A few months back we had the pleasure of checking out a short demo for Danchi Days through a video on our YouTube. I was the one playing in the video (apologies for the bad gaming!) And throughout my time playing, I was just smiling, not only because of the game’s bright and cute pixel graphics but also from the sense of just pure wholesome happiness that was emanating from the screen.
I was delighted then when I received an email to tell me the demo had been expanded to the first hour or so of the game, and I eagerly jumped back in to see what had changed since my last playthrough. Happily, this demo not only contained a much larger area to explore, but it also contained more context on the story and the reasons behind our main protagonist, Hoshino’s, efforts to resurrect a long-lost tradition that used to be upheld in her apartment complex.
And this is where Danchi Days diverges from other games of this ilk; with no big bad to defeat, your task is to bring back the summer festivals that used to be held every year in the complex. The main motivation behind this is a rather sad one, but one that’s still filled with hope. Back in the day, these summer festivals were run by Hoshino’s grandma, but in her old age, dementia has taken hold of her brain and now she can hardly talk or remember much. But when Hoshino finds some old festival flyers, she gets quite the reaction from her grandma and decides to bring back the festival for her grandma to hopefully make her remember happy memories from the past and cure her dementia.
I was tasked with inviting fellow residents to the festival, with ten needed to finish the preview. This, of course, is not as easy as getting that elusive RSVP, as you’ll need to help these residents with their problems. These are solved through various mini-games that, when completed, will grant you that all-important yes. These bring in the magical element of the game, as these games are only accessed through Hoshino’s sense skill.
At certain points, you’ll see sparks floating around an area and this is your cue to instigate your sense skill and activate the mini game. There were various types in the demo that changed depending on the situation, but the main mechanic was always the same. The aim is to fill your star meter by completing the task at hand. This could be by bumping into leaves to make a man sweep them up and create musical notes that you need to collect or by pushing mud into water droplets to create mud balls that you’ll need to complete a task. There is a “focus” bar; that is basically your energy. Each move depletes the bar slightly and it’s game over if it empties before you can finish the mini-game.
Although these games look simple, there is more of a tactical approach that I wasn’t expecting. I learnt quickly that just moving around randomly was not the way, and as soon as I started to plan my moves with more thought, I started to see more success. And although the mini games I experienced in the demo did seem more on the easier side, I am expecting them to get much more challenging further into the full version.
The other way to help you in inviting residents is through your PC. You can pick up keywords through conversation to research, which can lead to helpful information. You can also grab emails and view each resident’s homepage. It is all pleasantly pretty simple stuff; I was never overwhelmed by information, with just one or two pages of large writing to read for each person. When you’ve found the information needed, it’s all intuitive, with the game kicking in the needed result seemingly.
Another joyous element is Momo-Q, a strange creature that you meet after following some instructions from your grandma to visit the water tower. Momo-Q looks a bit like a walking brussel sprout and Hoshino takes great pleasure in it wearing melon bread as a hat. Momo-Q’s role is to be a companion to Hoshino, a partner in organising the festival and Apart from someone to talk to, Momo-Q can also help you in giving helpful hints on what to do next if you’ve found yourself not knowing what to do or where to go next.
All of this is all presented in glorious, vibrant pixel graphics that hark back to the Game Boy Advance days. I don’t know what it is about this era of graphics but it always fills me with happiness with the way in which everything is depicted and it’s been recreated lovingly here. It lends a cosy vibe to the game that only heightens the main storyline and I couldn’t see how it would be any more effective if a different visual style had been chosen.
Hoshino’s laptop also shares this era’s style, with websites holding more text than pictures, using a background that only seemed to have been used in the early 2000s and sharing a view count at the bottom which was ‘the feature’ to have on your website back then. This stretches to the rest of her PC, which will hit certain people with a wave of nostalgia and an education on the limits of the internet back then to the younger members of the audience.
Danchi Days is brought to us by gingham games and published by Analgestic Productions. In fact, one of the members of Analgestic Productions, Melos Tan-Hani, is credited as co-director and you can tell. All of Analgestic Production’s games hold this unique feel to them, and although that feeling isn’t as present in Danchi Days, there’s still something here; that Analgestic feeling is present and it only makes for this to be a more unique game than it may first appear and holds my curiosity on what the full game may have in store.
I’m all in on Danchi Days; I am a sucker for a GBA-styled adventure, and when you combine the mini games, the research, exploring and that slight Analgestic magic, it has the makings of a special time. What strikes me more about the game is the positiveness, the hope and innocence that oozes out of the screen, that there can be a cure for dementia, that all that’s needed is a positive attitude and that things will be better. And although this may not ring true for dementia itself, it’s still a strong message for many to carry on a daily basis.
Danchi Days is due to be released in 2026
