Digital Games Expo 2024 was held in Akihabara UDX on 3rd November 2024. The event, which is also known by its Japanese name “Dejige Haku” is one dedicated to indie and “doujin” games.
Official website: https://digigame-expo.org/
| What ARE doujin games, though? |
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| “Doujin” refers to fan/hobbyist-created content, and doujin games are thus games created by fans and hobbyists.
Japanese hobbyists have been creating games for platforms such as the MSX and X68000 on a large scale since the 80’s, distributing them at events such as Comic Market (some even argue that the history of doujin games goes back as far as the 70’s).
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Japan thus has a rich history of independent developers and hobbyists working on games, as well as a large following. For the most part of their history, however, doujin games were mostly distributed on physical media at local events, meaning that they had low visibility outside of Japan. This has been gradually changing in recent years, with the advent of digital storefronts that distribute such games, and publishers willing to pick them up. Some famous franchises even have their roots in doujin games: For example, Type-Moon, famous for the Fate series and especially Fate/Grand Order which is one of the highest-grossing mobile games of all time, was first made famous by their doujin game Tsukihime (which had a retail release for its remake in 2021). The boundary between doujin and indie games is ambiguous, but the rule of thumb is that indie games are generally created to be products by professionals or semi-professionals, while doujin games are generally created by hobbyists for fun, but one can find many exceptions to this, and the difference (or lack thereof) between the terms is a frequent hot topic for discussion. Today, doujin games account for 5% of all doujin works altogether. While this might not initially sound like much, one should consider the sheer scale of doujin activity in Japan, with Comic Market 97 having 32,000 participating doujin circles, and a total of 750,000 participants in the event overall. |
While doujin games used to be mostly exclusive to PC, the ease of development in recent years has resulted in more diversity in platforms, and we saw games for PC, current generation consoles, retro game consoles, iOS and Android, and VR at the event.
Due to the sheer number of participants, it would be hard to cover all of them, and so we are only able to show off a fraction here: Anyone who is interested in seeing more should check out the complete list of participants available on the official website.
Inside System
Inside System had a playable demo for 2D action sidescroller The Legend of Dark Witch 4 at the event. (Several of the games in the series are available in English on Steam)
Ishinoura Kottouten
Ishinoura Kottouten showed off a playable demo for the upcoming Itareri Tsukuseri, a “one-dimensional rogue-like RPG” (similar to a previous game, Yumeiri) with a Heisei-retro 00’s Tokyo setting, which will be coming to the Switch, PC (Steam) and iOS/Android.
Cosen
Cosen had a demo for the Switch port of The Alchemist of Ars Magna, a doujin RPG previously released for PC at the event. The Switch version includes a number of new features such as a postgame dungeon, characters, items, equipment and crests that were available in the original Japanese PC release but not in the currently-available Steam version, and things like 23 types of hidden crests and new recipes for hidden items.
Danchi Days
Danchi Days, an adventure game with a Heisei retro setting with era-appropriate GBA-style graphics in which the player explodes a danchi (Japanese public housing complex), solving puzzles and playing minigames to recruit people to join a summer festival, had a playable demo at the event. The game will be available in English and is currently slated for a 2026 release on Steam.
Mercury Studio
Mercury Studio had a gameplay demo for Break Arts III, a mecha battle racing game at the event. Though similar to many other mecha action games in how the player can customize a robot to fit their playstyle or goal, Break Arts differs from many in how there is a focus on racing rather than combat. The game will also be available in English when it releases on Steam.
Nonuple Nine
Nonuple Nine: Asymptote, an ambitious sidescrolling sci-fi suspense adventure game 12 years in the making, had a playable demo available. The game will be available on Steam in 2026.
F0.94
F0.94 is making Hibari de naku, Nightingale demo naku, a mystery visual novel with fantastical elements in a modern setting in which colleges wield massive influence due to theses having the power to change reality.
Monolith
Monolith had the upcoming raising sim Growth Experiment, in which the player takes care of a girl and unlocks story sequences unveiling her past, currently slated for a December release on Steam at the event.
Yamiyuri Girls’ School
The upcoming yuri visual novel Himegoto from Skoota was promoted at the event with a mysterious immersive experience purporting to be a mock entrance exam to the fictional Yamiyuri Girls’ School (the setting of the game), in which players answered a number of questions about their values and were assigned ID numbers.
Muroyama Games
Muroyama Games, a one-man doujin circle, had a demo showing the tentatively-titled Rekkuukidou Valharide, a mecha girl TPS with both land and air combat as well as RTS elements, with the player being able to give orders to computer-controlled allies.
Project ICKX
Project ICKX, which specializes in Ace Combat-style flight action games, had a bunch of their existing games for sale. Vertical Strike: Endless Challenge, which allows the player to pull off all sorts of crazy post stall maneuvers, is available in English on multiple platforms such as Steam and the Switch, and their classic sci-fi flight action game EFFY will be coming to Steam as well.
Robstar
A playable demo for the upcoming 2025 programming battle game Robstar, in which players do not take direct control of the action but rather string together chips with instructions to program a character to fight for them, was available at the event.
KT.SOFTWARE
KT.Software had a demo for the bullet hell omnidirectional twin stick shooter Machina X Ghost (read “Machina Cross Ghost”) at the event, and was giving out discs with the alpha version alongside purchases of CyberBlocker.
Rabbitly Entertainment
Rabbitly Entertainment was showing the 2D action game Shizuku: Japanese myth which is currently in early access on Steam, at the event. The game has a traditional Japanese setting and the player takes control of a fox which has the power to take on other forms, such as of humans and youkai.
Re:VER PROJECT -TOKYO-
Nestopi is teaming up with Toei Animation to make Re:VER PROJECT -TOKYO-, a sidescrolling “Tokyo survival suspense adventure” in which the player character is framed for a crime and has to bring a girl to a certain place in order to clear his name, while evading the police. The game will be available in English as well when it releases on Steam.
Otofuda
Otofuda Project is making Otofuda, an arcade game which combines the traditional Japanese hanafuda card game (which western gamers might be familiar with from minigames such as in 2019’s Sakura Wars) with a rhythm game, which also pits two players against each other. The game uses hand tracking in addition to physical buttons for controls.
G-Mode
G-Mode, which publishes many indie/doujin games, had a number of games at the event, such as Rainbow Sea (available on Switch, Steam and iOS/Android), Shinjuku Soumei (currently available on Steam with a Switch release upcoming), OU (Steam/Switch) and the Kuukiyomi series.
Holo Indie
Holo indie was also at the event, showing off a number of the games under the brand but mainly promoting their system, in which Hololive fan games can be released under their label and not just get monetized but also easily get more exposure – This is available not just to Japanese devs, but devs all over the world.
As always, the Digital Games Expo was filled with passionate developers who clearly love working on games, and even a quick glance yields all sorts of unique and fascinating games.
As stated before, the sheer number of participants means that this article is only able to show off a small fraction of what was available at the event: Anyone whose interest was piqued by the snippets here should definitely check out the complete list of participants available on the official website.
Check out our report on last year’s Digital Games Expo too!
Digital Games Expo 2023: A Glimpse into the World of Japanese Indie Developers
