This will be easier if I admit that I have a problem. So here we go. My name is Jenni and I’m a Kairosoft addict.
It started out simple enough. I heard Game Dev Story was a fantastic simulation. I had just gotten an Android tablet and I figured it’d be a good place to start building a portable game library.
I ended up playing it for 5 straight hours after buying it. Well, there were bathroom breaks and I did take a phone call, but play-time wise, I spent five hours on it immediately after buying it. It didn’t even register with me that so much time had passed. One minute I was developing some otome games for the Senga Exodus, the next I was putting together my own handheld and trying to recreate the success of Halo.
It could have been really easy to halt my addiction there. I could have been satisfied with just owning and playing Game Dev Story for years. It could have been the Android equivalent of Solitaire for me.
Fortunately/unfortunately, Kairosoft wasn’t a one-trick developer. It’s like it had a direct feed into my brain. Guilty pleasure? Having total control over a developer/mall/town/colony. Assuming control of this form.
Sure, the games haven’t always been sure hits. Pocket League Story, World Cruise Story, Grand Prix Story, and Hot Springs Story haven’t grabbed me the way Game Dev Story, Mega Mall Story, Dungeon Village, Epic Astro Story, and Cafe Nipponica have. While I admit to spending about six to eight hours on Pocket Academy and Pocket Clothier, they aren’t ones I’ll find myself going back to repeatedly. Still, the overall quality has compelled me to support them by purchasing every game, even if it does seem like one I’ll only play for about two hours like Hot Springs Story.
Still, I decided I had reached a point where it had been enough. As good as the games were, by the time Sushi Spinnery and Pocket Clothier came around, it started to feel like it had all been done. The formula was still good and strong, but it was getting to be the same old, same old. Besides, I had a new Vita. I decided to save up my Kairosoft money and use it for games like Escape Plan and an import copy of Dokuro.
That’s when Kairobotica came along. I didn’t want to buy/play/spend 8 hours on Kairobotica. I saw the screenshots and thought it looked a lot like a clone Epic Astro Story. I’m not a huge Kairobot fan. I figured I was in the clear. Then a friend who I work with at another site decided to grab it and declared Kairobotica the best Kairosoft game he’d ever played. How was I supposed to avoid it after that? I couldn’t.
I suppose being a Kairosoft addict isn’t a terrible thing. All of the Kairosoft games are really well made, after all. Most of them are really engaging. Plus, it’s not like spending $5 on the Google Play store every few months after one is released is going to bankrupt me.
It’s just that, well, I’m really going to miss those hours of sleep I’ll be losing when I insist on going through one more in-game year to perfect something. (Just one more virtual year!)
