Kana Quest, is “the adorable puzzle game that teaches the Japanese alphabet”, and now it’s “making matches” on Steam.
From solo Australian developer, Not Dead Design, comes a new game about fun, learning, and puzzles. As anime fans frequently consider learning Japanese, Kana Quest seems like a cute place to start!
Here’s what Not Dead Design says about Kana Quest:
More than just a colorful puzzle game, Kana Quest uses Kana (Japanese letters) tiles to create puzzles that teach the player the Japanese alphabet as they play. Jump into detailed pixel art worlds, from spring festivals to giant kaiju battles, sliding and matching Kana tiles in the fewest number of moves to become a language master.
Designed so it is not just an enjoyable game but also useful as an educational tool, Kana Quest uses repetition and puzzle game mechanics to teach and reinforce language skills. Each puzzle is solved by connecting all the Kana with others that have similar sounds. New characters and mechanics are introduced slowly alongside increasing difficulty that helps reinforce knowledge of Kana for players of all ages and levels of Japanese knowledge. Memorizing each character isn’t essential to complete a puzzle but can be the key to getting the highest possible score.
Unlock new levels by mastering each puzzle and open up new worlds featuring more complex combinations of mechanics. Some Kana need friends around them before revealing what they are, and others can’t be moved at all so tiles have to be arranged around them. There are ten special types of Kana on top of more than 40 individual Kana tiles, each with their own personality, so get ready to meet all the Kana and learn Japanese!
Kana Quest features, pricing, and trailer
Kana Quest features:
- 13 intricate pixel art worlds
- Over 300 challenging puzzle levels
- Two full alphabets included – Hiragana and Katakana
- Traditional Japanese pop music and chiptune inspired soundtrack
- Can replace boring flash cards as a tool to learn Japanese letters
Kana Quest will be available on Steam for $15 USD / $20 AUD. Launch languages include English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. It’s also coming to iOS and Android later in 2020. For more information, visit the official website, follow it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or join the Discord.
We did receive a review code for this game, so keep an eye out for our game review in the future. And if you tried it, let us know in the comments or Twitter!
