I finally made it to Tokyo Game Dungeon — an indie game exhibition I’d been admiring from afar for way too long.
For the longest time, I kept thinking, “That looks so fun…” but never quite gathered the courage to actually go.
This time, I did — and it was absolutely amazing.
So before the memories fade, I want to capture everything while the excitement’s still fresh.
I’m writing this straight from the heart, so it’s going to be a bit rough around the edges—but hey, that’s part of the charm. Enjoy the ride.
Note: All photos used here were taken with prior permission from the event organizers and each individual exhibitor. Every image has been lightly blurred and edited before uploading, in respect to their privacy and policies.
So, what is Tokyo Game Dungeon?
If you’re wondering what Tokyo Game Dungeon actually is, the official website explains it best—but in short, it’s an exhibition and hands-on event for indie games. From what I’ve heard, it’s held 4 times a year.
Developers from all over Japan gather to showcase their projects, and visitors can freely try out their games right there on the spot.
Some booths even sell merch, and occasionally you’ll find guest appearances from lead voice actors—so the atmosphere is more like a mini indie festival than just a game demo event.
Each play session lasts about five to ten minutes.
Most booths are simple setups—one long table, a couple of chairs for players, and another for the developer. Some teams decorate their spaces with tapestries, posters, or little displays that reflect their game’s world.
For reference, the general admission ticket cost ¥1,000 this time.
What’s the vibe like?
The first thing that hits you when you walk in is just how diverse the crowd is.
Sure, as a game exhibition, there are plenty of men in their 20s to 40s—but you also see groups of women, older folks, parents with kids, even international visitors. It’s a really mixed, welcoming scene.
Honestly, before going, I expected something a bit more underground—geeky, intense, maybe even a little intimidating. But it turned out to be the total opposite, in the best possible way.
The atmosphere was warm, easygoing, and surprisingly family-friendly. You could even hear kids shouting things like, “I wanna play that one!” as they ran between booths.
It didn’t feel like some hardcore gamer convention.
If anything, it reminded me of a neighborhood summer festival, where your local older brother is running a goldfish scooping stall—except here, the “stalls” are handmade games crafted by indie creators.
Crowd-wise, it was just right: lively but not packed to the point of exhaustion.
And with plenty of staff and security around, the whole event felt safe and relaxed—a space where anyone could just enjoy games together.
Games I Got to Play
Alright, here’s the main part of this report — the games I actually got to play!
STREAM STRATOS
Set in a sleek, cool-toned sci-fi world, STREAM STRATOS is a stylish shooting action game built around a clever core mechanic:
you absorb enemy attacks with a barrier to charge your own energy for counterattacks.
Not every projectile can be blocked, though — some must be dodged. The game makes this easy to read at a glance: green attacks can be absorbed, red ones can’t. It’s intuitive and keeps the flow snappy.
The controls feel incredibly responsive, and dodging through attacks while building up power and striking back feels so satisfying.
…That said, I got absolutely wrecked.
According to the developer, the demo version was tuned to be “a bit tougher so players can really dig into the mechanics.”
I respect that. Bold move — I love it.
The creator themself was surprisingly easygoing and friendly, which made for a fun contrast to the game’s cool, almost solitary aesthetic. That gap left a strong impression.
ZAKO NO AHIRU
This was one of the games that instantly caught my eye when browsing the Tokyo Game Dungeon lineup.
It’s a “Getting Over It”-style climbing game — you control a duck, hopping and waddling your way upward using simple jump and directional inputs.
But here’s the twist: you’re constantly being trash-talked by a bratty anime girl sitting in the corner of the screen.
And yes — it’s fully voiced.
Come on. That’s incredible.
The variety of taunts is wild. When I asked the developer, they told me there are over 200 randomized voice lines, plus special ones that trigger in specific situations.
Absolutely amazing.
As you struggle and slip, she just keeps mocking you, piling insult upon insult — and somehow, when the demo ended, I was left with this weird, cathartic sense of satisfaction.
Incredible. Just incredible.
One Song, One Life
The premise is simple but brilliant:
you’re trying to turn Sumire-chan, a mentally unstable “menhera-style” girl, into a successful online idol — through rhythm gameplay.
