Shujinkou

Rice Games Inc

Released: Feb 13, 2025
Platforms
Last updated: 17 Sep 2026, 00:21 GMT

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20 posts

14 Sep 2026Developer post
Patch Notes v1.46
Shujinkou v1.46 📊 Leaderboards Check the Leaderboards menu from the Main Menu by going to the Extras section. Your ranks for various different statistics (26 types!) will be shown! Note that ranks will feel a bit outdated and low in total number for some time due to this feature
Shujinkou v1.46
📊 Leaderboards
Check the Leaderboards menu from the Main Menu by going to the Extras section. Your ranks for various different statistics (26 types!) will be shown! Note that ranks will feel a bit outdated and low in total number for some time due to this feature being introduced late into release. We will make sure the next game has it all ready to go on launch!
We are aiming to eventually migrate data into a global database, allowing for you to compare your scores with players on other platforms.
✨ Polish & Quality of Life
🔥 Major Data Overhaul - Thanks to a series of major improvements regarding data infrastructure and architecture, future patches should be much smaller in size. The game's file size has also decreased by 5-10% (300+ MB).
Resolution of the game's loading screen has been improved on certain platforms.
Updated Shujinkou logo on the Title Screen.
Tatiana's minigame, Kotoba Kyuugi, has undergone extensive reworks regarding physics, collision logic, enemy AI, and game speed. The game should be more enjoyable to play and score points in.
🐞 Bug Fixes
Fix animation degradation in the backgrounds of Kendama Kombo.
Fix issue with background images not loading sometimes in certain circumstances while in the Kanban Menu.
Fix bug with Otogawa's Okkake no Osakenori waves, present during some runs and only on some platforms.
Fix bugged character in Town 2 at night.
❤️ As always, thank you!
We still have more cool news to share with you guys in the coming months. Also, the game successfully launched on two other platforms last week too, bringing us to a total of five platforms where Shujinkou is available. We're confident that Shujinkou is one of the best RPGs you can use to learn Japanese, or even to review or get a feel for the language, while still also being a unique game all on its own. Feel free to join our Discord community if you need assistance with gameplay, want to suggest features or provide constructive feedback, or want to meet and chat with other fans of Shujinkou!
https://shujinkou.community/
Read more about this update on the official Rice Games website:
https://ricegames.net/2026/09/15/shujinkou-v1-46-patch-notes/
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
05 Sep 2026Developer post
Demo Update d1.45
Shujinkou 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
Shujinkou 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 on Upcoming Versions
We wanted to share some notes on the upcoming versions, because although we have been behind schedule for a few weeks now, a lot of changes have been made to improve the game for the long term, and will be improvements that are included from the start for future games:
v1.46 - Leaderboards: Leaderboards will be fully implemented and working across all platforms, expected to release on or before September 9th 2026.
v1.46 - Fixes: We fixed a few degradations that our team didn't catch when releasing v1.45. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but the fixes will be up as soon as next week!
v1.47 - Addressable Rearchitecture: The way certain data and asset bundles are loaded and processed in the game have been improved. As a result, the game's overall executable/application size has been reduced by 3-5% (may be more), and future releases will introduce far smaller patch sizes.
v1.47 - Kotoba Kyuugi Revamp: The billiards minigame has been plagued with edge case issues and strange physics problems. While the minigame has not reached its ultimate form, the game's logic and physics has been rewritten, such that it's far easier to earn points, gain consecutive strikes, and have fun. The FPS in this minigame should also average above 60 FPS on standard devices moving forward too.
Have a great weekend!
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
04 Sep 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Arrives on the Mac App Store & Epic Games Store on September 9th!
Shujinkou Arrives on the Mac App Store & Epic Games Store on September 9th! Shujinkou is expanding to two new storefronts on September 9! After an incredible journey here on Steam and across consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, we’re excited to bring the game
Shujinkou Arrives on the Mac App Store & Epic Games Store on September 9th!
Shujinkou is expanding to two new storefronts on September 9! After an incredible journey here on Steam and across consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, we’re excited to bring the game to both the Epic Games Store and Mac App Store next week.
Shujinkou on the Mac App Store 🍎
We’re also bringing Shujinkou directly to the Mac App Store for the first time (link available on the 9th).
The Mac App Store edition will be free to download and start, letting players experience roughly the first 5–10 hours of Shujinkou before deciding whether they want to permanently unlock the rest of the adventure through one-time purchases.
It features:
Native Intel and Apple silicon support
70 Game Center achievements
26 Game Center leaderboards
Controller support
One-time content unlocks with no subscription
Bringing Shujinkou to the Mac App Store is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, especially since a significant portion of the game was originally developed on 16" Macbook Pro!
Read the full announcement:
https://ricegames.net/2026/09/03/shujinkou-comes-to-the-mac-app-store-on-september-9th/
Shujinkou on the Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store version will be available for Windows and macOS, with all editions receiving a $20 launch discount.
It also includes:
70 achievements
26 leaderboards
Cloud saves
Controller support
Windows and macOS support
The Deluxe Edition, Super Deluxe Edition, and the nearly seven-hour Shujinkou Original Soundtrack will also be available through Epic.
Read the full announcement:
https://ricegames.net/2026/09/01/shujinkou-comes-to-the-epic-games-store-on-september-9th/
Thank You!
For everyone who has supported Shujinkou here on Steam: thank you! Your support, reviews, feedback, and recommendations have helped us continue improving the game and bring it to more players around the world.
The next title in the Shujinkou trilogy will be able to get released on even more platforms simultaneously, so please look forward to that day... hopefully sometime late next year :).
We’re looking forward to welcoming a new group of adventurers on September 9!
Team @ Rice Games
As always, feel free to join our awesome community here:
https://shujinkou.community/
Original post

