In-game event5 Sep 2026Demo Update d1.45Shujinkou Demo d1.45 Bam! We're back, still alive as always, with d1.45 for the thousands of demo players out there! 🔥 This update packs 100+ fixes and improvements implemented over the past few months. If you’ve been curious about Shujinkou but haven’t quite been ready to jump in, this is a great time to give the demo a fresh try and see how the game feels for yourself. ❤️ ⭐️ Additional Notes…
Steam Trading Cards & More - Out Now! Featuring: 16 New Steam Achievements! Sixteen new Steam Achievements are now available on Steam, unlockable by progressing through Shujinkou's Akuma and Swimsuit Quests DLCs. Our apologies for the lengthy wait—we've added the sixteen DLC achievements from the Shujinkou: Akuma Quests DLC and Shujinkou: Swimsuit Quests DLC additional software today. 💡 If you…
Shujinkou Patch v1.45 Hotfix 1 We've got some small bugs addressed and fixed here: · Fixed an issue where D-pad was not really working super smoothly/reliably on Steam Deck. This wasn't an issue a few months ago and was traced to a non-Shujinkou bug with Unity , but we apologize for it taking so long to find and fix! · Small architectural changes to help make the upcoming v1.46 update run smoot…
Steam Trading Cards & More - Out Now! Featuring: Trading Cards, Badges, Emoticons, Avatars, and more! Fifteen trading cards are now available on Steam from playing Shujinkou. We hope you enjoy collecting these trading cards filled with AWESOME illustrations from the game ! Outside of that, we also have badges and 10 emoticons implemented . Try to collect them! Guess what? There are also 10 back…
Shujinkou Interview with Kyoto CMEX Rice Games is happy to share that KYOTO CMEX recently published an interview with founder and director Julian Rice about Shujinkou™, Shujinkou 2, BitSummit PUNCH, and the studio’s decision to participate in Japan;s biggest important indie game events as a sponsor. · KYOTO CMEX is Kyoto’s government-backed flagship for games and cross-media culture - founded b…
Rice Games @ GAME AiCON Seoul 2026 Rice Games is excited to share that founder and CEO Julian Rice was invited to speak at GAME AiCON Seoul 2026 with a keynote speech titled: “Beyond Localization: Language Learning as Game Innovation” 현지화를 넘어: 게임 혁신으로서의 언어 학습 Held in Seoul, South Korea , GAME AiCON Seoul brings together game industry professionals, publishers, developers, partners, speakers, an…
Shujinkou v1.45 🛠️ Engine Upgrade · Shujinkou's game engine has been upgraded by two major versions . This has led to all-around performance improvements relating to FPS, loading times, lighting systems, animated illustrations and portraits, and more. ✨ Polish & Quality of Life · Improvements have been made across the board for dozens of user interfaces , enabling a better user experience for…
Shujinkou @ BitSummit 2026 Tokyo, Japan (May 30, 2026) – We did it! Our studio’s first sponsorship for any kind of event—in this case, BitSummit, the biggest indie game show in Japan! There was a whopping 68,000+ visitors across the Business Day (May 22nd) and both Public Days (May 23rd & May 24th). We were able to showcase various things in our cute, awesome 3 meter by 3 meter booth! Shujinkou…
Shujinkou @ Pomeranian University in Słupsk 🇵🇱 We are happy to share that we recently sponsored TENSAI 2026 , the third edition of a knowledge competition focused on Japanese language and culture at Pomeranian University in Słupsk in Poland. According to the university's event post, the competition brought together local residents, students, and guests from nearby cities nationally, with over…
Shujinkou Lecture at Waseda University (早稲田大学) Hey! It’s Julian here. The team and I are super excited to share that yesterday, April 7, 2026 , I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to lecture about Shujinkou at Waseda University (早稲田大学) in collaboration with Waseda Game Lab , titled: Shujinkou™, JRPGs, and Innovative Language Acquisition Elements in Video Games This was an…
Shujinkou Patch v1.44 Hotfix 1 We've got some small bugs addressed and fixed here: · Confirmed and fixed an edge case that some completionists encountered involving being unable to unlock the last achievement. Apologies for the inconvenience! · New QOL Feature : There was a question about turning off the bobbing camera while in battle by a fellow player salty here , and while we didn't have thi…
Steam Spring Sale: Shujinkou is 35% OFF! The official 🌸 2026 Steam Spring Sale 🌸 is live, and Shujinkou is 35% off for a limited time. If you’ve been waiting for a good moment to jump in, continue your journey, or gift it to someone who loves ambitious JRPGs, now is a great time! 🔥 We’re also incredibly grateful for the momentum Shujinkou has continued to build in recent months. Themes from…
Shujinkou @ GDC 2026! Rice Games is honored to share that themes from Shujinkou were featured in the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming Concert Medley , which celebrated some of the most standout video game music from 2025. Presented during GDC in San Francisco , the performance was seen by several thousand game developers in attendance, with many more watching online. As part of the world’s largest g…
Shujinkou v1.44 Polish / Quality of Life · Improved readability of the Kanban Menu's Labyrinth View with text being colored for the currently selected labyrinth. · Added Change Time spots to Town 4 and Town 5 . · Sushi that heal both TR and MR now heal via percentage rather than raw values. · When selecting an item to use that has a Self scope in combat, automatically select the current hero an…
Shujinkou at The New York Game Awards! What a night at The 15th New York Game Awards. Our team had an amazing time attending this year’s event, and we are incredibly honored that Shujinkou was nominated for Best Hidden Gem. While we did not take home the win this time, a video game award nomination for our debut commercial title is a major milestone for us. It shows that our work is resonating…
Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 3 We've got some small bugs addressed and fixed here: · Fixed an issue that a player encountered with Otogawa's Ishi (#2). · Fixed a writing issue with Tsunako's Ishi (#18). · Fixed missing らりるれろ Kanban pages from the Kanban Menu. These can now be found in Labyrinth 2 where まみむめも can be found. · Fixed pink error screen that may occasionally appear after wrapping up…
Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 2 We've got some small bugs addressed and fixed here: · Fixed a few typos and improved text found in quests. · Fixed inconsistent level progression for certain Arawasu skills. · Improved some wording for existing tutorials. · Adjusted DLC quest "Big Fluffy Clouds" balancing so that instead of having to fetch 20 quail eggs ( Uzura no Tamago ), the player only needs t…
2025 Steam Winter Sale The official 2025 Steam Winter Sale is live, and Shujinkou is 34% off for $39.59 . This is the biggest sale we've done so far , so if you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump in (or to gift it), this is it 🔥. We’re also still riding a wave of gratitude from some recent news: Shujinkou was nominated for "Best Hidden Gem" at the 15th New York Game Awards . We'd like…
Hey everyone! We just got some news we’re genuinely excited (and honestly a bit stunned) to share: Shujinkou has been nominated for " Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem " at the 15th Annual New York Game Awards ! If you’ve played, reviewed, wishlisted, reported bugs, or simply told a friend about the game, thank you. “ Hidden Gem ” is exactly the kind of recognition that comes from a…
Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 1 We've got some small bugs addressed and fixed here: · Fixed a rare edge case with ultrawide monitors showing a strange display for certain ultrawide devices starting the game for the first time, as reported by a player here . · Fixed some harmless exceptions causing the pink error screen to at times appear when in the Nation Map, as well as when a Yajuu intercepts…
Shujinkou OST Available Now on Steam! We are super excited to announce that the Shujinkou™ Original Soundtrack is now digitally available on Bandcamp, Steam, and the newly-opened Rice Games Web Store! The 158-track digital album is priced at $25 (with regional pricing planned appropriately). · Bandcamp : · Rice Games Web Store : Experience the epic musical journey of Shujinkou with this monumen…
New Review is Live! Our 10th Metacritic-affiliated review is here! We got a comprehensive review from Senior Editor Evan Norris of VGChartz, scoring Shujinkou at an amazing 8/10 . VGChartz is one of the toughest critics, averaging at just 6.5/10 for their reviews. Please give the full review a read here : Excerpts from the Review · "Thanks to its lovable characters, addictive dungeon-crawling g…
Shujinkou v1.43 Bug Fixes · Fix resolution problems on ultrawide monitors , including proper dropdown display of selectable 16:9 resolutions. · Fix harmless error that may appear when a Yajuu joins a normal battle. · Fix input error that could take place when spamming inputs in the Fuu Underground. · Fix residual errors that may pop up when finishing Okkake no Osakenori . · Fix the equipment ty…
New Review is Live! Our eighth Metacritic-affiliated review is here! We got a review from Andrés Aquino of Gfinity, scoring Shujinkou at a very high 9/10 . Please give the full review a read here : Excerpts from the Review · " After spending dozens of hours with the game, I can safely say that it has helped me infinitely , especially when it comes to dusting off my Hiragana and Katakana while p…
Shujinkou v1.42 Bug Fixes · Fix issue where Kaifuku Ball could not be used outside of battle. · Fix a game softlock/freeze when approaching a certain boss battle from a certain position and angle in the final area of Labyrinth 2. · Fix an issue with button input sometimes not working smoothly when selecting party members for a special battle. · Fix an issue with button input in the Tsuri (fishi…
❤️ For your GRAMMY consideration ❤️ Shujinkou Original Soundtrack 🔥 Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media 🔥 As our lead composer Brian LaGuardia phrases it: " Labor of love doesn't even begin to describe it ." Listen now:
Shujinkou Interview with Video Chums We recently had the chance to sit down with A. J. Maciejewski from Video Chums, a Metacritic and Opencritic game news media outlet, to talk about Shujinkou™ , the journey of bringing it to life, and what lies ahead. A big thank you to A. J. and the Video Chums team for such a thoughtful conversation! Read the full interview here: Here is a summary of the int…
🎙️ Podcast Appearance! 🎧 From Kickstarter Failure to Successfully Shipping Shujinkou Special thanks to IndieGameBusiness® for hosting the podcast! Here's the video description: In this episode of IndieGameBusiness® we’re joined by Julian Rice, Founder and CEO of Rice Games Inc , to talk about the long, challenging, and inspiring journey of bringing Shujinkou to life. From showing the game at…
Shujinkou™ Announced for the Nintendo Switch! Rice Games Inc is excited to announce that Shujinkou is officially coming to the Nintendo Switch digitally on October 2nd! Check out a brand new trailer featuring Japanese actresses on the Rice Games YouTube channel! · Pre-orders begin September 18th 2025 with a 10% discount! Watch the brand new trailer below: 💵 Pricing and QOL Upgrades Since its i…
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Announcements are the developer’s own posts to the game’s Steam news feed: updates and their patch notes, in-game events, releases and sales. The important ones are marked on the players chart.