Poisoft makes the oddest games

Poisoft is one of those developers you might be aware of, but just barely. The only one of their games to receive a localization was the unorthodox Kersploosh. I mean, who would ever think up a game where you try to guide an item past obstacles to the bottom of a well? The tragedy is, the team has made an assortment of satisfyingly strange games that we’ve been denied because we’re in the wrong region.

Mansion Percussion is one of them. Remember Stomp? (Please say, “Yes.” Don’t make me feel old.) It was a show where the cast used ordinary objects and their bodies to make music. Poisoft’s game celebrates that by turning apartment sounds into impromptu symphonies. Tapping to eliminate distruptions creates noises that could be considered songs. It’s brief, but amusing, just like Kersploosh.

TakeyariMan is more conventional. It puts player in the perspective of someone approaching an arcade game where a bamboo spear is used to attack samurai-shaped targets. Like the previous games, it’s something you play for maybe five minutes at most, besting your times and showing you know your way around the weapon.

Not that all of Poisoft’s games are so insubstantial. Order Land is surprisingly deep. That doesn’t mean it’s any less peculiar, but it does make the $10 price more acceptable. Players are given the opportunity to play as a king in one mode, laying out the laws of the land, or as a hero that takes on such quests in the other. The fun part is, the hero from one mode can be recruited by the king in the other, and the king from the other mode can be one of your employers.

Monokage is Poisoft’s most recent 3DS game and could end up being one of its best. It looks exceptionally unusual, which could translate to great. The player controls an atypical RPG hero. He has to save the day, but will die if people pay attention to him. Your goal is to get things done without people noticing you. That sounds great, right?

Too bad we’ll probably never see it. If games with no language barrier like Mansion Percussion and TakeyariMan can’t make it to other regions’ eShops, something like Monokage might sadly remain trapped in Japan.