18 Aug 2026Developer post

16 DLC Achievements - Out Now!

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

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 have already unlocked these achievements locally, the game will automatically unlock these achievements for you on Steam when you load into your save data.

Also, we apologize for the delay in releasing v1.46 with Leaderboards. We have a pretty solid version ready, but want to make sure it works across all applicable platforms (Steam, PS, etc.) before finalizing the version and putting it out to the production branch. There are a few edge cases when it comes to leaderboards, at least in our given specification, that requires thorough QA-ing.

We're excited to fix some longtime annoyances and other small but tedious issues reported by fans and internally within our team for a major v1.47 release (or later numbered, depending on how development goes), sometime around October or November 2026.

There are no major spoilers, so please take a look at the achievement list below:

Icon	Name / Description
	*The Real Akuma* Complete all 18 Akuma Youkyuu.
	Spider Woman	Complete Kiyo's Akuma Youkyuu.
	Kowagaranaide	Complete Sugi's Akuma Youkyuu.
	Errand Runner	Complete Tsunako's Akuma Youkyuu.
	Golden Lady? Bug?	Complete Hina's Akuma Youkyuu.
	Unyielding to the Undying	Complete Otogawa's Akuma Youkyuu.
	It Takes Two to Tango	Complete Tatiana's Akuma Youkyuu.
	Decor Demon	Decorate the Akagi with at least one Decor item earned from an Akuma Youkyuu.
	*No Lost Swimsuits* Complete all 18 Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	Bikini Hullabaloo	Complete Kiyo's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	Waly Waly	Complete Sugi's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	Skinny Dipper	Complete Tsunako's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	Cat's Outta the Bag	Complete Hina's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	Seer of the Seas	Complete Otogawa's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	King's Praise	Complete Tatiana's Swimsuit Youkyuu.
	I Can Decorate, Too!	Decorate the Akagi with at least one Decor item earned from a Swimsuit Youkyuu.

Lastly, come check out the DLCs below:

View game page View game page

Thanks as always for your support! We've got some exciting news to share with you guys soon-ish!

