After the festival came the mid-term exams.
We decided to put games on hold to concentrate on studying, but...
...once the tests began, it was over super fast, and we went back to gaming.
Ah, it feels so long since the last time I relaxed.
I know, right?
I'm very impressed with Emmy though, that you can take all the tests in Japanese.
Where did you learn Japanese?
After I came here, my grandmother taught me.
My grandmother is Japanese!
Wait, how long have you been in Japan?
Four years!
I moved to Kyoto when my dad finally opened his board game shop here.
I see.
By the way, where is your shop, Midori?
Right here.
Hmm, I'm not sure where that is.
Well, you only moved here recently. It's hard.
Emmy, Kyoto streets are easy to remember.
All the streets cross at right angles, like a Go board.
So if you know which way is north, you can figure out where to go.
A Go board?
You know, the board used in the game of Go.
Oh! Yes, I know Go. I don't know the rules though...
But I think I get it, now that I know how to interpret this!
Midori's shop is north of here, so...
This way!
That's west!
Huh...
Could it be...
Emmy, are you...
...bad with directions...?
"Episode 9: Daruma-Doll Fell Down"
Hello!
Hey! All together, as usual.
Wow, what a cute shop!
Hmm? Who's this?
This is our friend Emmy! She is from Germany!
Oh, from Germany...?
Nice to meet you, I'm Emilia.
This might be small and underwhelming for someone from Germany, but please enjoy.
No, this is not small! This is my first Japanese game shop visit.
Very interesting...
Elfenland!
Elfenland?
I haven't seen this in so long... I used to play this a lot back in Germany.
The box got smaller.
Yes, but the content is still the same, board and pieces and all.
Do you want to play?
Oh! Is that okay?
Wow!
What a pretty board!
When I saw it for the first time, I was impressed, too!
This game is about traveling in a fantasy world
inhabited by trolls and elves.
The boot represents your current location.
You move it and recover the markers in each town.
Wow! I love traveling!
To move, you use these vehicle tiles and cards.
Tiles and cards each have the picture of a vehicle on them.
At the start of the game, we deal eight cards and four tiles to each player.
When the round begins, each player takes turns placing a tile on the road.
This determines which vehicle can be used to travel on each road.
What's important to note here is the terrain.
The terrain?
This world has five terrain types: Grassland, forest, desert, mountain, and river.
Each terrain type supports different types of vehicles.
Boars can only go on grasslands and forests,
unicorns cannot go on grasslands and rivers,
dragons can go anywhere except rivers, and so on.
What are these ones and twos...?
That is the cost of travel in cards.
Cost?
For example, if there is a boar tile on the grasslands, its cost is one,
so you pay one card.
Unicorns going on deserts cost two, so you pay two cards.
I see!
Can you not go anywhere if you don't have the right cards?
In that case, you can pay any three cards to travel.
This is called a caravan.
But it's inefficient, so you should only use that as a last resort!
When everyone runs out of cards, or can't or don't want to play the cards,
the round is over.
Take four tiles and draw until you have eight cards, then start the next round.
After four rounds, the player with the most markers picked up wins.
Those are the rules.
Thank you! I understand!
Sounds like fun!
Let's start!
Yeah!
That's the end of round one.
This is fun! I feel like I'm really traveling in this world!
Yes.
Come on, let's keep going!
All right! Three more rounds to go. Let's go to as many towns as possible!
Yeah!
Hey, I was going to put my tile there!
Good move.
Yes!
I can't go any further...
I left four on the board.
Me, too...
Midori-chan got all but two!
Awesome, Midori-chan!
I was so close to getting them all...
So Emmy is the only one left.
Yes, here I go!
One with a troll, two with the elves,
three with the boar, four with the dragon.
One more dragon makes five, and pay three cards for the final one--here's six!
Wow...
Wow, Emmy! Did you actually get them all?!
Yeah, it went well!
You got me, Emmy... I guess you aren't bad with directions in games.
"Hamburg, Germany"
Wow, Emmy! You got them all again!
You're not bad with directions in games, are you, Emmy?
Despite still getting lost in the neighborhood!
Emmy, you're going to Japan next week, right?
Yes...
We'll miss you.
Wherever you are, we're still friends!
Don't forget about us, okay?
We'll email you every day.
Hans... Johann...
I promise I won't forget. I'll write you, too.
Liar...!
Anna...
Emmy, you're a liar!