What makes it stand out is that some of the notes contain branching choices.
Depending on what you pick (or miss), the story and even the songs themselves evolve, giving it a strong visual novel flavor on top of the rhythm mechanics.
…Unfortunately, my rhythm-game skills weren’t nearly good enough.
Sumire’s dream crumbled before my eyes, and she spiraled straight into ruin.
And when I say “bad ending,” I mean bad. If you’re sensitive to darker themes, you might want to brace yourself.
That said, the combination of moody, melancholic tracks and haunting artwork really pulled me into its world.
A dark, heavy, and strangely beautiful experience.
In a World After People
I first noticed this one when browsing the event lineup, and it immediately grabbed my attention
The premise is deceptively simple: you play as an autonomous computer awakening in a post-apocalyptic world, exploring the remnants of humanity while trying to understand the concept of love—something a machine can’t truly grasp.
On paper, that might sound heavy or stiff… but in reality, the game sprinkles in internet slang, memes, and jokes without ever breaking its core tone. The rhythm of comedy and serious moments is perfectly handled, keeping you engaged and often pleasantly surprised.
The combination of stark, mechanical ambient sounds, quiet BGM, and warm-toned pixel art creates a gentle contrast that meshes beautifully with both the philosophical themes and the playful absurdity.
It’s a game with a very distinct authorial voice — a truly unique world that’s equal parts thoughtful and delightfully silly.
Delve Survivors
This is a roguelike where you aim for the deepest part of the dungeon within a limited number of turns, with randomly generated equipment and skill builds. Depending on the mode, you can even play it as a roguelite.
It’s the type of game that goes straight for the jugular—no gimmicks, no curveballs—just pure, unadulterated gameplay. Even in the demo, I got a satisfying, full experience. You can really feel the developers poured their heart and soul into the core mechanics, letting you enjoy the fun of the game itself, even in a short session.
Right before I started playing, there was an unexpected equipment hiccup.
But the developers were incredibly friendly, handling everything with such warmth and attentiveness that I was never bored for a second. That level of hospitality left a strong impression.
IL13-Sonya E-Links
In this game, you control an android girl in a slick 2D action environment.
What really blew me away was the sheer attention to movement mechanics.
For example: pressing and holding jump to fire the boosters for a massive leap gives a satisfying sensation of slow startup → sudden burst of speed.
Add in just-timed dodges leading into counters, and finishing moves that both attack and recharge your weapon’s energy—and you realize the game feels even better in motion than it looks in videos.
What’s brilliant is how these “feel-good movements” are designed to be strategically advantageous.
Pull off a satisfying move → gain an edge → the edge lets you execute even more satisfying moves → and the loop continues.
It’s an addictive cycle, and I found myself completely immersed while playing the demo.
BRUTE FORCE
This is a 3D belt-scrolling action game, inspired by the arcade classics of the ’90s.
One standout feature is the absence of the dodge mechanics that have become standard in most modern action games.
Instead, success relies heavily on tactical decisions—reading enemy patterns, positioning yourself carefully, and sometimes intentionally stopping combos midway to maintain a safe zone.
It’s less about reflexes and more about building and executing your own patterns.
Personally, I loved this approach—it rewards strategy and planning over pure twitch skills.
Non Eternals
This is a meta RPG where you fight monsters born from the dark side of game development.
As someone who’s touched on game creation, I immediately noticed the bold title choice: it references the concept of “Eternal-ing”—games that never get finished and end up shelved forever. That alone was enough to pique my interest.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a fairly orthodox command-based RPG with a real-time feel.
What sets it apart is a unique, game-dev-inspired mechanic: you can edit the positions of UI elements on the screen, and combining them strategically enhances your skills. Optimize your setup, and suddenly your HP bar or enemy names are appearing in absurd, chaotic locations. It’s a brilliant way to turn the experience of “tinkering with your game UI” into a meaningful gameplay element that affects combat.
On a more personal note, I absolutely loved the character modeling. The chibi, three-heads-tall proportions hit my sweet spot perfectly—something I’ve been advocating for a decade.
