I found an unbelievably eccentric action game on Twitter. Its title is Sorosoro sushi wo tabenaito shinuze そろそろ寿司を食べないと死ぬぜ! and it means: “Devour sushi: I’m going to die if I don’t eat sushi!” and it's being developed by humorous and talented Japanese game creator Tadasumen ただすめん.

The sushi game is full of surprising scenes, but to summarize, the main character eats a lot of sushi while yelling “I’m going to die if I don’t eat sushi!” The game sounds strange enough that maybe you don’t believe that it really exists.

Well, here's a clip introducing the game. Watch it with the sound on!

So, now do you believe it exists? It's still under development, but it will be released as a free-to-play game for Windows this year.

Let’s learn about the game before its official release! Keep reading to the end for a special message for you from the developer.

Story

As you saw in the clip, the main character eats a lot of sushi. However, it isn’t just about the sushi. Actually, there is a serious reason why he must eat sushi...

One day, our protagonist is enjoying a nice day out in a park, while yelling: “Sushi tastes great today too!” In the park, there are many types of sushi just lying on the ground, as you can see here:

Such a situation is funny enough on its own, but it seems this is a normal occurrence in the world the developer is creating...

However, the peace doesn't last for long. Suddenly, a suspicious-looking violet tornado approaches.

One after another, the pieces of sushi begin disappearing, presumably because of the ominous tornado. The man says: “What’s going on!? The sushi... are disappearing!”

But then, a very cute sushi mascot, the Great Sushi Will, suddenly appears, saying “You, sushi-loving person...Can you hear me?”

The Great Sushi Will bears shocking news: “The vicious power of those who hate sushi is manipulating the universe and threatening the very existence of sushi. Now, it’s time to turn your love for sushi into power and rescue sushi with your passion.”

Wait, what? The Great Sushi Will is telling the player to rescue sushi from villains? The situation is absurd enough on its own, but the best part is that the main character simply accepts this and says: “Leave it to me, I can do it!”

What a cool guy he is!

You can watch the cutscene for yourself. Make sure you have the sound on!

Game rules

The Great Sushi Will tells the player to collect “sushi souls.” According to the tutorial, you can acquire sushi souls by completing missions. The more sushi souls are acquired, the more gates can be opened. You’ll need to open as many gates as possible to complete every mission. Numbered gates can only be opened once the required number of sushi souls have been collected.

When the player acquires a sushi soul, the screen looks like this:

Gochisousama ごちそうさま is an important Japanese phrase to say after meals to show gratitude for the food and to those who made it for you.

You’ll need to be aware of the green HP bar because your HP will decrease as time goes by.

Now that you know the plot and basic game rules, let’s learn more about certain unique aspects of this game.

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The main character’s jumping skills

As you might have noticed from the first video clip, this man can jump very high... Too high, in fact. Look at the screenshot below. There's a brown five-story building in the center and he's charging towards it.

In the next instant...

Jump!

As he runs across the rooftops, he shouts: “Sushi! Sushi is too delicious. It can’t be!”

What can’t be...is your ridiculous jumping power!

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Interesting stages

The stages and their designs are also very interesting. In one of the stages, a classroom and a pizza restaurant explode. Another has the main character running around town declaring his love for sushi. Yet another stage is set in a forest with many giant animals. The stage design is something that you wouldn’t imagine being part of a sushi game.

By the way, the kanji on the upper right, 貫 kan, is a Japanese counter word for sushi! Sushi is so important for Japanese people that we have a specific counter for it. In this stage, the main character will die if he can’t eat 20 pieces of sushi within the time limit...He's only eaten six so far. Good luck!

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The voice of the Great Sushi Will

Actually, the cute sushi mascot, the Great Sushi Will, is voiced by the developer himeself! He did both the modeling and voice of the Great Sushi Will. When you play the game, listen carefully to his voice!

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Message from Tadasumen ただすめん for grape Japan readers

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If you'd like to support the game, you can participate in the crowdfunding campaign on Campfire. At the time of writing, the campaign, currently at 465%, has already achieved and surpassed its funding goal.

Information

• Tadasumen's Twitter account
• Tadasumen on YouTube
• Tadasumen's website
• Sorosoro sushi wo tabenaito shinuze そろそろ寿司を食べないと死ぬぜ! crowdfunding campaign