Emmy?!
Wh-What happened?!
You made fun of her sense of directions!
Huh?! Wait, no, that was...
I'm sorry, it's not that... I just remembered something...
This was the last game I played with my friends in Germany.
I couldn't keep my promise with those friends...
Your promise...?
Anna... My closest friend.
We grew up together. We both love games. We promised each other...
...that one day, we would make a game together.
We were separated, but our dreams are still the same.
Dreams...?
Yes, my dream is to make a game that can make kids all over the world smile!
She's trying to make a game, too...?!
I see! You're trying to become a game designer, too!
So you and Midori-chan...
Murder vibes?!
Midori-chan...?
What's wrong?
Oh... um, uh...
I just remembered, I had to do something today! I forgot!
Sorry, see you later...
Midori-chan...
Well, now, I guess she's going to be a fledgling for a while longer.
Midori-chan...
Midori is trying to be a game designer, too, right?
How did you know, Emmy?
Well, that's...
...to become a game author myself!
I was so happy to learn someone else in Japan had the same dream as me.
I see!
But it doesn't seem like Midori wants to discuss it...
As two people with the same dream, I would love to share thoughts on this...
Emmy...
Hey, I want to discuss something with the two of you.
Emmy wants to make games...?
She grew up in Germany, the center of gaming culture... What would she come up with?
I want to play Emmy's game, too!
But... what if it's extremely fun?
What if her talents are much better than mine?
This silly pride is making me afraid of seeing her game...
I'm sorry.
You're not a designer.
Shut up! I know that!
I know that...
Huh? Stuff we did when we were younger?
Yes. I want to learn what traditional games children play in Japan.
So that's the type of thing you're interested in.
In Germany, both board games and playtime activities for children are called spiel.
Both fall under "fun things."
Perhaps it could be a hint for making games!
Hmm, child's play, huh?
Like tag or hide-and-seek?
Is there something more Japanese?
How about Daruma-Doll Fell Down?
--Oh! --Good one!
How does that go?
Shall we go try it now?
Yes!
"Kamo Mioya Shrine"
So the rules are like...
Well, I actually haven't played this too much.
Okay, I'll take over.
Thank you!
In Daruma-Doll Fell Down, one player becomes the Oni.
Oni? What's an Oni?
It's a Japanese monster! Big and scary, with horns like this!
Oh!
We do rock-paper-scissors to decide who becomes the Oni, then...
Okay, start at that tree!
The other children start from this line.
The Oni turns around and chants, "Daruma-doll fell down," and the children approach.
Daruma-doll fell down!
When the Oni finishes saying that and turns around, the children stop.
While the Oni is looking, the children can't move.
If you move, you get captured by the Oni.
Oh! What happens when you get captured?
The captured child holds hands with the Oni and awaits rescue.
If another child tags the Oni while the Oni is chanting, the child is rescued.
Daruma-doll...
Tag!
One, two, three, four, five...
The Oni then counts to ten, and during that time,
all of the children try to get as far away from the Oni as possible.
Stop!
When the Oni says "stop," everyone stops.
I remember now, that sounds right.
So from here, I think the rules vary from region to region.
The child who successfully tagged the Oni decides how many steps the Oni takes.
Steps?
Like five big steps or ten small steps.
Five big steps!
--If the Oni can't tag anyone from there, they play the Oni again.
--One, two, three... --If the Oni can't tag anyone from there, they play the Oni again.
Also, if the Oni can't catch anyone before they are tagged, they play the Oni again.
So that's the game...
Danke, Miki! This is very interesting!
Actually, there is a very similar game in Europe as well!
--Huh?
--In Germany, it is called "Ox on the Mountain." --Huh?
"Ox on the Mountain" --In Germany, it is called "Ox on the Mountain."
In England, I think it's called "Green Light, Red Light."
Both involve approaching a player while their back is turned to tag them.
I see!
I thought it was a Japanese game...
But this is different from the European version.
The Japanese version is more complex.
Okay, let's play!
Yeah!
Here I go!
Okay, first step!
Daruma-doll...
...fell down!
Daruma-doll...
...fell down!
Hey, Midori-chan!
Huh?! Did I move?
Yes, your left hand.
Don't worry, Midori-chan!
We will rescue you!
Here's my hand.
Here we go!
Daruma-doll...
--...fell... --Tag!
--One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! --Run!
Stop!
Aya-chan, did you tag me?
