Welcome to our review of two titles from the Japanese based studio Kairosoft, namely Game Dev Story and Hot Springs Story. This Japanese studio is very well known for the hefty amount of simulation games they developed. Most of their games are mobile based, which isn’t strange. The controls for most of these games are easy to use and the gameplay is designed for short bursts of gameplay. Does this means it’s a strange fit on the Switch? On the contrary!
There is a totality of three games from Kairosoft on the Nintendo E-Shop as of the moment we published this review. And we are going to discuss two of them – being: Game Dev Story (1997, Windows, 2011 iOS/Android) and Hot Spring Story (2011 iOS/Android). Just for begin thorough, and to show how many games these guys made.. a short list (of the titles available in English):
List of mobile games available in English
- 8-Bit Farm
- Anime Studio Story
- Beastie Bay
- Biz Builder Deluxe
- Bonbon Cakery
- Cafeteria Nipponica
- Dream House Days
- Dungeon Village
- Epic Astro Story
- Fish Pond Park
- Game Dev Story
- Grand Prix Story
- Grand Prix Story 2
- High Sea Saga
- Home Run High
- Hot Springs Story
- Kairobotica
- Legends of Heropolis
- Magazine Mogul
- March to a Million
- Mega Mall Story
- Ninja Village
- Oh! Edo Towns
- Pocket Academy
- Pocket Arcade Story
- Pocket Clothier
- Pocket Harvest
- Pocket League Story
- Pocket League Story 2
- Pocket Stables
- Pool Slide Story
- Shiny Ski Resort
- Skyforce Unite!
- Station Manager
- Tennis Club Story
- The Manga Works
- The Pyraplex
- The Ramen Sensei
- The Ramen Sensei 2
- The Sushi Spinnery
- Venture Towns
- Wild Park Manager
- World Cruise Story
Kairosoft – Localization
The studio itself is based in Japan, Tokyo, and was founded in 1996. The mostly develop mobile games for the Japanese market and it shows. I understand why some of these titles would never be localized. Most of the average European or American player have never heard of some hardcore Japanese cultural businesses. And that’s not a bad thing, since we can’t ‘level’ with these kind of games, you’ll see what I mean in a bit.
I first found out about Kairosoft with games like Cafeteria Nipponica and was hooked right away. The concept was simple – build a restaurant, with a unique team, crew and atmosphere. A cute pixelated style and, sometimes, broken English translation. But I got hooked. So when the opportunity dropped to play two titles, remastered, for the Nintendo Switch.. I couldn’t stay away.
Gameplay of Game Dev Story & Hot Springs Story
The concept never really changed I guess.. Get a company up and running and make it the biggest success the world has ever seen. Both game use unique parameters to get things done. In Game Dev you’ll develop games for the different consoles that will appear throughout the twenty years the game lasts. All of the consoles are based on real consoles, but with names changed and designs tinkered to make a little fun of them of course.
The same goes for Hot Springs, in which you will design a Japanese bathhouse, with of course, male and female baths. You can add pachinko rooms, restaurants etc., all based on the group you want to attract. Are you going for the students? Business Man/Women? Or are you into the old folks who just want to enjoy some of their retirement in your hot springs. Both games push you to becoming better and better, but Game Dev clicked more. And that’s probably because I write reviews, I play games and I read about developing games and the companies behind them. I have never been to a Japanese Hot Spring, so it’s a little harder to imagine how they look, how they work and where I should pay attention to when building one.
When I developed games for my studio I knew what combinations would work, since they are the game I play daily and love for the combinations they are. Want to develop a Historical game? Combine it with Educational, or an Online RPG and you’ll have a hit. Music game? Combine it with Drums, or Motion and off you go! Of course you’ll also need Writers, Artists, Sound Engineers and Coders. They will create the base you’ll need for your games: Fun, Creativity, Graphics and Sound.
These four basics decide how well your game will sell and how high the review scores will be. At the end of my game I had such a good team that all my games scored 9’s and 10’s, which meant that they became instant classics and sold millions of copies.The first Hot Spring I developed was focused on students and ran really well, but it wasn’t the same feel of satisfaction I had while developing games. So I tried to challenge myself and make a more differed Spring. And boy, did I fail. I have not that many knowledge about the nowadays Japanese culture, but learned a lot about the fact that business woman and man like pachinko A LOT, but the elderly folk hate it. So instead of creating a fun, nice Hot Spring for all around, I created a gambling den for students and travelling salespersons..
Conclusion
It’s really hard to score these games, since they were obviously developed for mobile systems. The graphics are simple, but look nice. The sounds are easy and can be a little annoying with longer play sessions. And since most of the games are really interest-bound, it’s hard to make a sell for them. I really enjoyed Game Dev Story, but had not the same feel with Hot Spring Story. So before picking up any of the Kairosoft Games, look online for some information on the game and ask yourself – am I into this genre? If the answer is yes, and you always have dreamed about creating your own Hot Spring or developing an awesome console? Then pick them up right away!
8.5/10 – 6/10
Game Dev Story – Hot Spring Story
