おはよう / こんにちは / こんばんは !
I posted last week about a little RPG Lite we’re making to try to make learning vocab a little more fun. It is all in Hiragana (no kanji for now and no romaji, so no cheating).
[Here’s the Steam Link](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2340320/Tango_Senshi___A_Japanese_Vocab_Learning_RPG_Lite/) for anyone who wants to try it and give us feedback on how they feel about it as a game and/or as a learning tool. It’s free because it’s a demo, so no need to whip out that wallet!
I posted before about this last week and didn’t get flagged or anything, but as always, I’m not here to spam or anything and will take this down if requested. I’m just trying to share what I’ve been working on with the people most interested in the subject and to get honest feedback from other learners on if something like this would be beneficial (and preferably a little fun as well).
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Would love to hear what ya’ll think (both good and bad).
ありがとう ございます
Thank you!!!
:3
28 comments
OMG this is exactly what Ive been looking for – I’m ADHD and get burned out on flashcards very quickly. So Ive been hoping there was a vocab game similar to Learn Japanese to Survive, Thank you for making this!
It looks cute and entertaining, but I feel like it has too much English and might be a bit tedious.
Any plans for kanji?
Which other language games did you draw the most inspiration from?
Any language games influential to you?
Favorite language learning mechanics?
I’m always looking for a way to turn game mechanics into ways to target the language learning parts of the brain.
It’s really not easy!
I feel like I’ve only ever played games that used rote memorization within an RPG.
Looking forward to checking this one out!
Thanks for doing this!
Might as well mention the name in the post!
Full release is when?
I love this idea but I’ve already encountered an issue. I have an ultrawide monitor and it’s cropping the top and bottom of the game with no options to change resolution in game. I now have to do it in windows every time I want to play this :/
[screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/klRlQKB.jpg)
I am glad you posted again. I didn’t see. Your first post and this sounds great. I will be downloading tonight!
It’s pretty cute so far. Not sure how hard it would be, but adding japanese voicing the characters that speak in English could be a simple way to engage players with an “ah, that’s how you say that!” moment. I’m interested to see the hospital once it is fully developed.
Very cool! Did you use Unreal Engine to make your game?
I just beat the demo and left feedback. I will be buying the game when it’s released. It was great!
This looks awesome! Any chance for a Mac port?
I would like to ask how do you choose which vocabs to be used in this game.
Thank u, gonna wishlist it and play it when I can.
Wow, this looks quite good and entertaining! Congratulations on all the hard work, can’t wait to see the final product.
Very cool, I’ll definitely check it out as a relaxed way to revise vocabulary when I can.
These gimmicks are always so pointless lol
Okay so, I downloaded the game and completed the demo so here are some of my thoughts.
First of all, I want to say that I think this game is very nice and fun to play. I believe that it is quite beginner friendly and someone who dislikes flashcards would probably enjoy this game. I really liked the RPG aspect of the game and it feels like an actual game. It gave me Pokemon vibes. Also, I know it’s just a demo so the final game will probably be much more polished.
However, here are some things that I encountered while playing:
– I noticed a lot of repetition. For example, when fighting the last 5 Yokai I think it would’ve been more interesting if all 20 or so “charms” were randomly divided between all the Yokai’s. Instead, I got the same 4-5 words reappearing. Also, I think it would be a cool addition if when you found new charms, the Yokai in the bushes would have those words instead of just the same 3 or so words.
– Mob respawning/Chest respawning. When I was trying to find the last charm I was completely lost, to be honest. Because of this I had to roam a lot of the map over and over and from this, I noticed that once you left and re-entered a chunk of the map, the Yokai’s respawn and the chest respawn. This could be a potential issue since you can repetitively “farm” these Yokai’s and chests. With that being said, if this game doesn’t take a heavy RPG style and these items don’t really matter then it’s not much of an issue.
– Locating charms. Now, I’ll be honest, maybe I’m just dumb but I spent a good 10-15 minutes running around the map just trying to find the last charm. The last charm that I needed was the Hospital. Idk why it took me so long to think about it but I guess whenever I saw the hospital my initial thought was to just enter it. Not even for a second did I think the last charm I needed was the physical hospital. This may not be an issue for anyone else but I think it would’ve been a nice addition to have some sort of hint button locating charms, or instead of the lightbulb appearing when you’re near a charm, the charm itself has a marker.
With that being said, I look forward to when the game will fully release. I believe that this game has a lot of potential and the issues are nothing but minor. I think this game will be a great beginner tool for individuals who want to start learning Japanese and want to improve their vocab.
This is awesome! I’ll check it out right now!
I’ll wishlist. 🙂
To be honest, I feel like there are way too many games concentrating on kana now. Having vocabulary or grammar one would be much helpful.
Also, from my experience, I never completely finished any of those games – I simply felt the progress feels so slow compared to usual methods. So while entertaining I eventually left for classic learning methods, apps (like Human Japanese) or podcasts I could listen on the go (Jpod101). But if anything it can probably spark the interest in language for many new learners which is a good thing.
Thanks for the creation! I’ll add it to the wishlist to review. I agree adding kanji would be very helpful.
Will you include achievements to it in the future?
Whatttt this is awesome! I think I’ll use this for sure.
Feedback from a beginner:
I can’t read the pixelated text too well or hear the computer’s voice when I find an item. Would another font setting be an option in the future? I want to acclimate but seeing characters not how I would normally see them in real life, especially learning as a beginner, makes it difficult
please give the option to type in the answer without guessing 1:4 the correct answer
when I see a tree I need to remember 木 or き and not see 4 prompts which I can exclude 2 and then guess 50/50
that gives a wrong sense of accomplishment and illusion of progress
Wish I could give it a whirl, but I’m trapped in a Maciverse.
Great idea for a game. I deliberately died to see what would happen and when I started a new game I no longer had legs, and the map outside the house world map was bugged out 🙁
What is steam? can I download it for Mac?
Does it work on a Mac?