Team @ Rice Games

PS - Have any questions? Want to learn more about the next game in the trilogy? Come join our Discord server here: https://shujinkou.community/

Original post

26 Jul 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Patch v1.45 Hotfix 1
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 fo
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 smoothly.
Thanks as always and we look forward to bringing you our next update soon 😀
Original post
25 Jul 2026Developer post
Trading Cards & More - Out Now!
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 ! Ou
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 backgrounds to nab too! Which one is your favorite?
Ah, and finally... STEAM AVATARS! Lots of them are here, so feel free to swap between some awesome avatars of the dozens of characters from Shujinkou!
Okay, we got a little bit excited there.
Did we mention that Shujinkou is back on sale? Now's a great time to dip, especially with how hot it has been around the globe (especially here in Japan! 💦)!
We'll provide a little update on things we're working on regarding Shujinkou:
The next major update, v1.46, will integrate working Leaderboards into the game. It'll be time to see how your minigame scores and various other stats compare to other players around the world 😉. We're aiming to get this out before the sale ends, so keep an eye out!
Our trademark reached its final "Registered" state! We got a nice letter from the US Patent & Trademark Office, so that was super exciting to see ⭐️!
A major surprise regarding Shujinkou will be announced in a couple weeks. However, there are still a couple hundred hours of work to do in the mean time, so we'll be working hard on that. 👌
Regarding the next title in the trilogy, Shujinkou 2, you can read about its progress through our recent BitSummit and Kyoto CMEX coverage, but more concrete details will be reserved for later.
Oh, and we recently refreshed our Steam storefront page text - it should feel a bit smoother now!
Like each and every other update & patch released over the last 16+ months, all updates are released for free for our players—after all, we have you to thank for supporting us, an up & coming young video game studio aiming to turn Shujinkou into a strong, global franchise.
We will continue to support Shujinkou with updates, improvements, and new features as our fans and team bring up suggestions and more to work with.
If you've made it down here, why not take a moment to catch up on recent Shujinkou news?
Keynote @ GAME AiCON Seoul (June 2026) - Read Here - Founder Julian Rice spoke about language learning innovation in video games, Shujinkou, and how language can be interestingly integrated into games without taking away from the fun, using Korean and Arabic as examples.
BitSummit 2026 Sponsorship (May 2026) - Read Here - Check out our collaboration with Matsushita Asuto, a game planner for Persona 5, to create a free one shot manga of Shujinkou, as well as notes on the Shujinkou 2 prototype, all sorts of goodies, and what it was like sponsoring the biggest indie show in Japan! The manga is now available on Amazon, Hulu, DMM, and more!
Collaboration with Pomeranian University (May 2026) - Read Here - We sponsored a Japanese culture event held at the university for learners of Japanese and fans & otaku of Japanese culture!
Lecture about Shujinkou at Waseda University (April 2026) - Read Here - Founder Julian Rice gave a lecture at one of Japan's most prestigious universities about Shujinkou and language-learning-based world-building while ensuring educational aspects and elements do not break core JRPG gameplay aspects.
Shujinkou Music at GDC 2026 Concert (March 2026) - Read Here - Themes from Shujinkou were performed at Austin Wintory's Game Developer Conference - Festival of Gaming Concert Medley alongside titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong, Ghost of Yotei, Indiana Jones, DOOM, and more!
❤️ As always, thank you!
Feel free to join our Discord community if you need assistance with gameplay, want to suggest features or provide constructive feedback, or want to meet and chat with other fans of Shujinkou!
https://shujinkou.community/
Read more about this update on the official Rice Games website:
https://ricegames.net/2026/07/26/steam-trading-cards-for-shujinkou
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
20 Jul 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Interview with Kyoto CMEX
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
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 by Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce, and industry and academic partners, and serving as a co-host of BitSummit - an interview with them provided us with prestigious spotlight from one of Kyoto’s central entertainment platforms.
