Yomifuda: Kanji Survivors

Fun little game for getting to know Japanese. A few quick matches of this every day could go a long way if you want to learn the language. Easily worth the two bucks.

全て自力で書きました。翻訳機は一切使っていません。 I totally wrote this on my own without a translation tool! Okay, maybe that was a lie. I did not write this purely with the Japanese skills I acquired in this game so far, but I did already start recognizing and remembering quite a few kana, which honestly feels great. And that’s exactly why this game works so well. At first glance, this looks like a Vampire Survivors-style action game. You run around a beautifully designed environment, attacks happen automatically, enemies swarm the screen, you kill them, level up, pick upgrades, and slowly evolve from poking at single enemies to absolutely deleting entire hordes. That progression feels genuinely satisfying, and surprisingly deep too. I found myself thinking about builds and what upgrades to commit to next. But the clever part is how the learning integrates into the gameplay loop. To earn upgrades, the game regularly throws quick Japanese kana challenges at you. And somehow… I was always excited when those popped up. They’re fast, satisfying, rewarding, and immediately tied to gameplay because succeeding gives you cool new abilities and upgrades for your run. It did not feel like the game interrupted itself to “teach.” Instead, the learning became part of the dopamine loop. The presentation is fantastic too. The art is beautiful and the whole game feels rooted in Japanese culture without feeling gimmicky. I especially loved the character designs. What surprised me most is that underneath the educational angle there’s just a genuinely solid game here. Not “good for a learning game.” Just… good. Fun combat, satisfying progression, interesting choices, and a “one more run” feeling. I’m very curious to see what else the game introduces later on, both mechanically and in terms of language learning. Really charming and surprisingly compelling experience.

한자 교육 게임에 관심이 있어 구입했지만 실망감이 큽니다. 상업용 게임이라고 보기 어려울 정도의 완성도 입니다. 학생들이 만든 훌륭한 포트폴리오 정도로 기대하면 딱입니다. 그래픽은 훌륭하다고 생각합니다. 충분히 이목을 끌고 매력적입니다. 그러나 뱀서류 게임에 있어서 필수적인 요소들이 많이 누락되어있습니다. 조합(시너지)가 사실상 없습니다. 업그레이드가 인크리멘탈 게임 수준의 수치 향상입니다. 전투의 메카니즘의 변화가 없을 뿐더라 그 수치향상의 체감조차 되지 않습니다. 타격/피격 피드백이 없다고 봐도 무방합니다. 따라서 타격감 피격감이 없어서, 1차적 짜릿함은 제로입니다. 학습에 대한 부분은, 퀴즈를 푸는 수준에 그칩니다. 이럴거면 장르를 뱀서류로 굳이 구현할 필요가 없습니다. 그냥 퀴즈 푸는게 낫습니다. 개발도 어렵고, 학습도 더디고. 모두가 힘들어질 뿐입니다. 아트 기반의 개발자 분이 학습과 게임의 조합으로 뭔가를 하고 싶었던 것 같습니다. 아트가 훌륭하다는 결과외에는 다른 목적은 달성을 실패한 것으로 보입니다.

Один герой, способностей по пальцам и абсолютно рутинная прокачка сессия за сессией. В плане геймдизайна это где-то 2/10. НО если в долгую смотреть, то подучить кандзи - это хорошо.

Pretty good!

Excellent Value! I love the variety of kanji that are available to learn, and that you can choose which lessons to learn yourself without prerequisites.

I was really surprised how quickly I picked up some of the kanji characters after playing the basics for a few rounds! After that I could already piece together some of the japanese country names based on the basic characters I learned, that was cool :)) The music is a banger, and building up different weapons and abilities each round is fun, but more importantly: you can pet your companion dog??? Amazing, definitely recommend

As someone who wanted to learn japanese for a while, this game is a really great way to casually and playfully learn some words and characters. Also the music and art style have a nice, memorable vibe to it! Very happy with this game :3

Very cool!

Das Spiel ist schnell verständlich, intuitiv nutzbar und mach einfach Spaß! Die Vokabeln und Schriftzeichen werden spielerisch und in einem angemessenen Tempo eingeführt und wiederholt, bis sie im Gedächtnis bleiben. Besonders gefällt mir die Grafik, insbesondere die Farb- und Lichtgestaltung, die für eine tolle Atmosphäre sorgt. Definitiv empfehlenswert für einen einfachen Einstieg in die Grundlagen der japanischen Sprache, der schnell zu ersten Erfolgserlebnissen führt.