is a series of Japanese

word puzzle Word games are spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can additionally serve an educational purpose. Young c ...

video games developed and published by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

, formerly

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

. The series began in arcades with ''Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan'' in 2001, and has seen multiple sequels for several platforms, including the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

and

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. Gameplay is similar to ''Scrabble'' — players are tasked with using

Hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

to form words on a board by placing down pieces marked with Hiragana characters. The original ''Kotoba no Puzzle'' was designed by

Hiroyuki Goto recited pi from memory to 42,195 decimal places at NHK Broadcasting Centre, Tokyo on 18 February 1995. This set the world record at the time, which was held for more than a decade until Lu Chao beat it in 2005. He is a game designer at Namco. He ...

, who is well known in Japan for being able to recite pi from memory to 42,195 decimal places, making him the world record holder at the time. Likely due to its strong usage of Japanese, the series has remained confined to Japan. The ''Kotoba no Puzzle'' series was met with positive reviews from critics, being praised for its originality, multiplayer and addictive gameplay, with ''Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan DS'' receiving the "Gold Hall of Fame" award from ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

''.

Gameplay

''Mojipittan'' is similar in play to the

word game Word games are spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can additionally serve an educational purpose. Young ...

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...

''. The player uses tiles with

hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

to build words. The player may take turns against the computer or a human opponent or play alone. Unlike ''Scrabble'', however, each player may place only one tile per turn as opposed to multiple tiles in the former. Tiles must be placed next to any other tile on the board, space permitting, but at least one word must be formed with each tile placed; as long as these conditions are met, a tile may be placed anywhere on the board, even if not all of the other tiles a new tile is connected to form new words. A major difference in how the game plays in contrast with ''Scrabble'' is that words do not need to be isolated. For example, in the play pictured above, with the bold letter う (''u'') being played, in addition to つうか (''tsuuka,'' either 通過, meaning "passing", or 通貨, meaning "currency"), つう (通 or ''tsuu'', meaning "connoisseur") and うか (羽化 or ''uka'', meaning "eclosion") qualify as words. The horizontal words that qualify in this play are ふつう (普通 or ''futsuu'', meaning "normal"), つうち (通知 or ''tsuuchi'', meaning "notification"), and うち (内 or ''uchi'', meaning "inside"), as well as つう again. Forming multiple words with the placement of a single tile is termed a "chain". Stages have objectives such as "fill all the spots on the board", "create twenty words over three tiles long", or "create chains of three, eight times". The board always has pre-existing tiles that players have to work with.

Games in series

* (2001, Arcade) * (2003,

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

) * (2003,

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

) * (2004.

) * (2007,

) * (2008,

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

) * (2009,

Nintendo DSi The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival was ...

) * (2010,

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, Android) * (2020,

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, Android, iOS,

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

)

Spin-off games

* (2005, i-appli) * (2007, i-appli) * (2019, iOS)

Board game

A board game adaptation called was made by Mega House under Bandai Namco's license and released in 2007.

Reception

On release,

scored ''Mojipittan DS'' a 33 out of 40 (9/8/8/8).Weekly Famitsu No.953 March 23, 2007 Page 40

Notes

References

External links

Official Japanese website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011094536/http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/cs/list/mojipittan/ , date=2011-10-11 PlayStation 2 games Bandai Namco Entertainment franchises Nintendo DS games DSiWare games Game Boy Advance games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation Portable games WiiWare games Wii Wi-Fi games Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games Touch! Generations Video games developed in Japan