A big thank you to them and their writer 雨森 / ame-moriさん for visiting the booth, speaking with the team, and writing such a thoughtful feature.
Read the full interview here:
Japanese Version (日本語版)
English Version
A few highlights:
Why Rice Games sponsored BitSummit: We shared why we chose to exhibit as a sponsor instead of a regular developer exhibitor, and how that decision helped give our team a firm production deadline for the first playable prototype of Shujinkou 2.
Standing out as a new company: With only one fully released flagship title so far, sponsoring a major event like BitSummit was a big step for Rice Games. It helped us present the studio not only as an indie developer, but as a game company building toward a bigger future.
Shujinkou 2's first playable showing: Visitors at our booth were able to try Shujinkou and play an early prototype of Shujinkou 2, which is currently in development. Even though the prototype still had bugs and rough edges, the direct feedback and excitement from players gave us a lot of confidence as we continue to develop it.
The future of Shujinkou: In the interview, we spoke about how Shujinkou 2 is being designed as a standalone sequel that can be enjoyed without playing the first game, with Japanese and English versions planned simultaneously, a target of 50+ hours of content, and a current, completely tentative development goal of winter 2027.
Language, JRPGs, characters, and music: We also talked about the core ideas behind Shujinkou, from combining Japanese learning with JRPG design to building characters carefully, investing heavily in music, and trying to create something players can remember many years later.
For a new company like Rice Games, sponsorship was not a small decision. It is expensive, we're still a small team, and we're still building our catalog. But the legitimacy you gain as a company and studio, as well as the added motivation due to the relatively high costs, are what help keep us pushing forward & make more progress.
If you are interested in the future of Shujinkou, Shujinkou 2, or Rice Games, please give the KYOTO CMEX interview a read!
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
18 Jul 2026Developer post
Shujinkou @ GAME AiCON Seoul 2026
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
25 Jun 2026Developer post
Patch Notes v1.45 and Roadmap
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 Lif
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 players.
Improved writing quality for tooltips in loading screen, lore compilation entries, and other non-dialogue fields.
Added the option to toggle the in-game battle camera bob off.
We are still not fully happy with all of the menus and input logic present right now, and are planning to upgrade the UI later. More on this later in the post ⬇️
🐞 Bug Fixes
Fixed dozens of small bugs and input issues.
Here's a brief look at a few of the many UI/UX improvements made:
🛣️ Shujinkou Roadmap
It's been 16 months since the launch of Shujinkou on PS5, PS4, and PC (Steam), and 8 months since its release on the Nintendo Switch. During this period, we've released over 20 official patches adding dozens of new features, quality-of-life improvements, player-requested functionalities, and fixed many bugs, UI and input hindrances, and other problems. There were a few slower periods to account for development of the next title in the Shujinkou trilogy, boothing, and other business-related reasons, but we are happy to say that over a thousand commits through version control have been finalized to bring Shujinkou to as good of a state as it can be—it is not perfect though, and we want to do more for our players on all platforms.
As our team continues to develop the next title in the trilogy, which you can actually read more about here (in Japanese), we have managed to finish upgrading Shujinkou's engine to a relatively up-to-date version. This means that we will be able to more quickly add new fixes, improvements, and content to the game over the course of the summer.
Here are a few things to look forward over the next few weeks and months:
‼️ Shujinkou Steam Trading Cards and Points Shop Items
‼️ Further UI and UX improvements to Shujinkou 1
‼️ Integrations of certain fan/player-requested features and QOL.
‼️ Improvements in physics in minigames like Kotoba Kyuugi
We were lucky enough to be able to scout a talented UI artist from Latvia 🇱🇻, who has helped tremendously with preparing an excellent UI/UX base for our Shujinkou 2 prototype. We showcased this at BitSummit (May 2026) in Kyoto, with great feedback from Japanese players and press. Feel free to read more about it here (in English!).
The team will be working with the new artist, Ritvarsさん, over the course of the rest of the year to also bring some more improvements to the UI and UX of Shujinkou. If you have any extra feedback or suggestions, please contact us!
❤️ As always, thank you!
