KAKUREONI Dev Update #1

Today, we’d like to take a closer look at one of the features from our previous roadmap that’s currently in development:

“Task #4: Oni Draw”

"KAKUREONI" Is More Than Just a “Scary Oni Tag” Game

"KAKUREONI" is a game about

playing a deadly serious game of Oni tag in a terrifying otherworld.

But what we want to create isn’t just a horror game.

At the heart of it all is something much simpler:

the feeling of truly playing as a child.

More than anything, the game is about that

genuine feeling of childhood play.

Walking home at sunset.

Meeting up with friends after school.

Candy shops. Rock-paper-scissors. Games of tag.

Back then, they were just games…

and yet somehow, they felt like your entire world.

KAKUREONI is being created as a way to relive that childhood feeling once again—

but this time, inside a world of horror.

During development, we kept coming back to memories of "candy shops" and "rock-paper-scissors"

While talking with the development team, we asked each other:

“What memories from childhood stayed with you the most?”

And the answers that kept coming up were:

• Going to candy shops together

• Playing rock-paper-scissors to decide the Oni (Seeker)

That’s why KAKUREONI has a candy shop.

And another idea we had for deciding who becomes the Oni… was rock-paper-scissors.

But We Didn’t Want “The Loser Becomes the Oni (Seeker)”

At first, we considered keeping it simple:

“Whoever loses at rock-paper-scissors becomes the Oni.”

But as we talked more about it, something started to feel off.

For some people, rock-paper-scissors can carry the feeling of:

• winning and losing

• “the loser becomes it (Seeker)”

That unspoken rule many of us grew up with.

But in KAKUREONI, we wanted both roles— the Oni (Seeker) and the ones running away (Hiders)—to feel equally fun and exciting to play.

That’s why we didn’t want players to feel like:

“The Oni is the bad role.”

That’s How the "Oni Draw" Was Born

We asked ourselves:

“If not rock-paper-scissors… then how should we choose the Oni?”

As we explored different ideas, we eventually arrived at the idea of a lottery system.

And then someone said:

“If we’re doing this, why not make it feel like an omikuji fortune draw?”

That idea eventually became what is now known as the “Oni Draw.”

What we wanted to create wasn’t just a way to assign roles.

It was the feeling before the draw begins.

The tension of wondering:

“Who’s going to become the Oni?”

That moment when everyone looks at each other in silence.

We wanted to recreate those memories of play itself.

Both the Oni (Seeker) and the Hiders Are Main Characters

In KAKUREONI, both the Oni and the hiders offer completely different kinds of fun.

That’s why we don’t want players to feel:

“Aw… I got stuck as the Oni…”

Instead, we want reactions more like:

“Nice, I’m the Oni this round!”

We’re also experimenting with other ideas, like letting players volunteer to be the Oni.

We’re constantly thinking about how to make the very feeling of “playing together” even more fun and memorable.

A Challenge Our Dev Team Has Been Doing Recently

Lately, our development team has been trying something called the:

“30-Seconds Challenge”

The idea behind it is simple:

“If we can’t explain what we’re making in 30 seconds, then maybe we still haven’t fully understood its core.”

Sometimes, if an idea only works with a long explanation, it may mean the heart of it still isn’t clear enough yet.

But when something truly has a strong core,

even a few short words can carry its passion.

That’s how we see it.

At the end of this video, we also take on a:

“Explain the Oni Draw in 30 Seconds” Challenge

Were we actually able to explain it in 30 seconds?

Watch the full video here 👇

View store page

In KAKUREONI, even these elements that may not seem like “game systems” at first are incredibly important to us.

We don’t want to create a game about winning or losing.

We want to recreate the feeling of children truly playing together — that atmosphere we all remember from childhood.

That’s the feeling we continue developing the game with every day.

And if KAKUREONI interests you even a little, we’d really appreciate your support:

Wishlist KAKUREONI on Steam ✅

Join the Community Hub and share your thoughts ✍️

Thank you so much for supporting KAKUREONI!

📢 Announcement!

The game development VTuber group behind KAKUREONI, “Pixelade!”, has officially launched a note blog! 🎉

Pixelade! Game Development Club 📖

https://note.com/pixelade_forces

We’ll be sharing game development stories, behind-the-scenes moments, struggles, and progress updates from our streams in a more easy-to-read format!

So if you don’t always have time to catch our livestreams, we hope you’ll check it out there! 👀