Warehuman
Out of all the games I got to try at the event, this one blows everything else out of the water.
Here’s how the Steam store page pitches it:
A massive tsunami, a fiery giant, cracks splitting the earth — in the modern world, the “prophecy of doom” whispers its arrival. Shuka, a boy who knows the prophecy, sets out with his friends to destroy it.
Steam Store Page
Yeah… not wrong. Technically 100% accurate. But also, that doesn’t even begin to capture it!!!
From the illustrations, character design, and setting text, you might think:
“Ah… a stylish, chuunibyou dark-fantasy route. Interesting.”
If that’s what you thought… congratulations, you’ve made the same mistake I did.
Beneath its serious exterior, this game is a high-octane, rapid-fire gag machine, stuffed with outrageous “edutainment” levels and relentlessly probing the player’s psyche. Honestly, is this allowed, dev?
I had to censor a ton just to keep this write-up safe for general audiences. Please… just imagine.
The gameplay itself? A pretty straightforward mix of adventure-story narrative and card-battle mechanics (probably a nod to FGO). Basic, at least on paper.
…but the story? The story is so good I found myself laughing out loud multiple times while playing the demo.
Afterward, the developer looked me in the eye and said,
“I’ve done nothing wrong. It’s all for the players.”
And that, for some reason, stuck with me.
Bottom line: everyone should root for Shuka, the female protagonist, and Fitzgerald, the super-muscular, dead-serious dog-man. You won’t regret it.
Dungeon Destroyer
In this game, your job is to guide a dwarf girl safely to the stairs without her getting defeated by enemies. You do this by creating and manipulating her path through the dungeon.
What blew me away before even playing was the developer’s opening line:
“I want to see what genre you think this game is.”
I just stared at them, completely baffled.
And after actually playing… wow. This game really defies conventional genre labels.
Sure, the dwarf has HP, attack stats, and there are enemies, so at first glance it seems RPG-like.
…but battles are entirely automatic, with no player input on combat logic.
Your role? Simply define the progression route: break walls, build paths, place obstacles.
And yet, the trial-and-error of figuring out how to get the dwarf safely through the dungeon while grabbing as many useful items as possible is insanely fun. The satisfaction when you finally nail a perfect route is unreal.
For me, this is very much a puzzle game in the broad sense.
I haven’t actually played Pac-Man, but it reminded me a bit of that kind of gameplay — guiding a character through a maze with strategy and timing.
And that wraps up all the games I got to try at Tokyo Game Dungeon 10!!
Tips for First-Time Attendees
- Respect and courtesy matter. Everyone’s there to enjoy the games, so be mindful of others and follow basic manners.
- Drink early. There’s a vending machine right by the venue, but it can sell out by the middle of the event. Grab your drinks early, or bring your own beforehand.
- Break area rules: Covered drinks are okay, food is not. Make sure to eat before you arrive.
- Plan your route. Make a list of the games and developers you want to check out ahead of time — it’ll make navigating the event much smoother. For this event, Steam had pre-event announcements, so I added every game I was curious about to my wishlist and jotted them down on paper. Worked perfectly.
- Photo policy: Always get permission from the developer before taking pictures.
- Video/streaming policy: According to the organizers, on-site video streaming is only allowed if you apply and receive approval in advance. Keep that in mind.
Closing Thoughts
Wow… what an absolutely amazing experience!!
As I mentioned on X, being able to interact directly with game developers—people who usually feel so distant—and to feel the energy of fellow game-loving attendees in person was incredibly rewarding for me.
I really wish I could have explored even more of the event, but with limited time, even going full throttle from start to finish, this was about all I could fit in… such a shame.
A huge thank you to the organizers, the developers tirelessly creating these amazing games, and all the attendees who shared the space with me!
To all the creators out there: I’m cheering for you from the sidelines! Please make sure to create at your own pace and take care of yourselves.
And with that, enjoy your gaming life!
Thank you so much for reading until the very end!!
The project named IndieGame100 is running — playing 100 indie games and write reviews.
If you are interested in indie games, please check it!!