Without your continued support, we would not have been able to get this far. Sales across all platforms continue to remain steady and strong over a year after launch, and it allows us to remain fully independent and able to continue developing and publishing ambitious video games like Shujinkou. We look forward to sharing more exciting news and updates with you soon!
Feel free to join our Discord community if you need assistance with gameplay, want to suggest features or provide constructive feedback, or want to meet and chat with other fans of Shujinkou!
https://shujinkou.community/
Read more about this update on the official Rice Games website:
https://ricegames.net/2026/06/26/shujinkou-v1-45-patch-notes/
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
30 May 2026Developer post
Shujinkou @ BitSummit 2026
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 (M
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 2 Early Prototype
We’re still early in development, but we were able to prepare a very short prototype of what the second game in the trilogy is going to look like. Both the English version and the Japanese version are being developed concurrently—We are working with with Matsushita Asuto (Persona 5), who will be handling the bulk of Japanese translations and will serve as an additional JRPG advisor.
Every single Japanese player that stopped by was impressed by the music, game feel, and the overall vibes, and it gave us tons of motivation! The music was masterfully composed by Ryo Noguchi, with amazing artwork and dialogue handled by our Art and Writing teams.
And lastly, to clarify, we are in fact rebuilding this entire game from scratch (brand new project), which is why it is taking a little bit more time than usual to get things back up to speed. However, May 2026 was a fantastic month for development and the efficiency in which new features, both fresh and newly innovative, will be added will be very fast!
Shujinkou Manga
There’s more! We are glad to announce that we worked on a one-shot manga in collaboration with Matsushita Asuto, a game planner who worked on Persona 5’s confidante system!
This one shot was prepared in English and Japanese, and we printed and handed out hundreds and hundreds of copies in person by our Rice Games booth!
In addition to preparing this manga, which is an original scenario that takes place within the events of the Genya Arc, we also prepared a PlayStation 5 Manga Reader App that allows you to read it and toggle it between English (or Simplified Chinese) and Japanese modes!
Shujinkou LINE Stickers
That’s right! Finally, a dream come true—LINE stickers (スタンプ) for the Shujinkou cast in the Genya Arc! This was drawn by our awesome teammate Catthy Trinh, with photo/text editing done by Julian.
Come check it out here!
Shujinkou Other Goodies!
We passed out TONS of different goodies. Honestly, it was crazy how much the crew was able to get ready for this event. Some include:
チラシ (Chirashi) – We handed out thousands of thick handouts that showcased the cool aspect of our DRPG, as well as the announcement of the recently released Shujinkou Manga Reader App on the PlayStation 5. We went through at least half of the 9000 A4 slips printed.
Premium Stickers – With the artwork of our awesome teammate Catthy Trinh, we got 30 stickers printed on a single A4 slip that was then handed out to people walking by our event. We were able to send off all of the sticker sheets that were printed and brought to this event.
Jin Plushie – That’s right. Our Jin plushie has made his debut! We didn’t hand this one out, but he was there (and visible in a couple images above) cheering us on. as we all worked. hard to spread the word.
Bookmarks – Yup! Why read a manga if you don’t have a bookmark to use? We passed out some 300 of these during the event and ran out! People loved the colored-version on one side / manga-style monochrome-version on the other side concept.
Anyway, that just about sums up our time. We were able to talk to hundreds of media, journalists, consumers, gamers, and even met a few customers that had ALREADY purchased Shujinkou sometime in the past. It’s exciting, puts us on the map as a video game company seriously looking to jump into the Japanese video game space, and allows us to gain solid feedback and motivation for our next move.
We’ve got more cool news coming soon (perhaps relating to development on a certain new Nintendo console…), and LOTS of awesome development to do too. Thanks so much for reading!
Team @ Rice Games
Oh, and if you haven’t checked out the Manga Reader trailer, you can do so below! We are currently considering bringing this app to Steam if there is demand for it.
View game page
Original post
05 May 2026Developer post
Shujinkou @ Pomeranian University in Słupsk 🇵🇱
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
07 Apr 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Lecture @ Waseda University (早稲田大学)