Yes!
Okay, call the steps!
Three big steps!
Huh...? Three steps...?
One... two... three.
Well, naturally...
Three steps? Impossible!
Aya, you cheated!
But you said I could decide...
If you think about it, the child getting to decide the Oni's steps seems odd.
That part should be fixed to ten or 15 steps or something.
I think it's played that way in some regions.
How was it, Emmy? Did it help at all?
Hmm... I have one question.
How does this game end?
Huh? End?
I guess it doesn't really have one...
Like when the school bell rings, I guess?
Now that I think about it, a lot of children's games are endless like that.
Like tag and kick the can.
I see, endless...
What's wrong, Emmy?
These rules have some issues.
Well, it's classic child's play.
Once you get used to modern games, it won't be as interesting.
That's not true, Midori.
Any game has the possibility to be fun.
We're going to work on making Daruma-Doll Fell Down more interesting!
Daruma-Doll Fell Down...
More interesting...?
Yes. This game currently has a big issue, which is...
...the children have no rewards.
Rewards?
In the current rules, the children try to tag the Oni.
However, tagging the Oni just starts the next round.
Go again?
Just repeating the same thing. This is not rewarding.
In addition, when going to rescue a captured child,
--the child who tags the Oni...
--Tag! --the child who tags the Oni...
Stop!
...is at a disadvantage relative to the other children.
In other words, the children face many risks, but get no reward.
There is no motivation for them to tag the Oni.
I see!
I've never even thought of this that way.
You've got to be kidding me... All that, after just one play?!
But if we add an end and a reward, this would become more interesting!
First, if a child tags the Oni, the child gets one point!
Then, if the Oni can tag the children who escape
within a set number of steps, the Oni gets one point!
Also, let's take turns playing as the Oni!
After everyone plays the Oni once each, the game is over. Highest points wins.
Are you sure that's enough to make this fun?
Not much has changed...
Yes, I think so! Now we must test it out.
Here I go!
Okay!
--Daruma-doll...
--Tag her... --Daruma-doll...
--Get one point... --Daruma-doll...
--Huh? It feels different from before... --...fell...
...down!
Daruma-doll fell down!
Aya!
Oh, no!
Tagging to get one point-- meaning the children have to compete!
As a result, the children want to move faster, which makes it harder to stop!
Daruma-doll...
...fell down!
Very good, you two!
Impressive, Emmy...
Through a few simple changes, she added a powerful trade-off mechanic...
Daruma-Doll Fell Down became a real game!
--Daruma-doll fell...
--Tag! --Daruma-doll fell...
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!
Stop!
You're all very fast... We should decide how many steps the Oni can take.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...
...ten!
Mm, so close! Too bad...
So Miki gets one point!
--Yes.
--I'm jealous, Miki-chan! --Yes.
You're right, this is more motivating!
Okay, let's keep going!
Here we go! One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! Tag!
Yay! Three points total!
You win, Aya! Congratulations!
I didn't think this could be so fun!
I know! It was just a small change, but...
Alex Randolph said all games are works in progress.
Alex Randolph... That godlike figure in the world of German-style games...
Soccer and rugby were born from ancient football.
Chaturanga began in India, then transformed into chess and Shogi.
New games emerge through the constant evolution of games.
Constant evolution...
We, as aspiring game designers, need to understand this, right, Midori?
Yes, you're right... Wait, what?!
Huh? What...? Why...?
Did you tell her?!
No, she knew all along!
Huh?
She wanted to talk about that stuff with you, but never had the chance to.
That's when Miki talked to me.
Huh?
Okay, Miki! In that case, leave it to Emmy!
Concerns about games shall be solved using games!
Huh?
With games? What do you mean?
You'll find out tomorrow!
I was wondering what she was going to do,
but I totally forgot because this was so fun!
--So all of this today was because I couldn't come out to Emmy...?
--You were impressive, Aya! --So all of this today was because I couldn't come out to Emmy...?
You guys are so nosy...
Was it presumptuous of us...?
Thank you.
Emmy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.
My dream is to become a game designer, too.
Can you try my game out sometime?
Of course! I can't wait to play your game, Midori!
"Next episode: Happy Holy Night"
I hate you, Dad!
"Next episode: Happy Holy Night" How can you break your promise to go to the Christmas party with me?!
"Next episode: Happy Holy Night" I won't forgive you, even if you play games with me!