My Favorite Japanese Developer

After reading an article on Joystiq a while back I was turned on to a game called "A Game Developer Story" for my Android phone. The game is a sim where you operate a game developer. It is very simple, far from any realm of reality, and, well, a phone game, but it is incredibly fun. It has a unique, very Japanese quirkiness to it and I have spent many hours while out and about thinking up funny game names (Density Effect wakka wakka) and in general just having a great time with the game.

The game was developed by Kairosoft, a Japanese game developer with an English website that looks like it should have been on GeoCities 16 years ago, yet the developer has quickly wormed it's way into my heart.

I recently did a search and found they released another game localized for us North American barbarians called A Hot Springs story. It's another sim where you run a traditional Japanese inn and, lo and behold, it is a ton of fun! If you have a lot of commute time on a train like I do every day totally check it out.

Ultimately the reason I love Kairosoft is they prove you don't need big budgets, crazy particle effects, or top notch voice talent to make a good game. All you need is a good idea.