Danchi Days

Danchi Days follows Hoshino Kanaoka, a headstrong 12-year-old who’s moved back to her old Japanese neighbourhood to be closer to her grandma, who’s now living with dementia. To cheer her up, Hoshino decides to bring back the local summer festival, which means knocking on doors and getting to know every quirky neighbour in her danchi (that’s a big Japanese housing complex, for anyone who hasn’t come across the word before).

You’ll spend your time chatting with a huge cast of characters, from nosy retirees to sulky teens who just want to leave, browsing an in-game internet that hides some genuinely unsettling corners, and playing odd little “Sense Games” where you might end up smelling a tree or listening to a toilet. It’s a game that finds a lot of warmth and humour in ordinary life, but it doesn’t shy away from the sadder stuff either. Grief, memory, and the messy connections between neighbours are all woven through the story.

We’re big fans of the team behind this one. Melos Han-Tani (of Anodyne and Sephonie fame) handles programming, music and translation, sandy powder writes the original Japanese story, and mogumu brings it all to life with the art. It’s a small, personal game with a lot of heart, and we reckon it’s well worth your time.