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
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 especially important and exciting moment for our team and studio. As one of Japan’s most prestigious private universities, Waseda University provided a serious and respected stage on which to discuss not only Shujinkou as a deep and ambitious JRPG, but also the strong educational foundation that helps set the franchise apart from other indie games and JRPGs.
At Rice Games, we continue to push the concept of Shujinkou forward on two fronts:
① As a rich video game experience for JRPG fans, and…
② As a thoughtfully designed creation that explores innovative language acquisition through video games – the opposite of gamification… something like “learnification!”
From major industry events like appearing at the GDC Concert to prestigious academic and educational spaces, we are proud to see the franchise gaining momentum across both sides of that vision. That momentum only strengthens our drive as we continue work on the second title in the Shujinkou trilogy and other projects that will help expand the IP.
We were incredibly honored by the opportunity to connect with students, professors, and researchers, share the creative and academic ideas behind Shujinkou, and continue showing how games, especially complex ones with deep narratives AND gameplay, can be both deeply engaging and meaningfully well-founded.
More exciting news will be announced soon. Check out this post on our website.
Want to chat? Come join our official Discord Community here: http://shujinkou.community/
Cheers!
Julian
Original post
24 Mar 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Patch v1.44 Hotfix 1
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
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 this feature in the game at the time, it was implemented and tested over the last 48 hours for an urgent release. We hope this makes your player experience more pleasant!
The new setting can be found below the Camera Bobbing (Labyrinth) option.
And here's a look at a disabled Camera Bobbing (Battle) option in action:
Please note that if the rotating room is dizzying, this can also be disabled / toggled off in the options. We included the rotating room to give that extra dynamism in battle, a decision that our artists, director, and early playtesters agreed on during development.
One more note - the Mac version has been updated to "support" M1-M5 chips. Unfortunately, we do not have any Apple Silicon models and have not been able to test performance on those devices. It likely has to do with what this player mentioned in their review about performance, as we were able to nail down that it was a macOS version that they played (rather than Steam Deck and PC, which have not had those bugs reported by anyone just yet).
We will look into prioritizing Mac fixes and polish over the course of the next few months!
Best,
Team @ Rice Games
Original post
20 Mar 2026Developer post
Steam Spring Sale: Shujinkou is 35% OFF!
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 tim
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 the game were featured in the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming Concert Medley, we had the chance to appear on the Gamers With Jobs podcast, and our v1.44 update recently went live with a large batch of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and overall polish ❤️
View game pageOn top of that, we’ve very recently seen two Steam players earn every achievement in Shujinkou, with playtimes of roughly 330 hours and 450 hours respectively. For a small team that has poured several years into this very large and unusual project, that kind of dedication is amazing to see!
We’re also still feeling thankful for the recognition Shujinkou has received over the past several months, including a Best Hidden Gem nomination at the New York Game Awards, a #11 ranking on Inverse’s Best RPGs of 2025 list, a Best Indie Game of 2025 shortlist placement at VGChartz, and Smart Game of the Year award from Digitally Downloaded. We know Shujinkou is in some ways a very different kind of game, so all of this support, coverage, and growing word of mouth means a lot.
View game page View game pageFrom everyone at Rice Games: thank you so much for continuing to support Shujinkou and our studio. We have more exciting things ahead—please look forward to news in the next few months! ✨
If you do pick up Shujinkou during the sale, or if you’ve been continuing your lengthy adventure:
⭐️ A quick Steam review helps us a lot! And if you have questions or want to get in touch with the team and fans of the game, you can always join our community: https://shujinkou.community/
Thanks again, and we hope you have a great time exploring all the amazing games in this year’s 🌸 Steam Spring Sale ☄️🌸
Team @ Rice Games
Original post

