BitSummit: Yoshiro Kimura’s Million Onion Hotel

Posted 17:27 EST on 07MAR2014 by: indie navi news staff in news, previews » games centrally involving onions, million onion hotel, yoshiro kimura

Yoshiro Kimura, the idiosyncratic developer behind such titles as the PS1 cult classic Moon, was on hand at BitSummit to show off his latest title in person. Kimura’s latest game is a quirky puzzler called Million Onion Hotel — although he might not be glad to see us describe it like that. You see, according to Kimura, the title’s genre is “poem”.

From Famitsu’s hands-on report, players tap the onions as they pop up randomly about the field, turning that square of the field red. Tapping the onions adds a bit of time to the clock. Occasionally, clock icons pop up that add even more time.

The trick is to hold off, leaving a square that will complete a line open, until turning that square red will complete two or more lines. Complete one line, either vertically horizontally, or diagonally, and it’s just a “single”. Complete two lines by filling in one square, and it’s a “double”. Although not seen in the video, since diagonal lines are also allowed, with skillful playing gamers can clear three, even four lines all at once.

This is difficult, because if you’re not tapping onions, you’re running out the clock. Plus, some onions require more taps than others to turn their square red. Trying to get a double, you might get down to the wire, only to have a particularly tough onion finally pop up in that last spot.

The goal of Million Onion Hotel is to rescue the hotel diner patrons who’ve been abducted to space by the mysterious onion soup. To do this, you need to get to space. (Obviously.) To get to space, you need get at least double line clears. Fortunately, once in space the player’s efforts are further rewarded by fruit and other special, high-point items that join the onions in rising out of the playing field.

With a quirky story, flavorful 16-bit-esque graphics (pun intended, we swear), and the attentive crafting that has the developer going so far as to call it a “poem” to gamers, Million Onion Hotel is shaping up to be far more than just another smartphone puzzle game.

News source: Famitsu App and Destructoid