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Growing NihonGo!'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Originality | #13 | 3.955 | 3.955 |
| Theme | #62 | 3.591 | 3.591 |
| Overall | #65 | 3.143 | 3.143 |
| Controls | #66 | 3.136 | 3.136 |
| Audio | #73 | 2.955 | 2.955 |
| Graphics | #84 | 3.091 | 3.091 |
| Fun | #87 | 2.727 | 2.727 |
| Accessibility | #117 | 2.545 | 2.545 |
Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Godot Version
4.4
Wildcards Used
ONE-HANDED and FEELING CHEMISTRY
Game Description
It's an educational game to practice japanese, focusing on vocabulary
How does your game tie into the theme?
The player has to grow trees(ki-木) in order to grow their japanese knowledge
Source(s)
N/A
Discord Username(s)
reid_reid0
Participation Level (GWJ Only)
1, this is my first one
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Comments
Love to see an educational game! Especially such a fun one ⭐. The art is great too!
Thank God that I studied a little bit of Japanese in the past, so it was relatively easy for me. But I think that, from an educational stand point, this game will confuse a learner - to study hiragana, kanji and vocabulary at the same time. But that's a great surprise to encounter an educational game on a game jam. With a bit of polish and if lessons will alternate, it will be a solid game for learning an entry-level Japanese.
Didn’t think I would get roped into learning some Japanese today! Very cute idea - I think that you have something really nice here. The ambience from the track is great, and really sets the mood as well. I like how the letters dangle on the “tree” once you complete a learning level. Great job!
Thanks for playing! I'm looking for building more japanese educational games
Very polished with a good looking UI.
Thanks for playing!
I loved the audio and the concept is great for learning, I had no idea of what was going on, but the concept of growing trees was awesome.
Thanks for playing!
I have no idea what I’m doing, lol! Excellent visuals and audio though. Great work!
Thanks for the effort! I know it's challenging for people that are not interested in japanese, specially since I didn't manage to add a tutorial. So thanks for playing!
good game, my feedback would be it's a little hard to know what to do, adding some in_game guide maybe
Thanks for the feedback. I was planning on adding a small tutorial via dialogue, but I ended up messing up my agenda, i'll try to update it eventually
Cool idea. I'd love to learn japanese hehe
Thanks for playing! I might try to make more japanese educational games, so tune in and give me feedbacks on what you expect
Cool idea. I'd love to learn japanese hehe
Really cool game! I don't know anything about Japanese so it was pretty difficult for me but that's alright. I was especially struggling once I got to the combination words lol. Very cool way to learn some vocab for a new language!
Thanks for the feedback. I was a little worried about making an educational game to a jam, but I'm glad ppl are enjoying it
Really cool idea! I love growing your knowledge. I did wish that the studying could be more of a game rather than just reading. I haven’t studied Japanese in a long time but funny enough got confused in the first couple because I didn’t think there was any difference between the romanji and hiragna 😂. And wow is my memory of Kanji terrible. Thank you for making this!
Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad I got to reconnect you to japanese
Indeed, I have to think in minigames to the studying part
Really cool way to learn a language. Great interpretation of the theme! Fantastic work! I did find switching between the study and the quiz a little tedious, but it is a quiz after all. I was a little confused with the mixing at first. I didn't realize how the options would come together until it finally just happen.
Thanks for playing! I should think in a way to implement a better game flow to avoid this switching, didn't think at first how tedious it would be for complete beginners in japanese. Thanks for the feedback
It was a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. Thank you for the game! The music and visuals are superb and help to create a zen mood. The idea of growing your knowledge on the trees while growing yourself by learning is quite deep.
Thanks for playing!
I'm happy you enjoyed the game's atmosphere, I was aiming for that zen mood.