19 Mar 2026Developer post

Shujinkou @ GDC 2026

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 see

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 game developer conference, it was a surreal and meaningful moment for our studio to hear music from Shujinkou performed on SUCH a major stage.

The medley featured motifs and melodies alongside music from celebrated titles such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Peak, Indiana Jones, Ghost of Yōtei, DOOM, and more. To have Shujinkou included among such acclaimed works is a tremendous honor for our team.

We would like to give our special thanks to Brian LaGuardia, lead composer of Shujinkou, for his brilliant arrangement work and for the enormous creative contribution he made to the game’s 158-track original soundtrack. You can find posts about our soundtrack here:

Shujinkou OST Available for Purchase Today!

https://ricegames.net/2025/11/13/shujinkou-ost-available-for-purchase-today/

Shujinkou OST Available on Streaming Platforms!

https://ricegames.net/2025/05/02/shujinkou-ost-available-on-streaming-platforms/

We are also deeply grateful to Austin Wintory for including Shujinkou in the medley and giving the game such an incredible spotlight at GDC.

You can watch the Shujinkou excerpt from the medley here:

View game page View game page

You can watch the full concert stream here:

https://m.twitch.tv/videos/2719239078

Team @ Rice Games

Original post

18 Feb 2026Developer post
Patch Notes v1.44
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 va
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 and proceed to the next hero.
Add a new option to disable the Money Maker bonus (after battle concludes) from Tatiana's Kizuna. This is only present if the player has unlocked the Money Maker bonus.
Bug Fixes
Fixed three Kanban facing the wrong direction in Labyrinth 9.
Add missing Kanakae Orb spot to a spot in the middle of Labyrinth 7's Area 1 containing new information about six kanji. It includes 18 new Blue Text terms. Our apologies!
Fix bug where players could not access certain hidden treasure chests in towns that were located adjacent to Exit to Nation spots.
Fix potential soft-lock for story progression in Labyrinth 10 if a player leaves the labyrinth after fulfilling specific conditions.
Fixed issue with incorrect description for the "tongue" kanji.
Fixed issue with Level Luck Tutorial not appearing for some players. See it by leveling any of the heroes up by one after clearing Labyrinth 1.
Fix low FPS when Reduced Effects is toggled off while in combat in Labyrinth 1.
Fix rare display bug with discovery percentages in the Item Compendium.
Fix rare display bug with discovery percentages in the Kanban Menu.
Fix sizing issue for English display of Cherry Pit item (Sabaku Arc).
Fix various reported issues with Okkake no Osakenori, including clipping bottles, unstable handling of the surfboard, and instances where the camera would not rotate upon reaching a turn.
Fixed several typos found in youkyuu, level loading tips, and more.
Fixed duplication of rows holding the same item in the Koukanya shop.
Balancing
Improve the balancing of certain purchasable armor (stats have been improved) when entering Labyrinth 8.
Our Biggest Priorities
We want to add a "Fast-Forward" (by holding a certain key) to some minigames so that they can be played and progressed through more quickly.
We've noticed some physics inconsistencies in Tatiana's minigame, Kotoba Kyuugi, and are looking to fix this soon.
We've noticed that when holding a button to move, then sliding your hand (while still holding the button) to another button occasionally does not allow the player to rotate properly in the dungeon. We are looking to fix in the near future.
Thank you!
Thank you Shujinkou players for your continued support and QOL requests! Feel free to join our Discord community if you need assistance with gameplay, want to suggest features or provide constructive feedback, or want to meet and chat with other fans of Shujinkou!
Join our awesome community below!
https://shujinkou.community/
Read more about this update on the official Rice Games website:
https://ricegames.net/2026/02/18/shujinkou-v1-44-patch-notes
Original post
25 Jan 2026Developer post
Shujinkou at The New York Game Awards!
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 ga
14 Jan 2026Developer post
Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 3
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
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 a round of Kotoba Kyuugi.
Fixed pink error screen that may occasionally appear while in the Koukanya due to a glitch relating to the Kazariya shop system.
Fixed issue with Platinum achievements relating for certain Steam players. Please select a save file and enter the game via the "Continue" button in order to notice the fix.
Best,
Team @ Rice Games
Original post

04 Jan 2026Developer post

Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 2

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 Cl

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 to fetch 8 eggs.
Optimizations that have led to a reduced application size by around 200 MB.

We're also honored to have recently been awarded Smart Game of the Year at Digitally Downloaded and ranked #27 in Noisy Pixel's Best Indie Games of 2025!

Smart Game of the Year at Digitally Downloaded

#27 in Noisy Pixel's Best Indie Games of 2025

https://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2025/12/matts-2025-games-of-the-year.html

"I always approve of games that are both excellent to play and also educational in some way. That’s part of the reason that I love Civilization so much—over the years it has inspired me to look into all kinds of history.

