Janken Samurai Online is out now!

It’s a strange feeling releasing a project out into the world. It’s a mix of excitement and anxiety and fear and hope. I just want to sit and watch it and comb over every download, check the leaderboards again and again, sit with the game open just in case anyone wants to venture online to make sure they have someone to play…

But I don’t think that I alone can make or break this game.

With the online functionality in the game, I feel like I have finally fulfilled my original vision. The initial release, although a required step, was really an abstraction. Now, taunting has a real purpose. And with the simplicity of the rock/paper/scissors mechanic, it is really all about the mind game. This was the game’s original intention.

Of course, downloads have slowed (as you would expect). Janken gets about 300 downloads a week at this point and I can’t help but wonder if any of them will be on at the same time, interested in the online, and looking for an online match.

I haven’t seen it yet.

My hope is that new players invite their friends to try out this little game they found on the App Store. And maybe it’ll grow from there.

And what about existing players? Will the Shikatsu Leaderboard folks return to face each other online?

I can only hope.

But for me, it’s time to move on. I am working on a few prototypes: a card battle game for mobile, a sci-fi game I’m affectionately referring to as a “microvania,” and a weapon-fighting life-sim game starring Florida teenagers in the 90s… I’m excited to see what sticks.

Thanks as always for reading and following along on this journey.

Andrew