を復活させる根源的英語学習ゲーム（予定）#BitSummit #BitSummitXRoads #TGS2022 #東京ゲームショウ #UE4 pic.twitter.com/tdIVuHp33j
— 灰原とう★英単語の始まり エテュモロギア開発中 (@haibaratou) July 13, 2022
Etymologia from Ars Edutainment is probably not a game that is going to appeal to many of our readers, but I did mention that Son of Musgrave wanted to play a game and I felt it would be rude if I didn’t let you all know which one it was. This is an educational RPG that tests your knowledge of word roots, and my son found it rather engaging. Each monster is built around the theme of a particular word root, and you’ll have to know your stuff if you want to conquer every stage. For obvious reasons, this probably won’t be releasing outside of Japan. But hey, pretty neat.
And that’s it! To be honest, the pickings were a lot slimmer for mobile stuff in the Indie Game Corner at Tokyo Game Show 2022 than in previous years. I’ll go into my thoughts about all of that in my wrap-up on the show, but at the very least there are still some indies plugging away at mobile releases despite the challenges of the market.