I want to highlight Shujinkou for this too. An indie project driven by the passion of one person, Shujinkou is an excellent dungeon crawler in its own right.

But what makes it really noteworthy is that it will help you learn Japanese as well, with the text starting out in English and slowly changing to Japanese as you play on and learn new words. Inspired work."

https://noisypixel.net/top-30-indie-games-2025-noisy-pixel/

"Shujinkou combines classic dungeon crawling with a Japanese language-learning layer that ties directly into combat without turning the game into homework.

Kana-based weaknesses, adjustable UI language options, and optional grammar explanations add real structure to how you approach encounters, and the JRPG side still carries its weight through turn-based strategy, strong music, and a long-form story.

It feels like a full RPG first, then a smart learning tool built into the rules."

The 2025 Winter Sale ends soon—don't miss out on a great chance to dive into the world of Shujinkou for a discounted price! ❤️

Best,

Team @ Rice Games

Original post

18 Dec 2025Developer post
Steam Winter Sale: Shujinkou is 34% off ($39.59) + Holiday Art! ⛄️
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 gratitu
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 to take a chance once again to thank thousands of players on Steam and other platforms for giving our game a chance and helping spread the word! ❤️ Read more about it here:
View game page
To celebrate the holidays, one of our key Character Artists, Catthy Trinh (Fabula Ultima), made special Christmas art of Kou!
From everyone at Rice Games: Happy Holidays ✨, and thank you so much for making 2025 the most meaningful year ever for Shujinkou and our team.
If you do end up picking it up during the sale (or keep playing):
A quick Steam review helps more than you’d think 😉
We love seeing screenshots/clips and hearing where you’re at in the journey - whether you post this on our community Discord server, SNS, or through email or Steam forums, we'd love to hear more about some of the fun and challenging experiences you have gone through in Shujinkou!
Thanks again, and we hope you have a fun time binging through all the cool games on sale this Steam Winter Sale! ☄️⛄️
Team @ Rice Games
Original post

Updates & announcements

Shujinkou v1.46

📊 Leaderboards

✨ Polish & Quality of Life

🐞 Bug Fixes

❤️ As always, thank you!

Shujinkou Demo d1.45

⭐️ Additional Notes on Upcoming Versions

Shujinkou Arrives on the Mac App Store & Epic Games Store on September 9th!

Shujinkou on the Mac App Store 🍎

Shujinkou on the Epic Games Store

Thank You!

Steam Trading Cards & More - Out Now!

Featuring: 16 New Steam Achievements!

Lastly, come check out the DLCs below:

Shujinkou Patch v1.45 Hotfix 1

Steam Trading Cards & More - Out Now!

Featuring: Trading Cards, Badges, Emoticons, Avatars, and more!

We'll provide a little update on things we're working on regarding Shujinkou:

If you've made it down here, why not take a moment to catch up on recent Shujinkou news?

❤️ As always, thank you!

Shujinkou Interview with Kyoto CMEX

Read the full interview here:

A few highlights:

Rice Games @ GAME AiCON Seoul 2026

“Beyond Localization: Language Learning as Game Innovation” 현지화를 넘어: 게임 혁신으로서의 언어 학습

Shujinkou v1.45

🛠️ Engine Upgrade

✨ Polish & Quality of Life

🐞 Bug Fixes

🛣️ Shujinkou Roadmap

❤️ As always, thank you!

Shujinkou @ BitSummit 2026

Shujinkou 2 Early Prototype

Shujinkou Manga

Shujinkou LINE Stickers

Shujinkou Other Goodies!

Shujinkou @ Pomeranian University in Słupsk 🇵🇱

Shujinkou Lecture at Waseda University (早稲田大学)

Shujinkou Patch v1.44 Hotfix 1

Steam Spring Sale: Shujinkou is 35% OFF!

Shujinkou @ GDC 2026!

Shujinkou v1.44

Polish / Quality of Life

Bug Fixes

Balancing

Our Biggest Priorities

Thank you!

Shujinkou at The New York Game Awards!

Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 3

Shujinkou Patch v1.43 Hotfix 2

2025 Steam Winter Sale