We <3 Japanese Indie Games!

It's going to take a little while to explain, but - once upon a time, around the turn of the century (I love that phrase, it makes me feel ancient), there was a very small video games company in Tokyo, Japan called LOVE • de • LIC. They made a few very creative games, then fragmented into a few other companies, including Skip, and Punchline. Fast forward to 2025 and a few key people from these companies have formed Onion Games.

In their careers, these 3 gentlemen have worked on many, many weird and charming games, such as:

- moon : Remix RPG Adventure
- L.O.L - Lack Of Love (this one featured a Ryuichi Sakamoto soundtrack)
- Giftpia
- Chulip
- Chibi-Robo
- Little King's Story

but also - character design for Super Mario RPG, and music for Suikoden. Wow!

See: https://oniongames.jp/about-us

How much these games mean to you, I cannot guess. But if you are a fan of Undertale - pay attention! Their game "moon", a PS1 game from 1997, was one of the games that Toby Fox cites as a heavy influence upon him. He and "moon" game designer / director Yoshiro Kimura began correspondence and became good friends, encouraging Kimura to consider officially releasing "moon" in English - which he did, back in 2021.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714580/moon_Remix_RPG_Adventure/

But beyond that, Toby Fox inspired Yoshiro Kimura to consider making a spiritual successor to "moon", and this is what "Stray Children" is.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3649490/Stray_Children/

You play as a child, in a world where the adults have suddenly turned into monsters, called "Olders", who will try to fight you with a barrage of projectiles. But if you like, you can converse and settle them down rather than fight back.

If you'd like to read more, here's an interview with Yoshio Kimura:

https://www.rpgsite.net/feature/17959-an-interview-with-yoshiro-kimura-stray-children-art-creation

And a further article:

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-learning-his-cult-90s-rpg-influenced-undertale-this-japanese-developer-finally-got-the-courage-to-make-another-rpg-decades-later-thanks-to-toby-fox/

If you are a fan of Undertale, it may be worth you checking this out. But as a decades-long fan of these games, I would say - check this out in its own right, it'll be something special.