2048 is a mobile puzzle phenomenon with a very simple merge and grow philosophy and gameplay loop. Recently that’s started spawning Suika games where the merge and grow gameplay loop takes place inside a Tetris style arena. Hokkaido Game takes this idea and turns into a zany game about Japanese prefectures. It’s wild, weird and addictive. I love it.
There are two modes in Hokkaido Game but they both run off the same gameplay loop. You start off with a small Japanese preference shape like Tokyo and drop them into a giant paper bag. If two Tokyo’s touch, they morph into a bigger Japanese Prefecture. Three will be offered to you, and you’ll choose one depending on the shape or name you want to use. Then you’ll want to match two of those to unlock the next size up and so on. As you do this, the paper bag is filling up and you’ll need to work out how to cram as much in as possible. The goal is to reach Hokkaido, the largest Prefecture in Japan, which has a particularly awkward shape that takes up a lot of room. Then you need to keep going and get the highest score cramming in everything around it.
The original mode is just that, but Survivors mode adds additional modifiers into the mix. Each Prefecture choice comes with an additional twist like increasing the scale of everything, changing the size of the paper bag or adding cows that get in the way, or UFOs that can remove a single shape. Another modifier makes each shape more bouncy making each drop more unpredictable. You’ll also get an additional map of Japan, with the idea being you keep playing to unlock all 47 Prefectures to create a full map of Japan.
The gameplay loop is very simple but Hakkaido Game relishes in its personality to distinguish itself from anything else. Each match has an announcer comedically shout the area out, annunciating every syllable in an over the top manner. Get a combo and he goes wild, and whilst I’m sure some will find this annoying, I giggled happily for hours. Along with the silly faces and vibrant graphics and music, there is a Katamari series abandon that Hokkadio Game bathes in that I just loved. With all the shapes being jagged and awkward, you can also find yourself with giant gaps that you can’t fill up so there is a skill and luck element to getting a really strong score.
Simple to understand and full of character and charm, I’ve loved discovering the zany antics of Hokkaido Game. It has that just-one-more-go itch and plenty of Steam achievements to go score hunting and secret combo hunting for a few hours too. I wished there was a two player battle mode, or Steam leaderboards to extend a competitive angle to the game, but what is here is fantastic. Long live fun in gaming.
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