Hope your japanese knowledge has grown
Hey, I'm a japanese learner myself! It's nice to meet a comrade) Wasn't expecting such game, so when i saw it i clicked immediately. Good game, but i'd like to see a more responsive ui, as for example when you click on the answer and it changes color to green and plays a sound if it's correct, or to red and plays another if it's not. Also i found it strange that to get 明 you need to combine 月＋日 and not 日+月. ありがとうございます。いいゲーム！
Thanks for the feedback, you're totally right, it should've been 月＋日, nice bug report
Indeed, UI should've been more responsive. That sound + colour change on selecting the answer is a really good idea, I'll totally update it afterwards
We won! :D Arigatougozaimasu! Very original concept n.n
Thanks for playing!
eh?
hon 本 https://jisho.org/search/hon
is book though
not origin (元 / 始) >.<
(a bit more of a look -- https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36396/how-did-%E6%9C%AC-come-to-mea...)
nichi 日 https://jisho.org/search/%E6%97%A5
can be pronounced both 'ka', and 'hi' (as well as a others) <-- in game, 'ka' is taken as wrong
while meaning 'day' or 'sunday' too >.<. With definitely the sun being more like... heavens 天日
and onna 女 is more 'female' imo. With 女の人 and 女の子 being woman, and girl/young woman. Or joshi 女子 (again, more like girl in her 20s/close). Which just feels like a missed opportunity when you have both the characters there XD
tsuki 月 on its own can also be seen as 'month' (as in date, on a label)
Also, I couldn't figure out how to activate Yas-/Kyu- 休, or ... 'mei' 明 I think you were going for?
in-game
Can't wait for the 2nd game, which explains that
死 compounds in to 死神 (eg: death note/soul eater/bleach)
and can also sound the same as 四, which is why some elevators /hotels don't have a 4th floor
And 木 tree -> 林 copse -> 森 forest
Or 物 mono = 'thing' (tabemono = food/edible, kimono = clothes/wearable, bakemono = monster/changeling, ... and as a bonus, 本物 = genuine article/real thing)
Thanks for the extensive feedback. I'm happy to find a japanese student here!
I have to say i'm a basic student,and some of my game design choices might oversimplify or accidentally misrepresent japanese
That being said, let me focus on specifics.
You're right, 本 means book, and that's how it's used most of the times, but it can also mean origin when compounded with other kanjis, and it has multiple forms: 元 基 素. So for example: 本当 means truth, 本 here means true/origin and 当 right/apropriate. Or, 基本 means basics/fundamentals, here 基 means fundation/origin and 本 reinforces the idea of origin. In the end, since I wanted to compound the word Nihon/Nippon/日本, I had to present 本 as origin, as in "the sun's origin". The link you sent explains very well how 本 got its book meaning, but it doesn't mean 本 lost the "origin" meaning
Indeed, Nichi 日 has many pronunciations, but I took a gamedesign decision here to limit the correct to one: "hi", since it's close to "Ni" in "Nihon". Adding "ka" as an option was a bad idea, thanks for reporting it. About its meaning, just like 本, its usual meaning, when not compounded, is another one: (day), but I had to present its "sun" meaning, so I could compound it in 日本. We usually use 太陽/たいよう for sun as a vocab
女 usually means female, and compounds in multiple vocabulary related to woman. I decided to go for 女 = woman because it's more digestible for english speakers (imo)
月/げつ/getsu means month, but I didn't have enough space to expand on that, and I wanted to use the mnemonic moon+sun = bright(明るい/akarui or 明/mei when compounded )
to get both 休む and 明るい you have to combine 人+木 日+月
Thanks for the "shi" idea. That's a really good piece of culture.
物 is also a great idea,thanks. It compounds in a lot of useful words
I was planning to use repetitive radicals as in 木, 林, 森 and 森林 as the third wild card: exploration of the beaten path. But I didn't have enough time i.i
Nice usage of the game jam theme, and very educating.
Thanks! I'm happy that you got to learn some japanese with my game
INCREDIBLY original take on the theme. I love how it’s not only growing trees but also growing your knowledge of Japanese through practice. I had to write stuff down to memorize stuff which I imagine is exactly what you wanted players to do. Wish there was some more feedback on mistakes, but otherwise a thoughtful and clever take on the theme. - ANTIHERO Harley
Thanks for playing!