Let’s wander in the kanji!
Concept
Kanji Atlas is a serious (and fun) game,
an indie top down platform/exploration game
where you can interact with Japanese characters, Kanji.
A game
(& level) designed
by kanjis!
Since I have started to study kanjis, I’m deeply interested in the way of writing them.
At the end of your strokes, you have sometimes to stop (tome, とめ), slide (harai,はらい) and jump (hane, はね) .
It’s obviously close to the controls of the first games I played back in the 90’s .
I have started to think that a game and a level design is naturally enclosed in each of these strokes.
The kanji writing system is the base of the whole game and the controls!
A serious
(& fun) game.
Experience kanjis as places!
❶ Walk on the strokes, follow your light to discover each stroke composing the global shape of your kanji.
❷ The strokes gathers as components/radical visit each component composing the character.
❸ All the components gather as the character, you will see and experience the global meaning of the kanji.
Art direction & procedural generative content.
CG and Code are poetry.
The art direction is the result of years of artistic researches, multiple illustrations and videos and my life around Kappabashi Street in Tokyo.
The sound direction will be designed with my passion for synesthesia.
And all of these assets are designed with procedural content generator such as Blender’s Geometry and Shader Nodes, Adobe Substance and Unreal Engine’s tools.
Characters
Q＆A
What is Kanji Atlas?
It’s a serious (and fun) game explorer, an indie top down platform game where you can visit and interact with Kanji.
Who made this?
This title is created by me, Cedric Rolando, CG Artist for more than 20 years. I’m Full Freelance since 2012, and a Japanese learner at an intermediate level.
Why making this game?
I grew up in the 90’s, running in Sonic’s levels, Mario’s lands and circuits, catching countless little monsters and remembering all of their names. I have realized that levels, stories, designs, and sounds are engraved in my memory even more than 20 years after.
I’m learning Japanese for more than 10 years and I still have big difficulties to crystallize Kanji radical / type in my memory. I don’t know if it will work the same but I thought… why not creating a game to “live” and “experience” kanji. This is how Kanji Atlas was born.
Where it will be released?
The goal of this serious game is to be played easily, as writing strokes.
Touch displays like phones, tablets (and Switch if I can) are the first target, desktops are the second.
When?
According to the time and money I can use on this project, I expect to release a First JLPT5 version, around 80 Kanjis, between 2024-2025. My goal is to cover all the JOYO kanji (2136 characters).
How it is deve-loped?
The game is currently developed on Unreal Engine 5.3; my main digital content creator software is Blender.
I rely on procedural tools and visual programation languages such as Geometry Nodes, PCG, Niagara, BluePrints.
Content
I have created Kanji Atlas to remember kanji more easily, nor more not less.
I’m living in Japan for more than 7 years now but creating a game with elements that are not in my native culture can be challenging. As a white European man, I’m aware I have cultural/societal biases.
If there are any offensive, sexist, or racist content, please send me a direct message.
My game, graphics, sounds (and myself) are subjects to improvements and fixes.
Thank you very much
Cedric.
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