$14.99Rakuen A storybook world worth crying over
You play a hospitalized boy who travels to a fantasy land to earn a wish by helping the patients around him.
Is Rakuen worth it?
Rakuen is worth it if…
- you want a story-first game with no combat, where talking and exploring do the work
- you like characters who feel like real neighbors, flaws and unfinished business included
- you can handle a game that gets heavy and will happily make you cry
- you enjoy pixel art, an original soundtrack with vocal songs, and a quirky sense of humor
Screenshots
A wish you have to earn
The Boy lives in a hospital, and the thing he wants most is a single wish. The catch: every challenge is about someone else. A cranky old man who guards a broken music box and complains nobody ever visits. A woman in a coma whose husband has not left her side in months. A little girl who never got to say goodbye to a friend. To earn your wish, you walk a mile in each of their shoes, and the game makes that literal in ways that sneak up on you.
Two worlds, one mystery
There are no battles here. Instead you get whimsical dungeons in the fantasy world, eerie room escape puzzles, and dialogue-based mysteries, all tied to the story. The hospital and Rakuen mirror each other: you talk to patients on one side, then find their alter-egos among the Leebles, the little pink creatures who live in the other. Clues you gather in one world explain things in the other, and the hospital itself hides strange secrets the Boy only slowly uncovers. Poke at everything, read the notes, talk to everyone twice. The details you brush past in the first hour tend to matter by the last.
What should you know before playing?
How long is it, and is it hard?
It is a short game, the kind you can finish in a handful of evenings, and there is no way to lose. If a puzzle stalls you, you can ask your Mom for a hint when she is nearby, and the worst a mishap does is send you back to the start of the area. The challenge is emotional, not mechanical.
Does the music matter?
Very much. The original soundtrack includes multiple vocal songs, each tied closely to a character, and hearing one again after the credits can bring the whole story back. Composer Laura Shigihara wrote it, and it does as much emotional work as the writing does.
Can you make the hospital a better place?
Yes, and that is one of the quiet pleasures of the game. As you collect items and build friendships with the patients, the ward gradually warms up around you. Small kindnesses add up, and watching the floor change because of what you did is its own reward, separate from the wish you are chasing.
