Shujinkou Trailer Highlights Mini-Games

Rice Games released a new trailer for language-learning dungeon-crawler Shujinkou ahead of the game’s Nintendo Switch release later this week. The two-minute video highlights six mini-games, which players can use as part of their efforts to learn Japanese:

• Radical Hunter — Teaches and reviews Japanese radicals through balloon popping
• Kendama Kombo — Teaches and reviews Japanese counter words through a one-on-one duel using gigantic kendama
• Bunpou Kake — Teaches and reviews Japanese grammar, tasking players with forming Japanese sentences that match the dealer’s English statement and calling out incorrect sentences of their opponent
• Sakana Sensou — Teaches and reviews Japanese verb conjugation, asking players to punch and incapacitate fish with verb conjugations that do not match the target conjugation
• Okkake no Osakenori — Teaches and reviews Japanese sentence creation, with players entering a hallucinated world where they must surf down a phantasmal sake-course and pick up “word tags” that correspond to the target sentence
• Kotoba Kyuugi — Teaches and reviews Japanese word formation through a twist on Billiards where players must knock in “Kanatama,” or kana balls, in order to collect hiragana, katakana, and kanji

Shujinkou released for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 earlier this year, with its Nintendo Switch version set to launch on October 2, 2025. The game features an eighty-plus-hour story campaign split across two major arcs. It follows Shu, Jin, and Kou as they try to save the world from the Akuma and sees players tackling sixteen labyrinths using various skills, items, and equipment.

Other content allows them to take on quests, cook, fish, participate in mini-games, shop, and more. Players can learn hiragana, katakana, and numerous kanji, as well as over a hundred types of grammar corresponding to the JLPT’s (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) N5 to N3 standards, with the game also including some content up to N1. Those looking to read more about Shujinkou can check out RPGamer’s interview with director Julian Rice and Luis Mauricio’s review of the game’s PlayStation 5 release.