As someone who grew up in Asia with the familiar face of Shin-chan, a popular manga character, I was excited to play through his latest exploits in Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town.
For this preview, I was given access to the first three days in the game, and so far it has its hooks in me! I was immediately drawn in by the masterfully painted backdrops, contrasted with the simple character art. There were obvious signs that this was a cosy game I was going to enjoy.
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Who Is Shin-chan?
If you’re not familiar with the character, Shin-chan (short for Shinnosuke Nohara) is based on the popular manga character Crayon Shin-chan, a five-year-old boy from Kasukabe in Tokyo. The story revolves around Shin-chan’s daily life with his parents, baby sister, dog Shiro, neighbours, and friends. The manga and anime is very much in the slice of life category, or iyashikei in Japanese.
While I’m familiar with Shin-chan, I didn’t actually read the manga or watch the anime growing up, because he was strangely perverted and obsessed with attractive older female characters. The character is still touted as family-friendly, a juxtaposition possibly only properly understood by those familiar with Japanese culture. But I digress — it didn’t stop me from enjoying this preview thoroughly and giving me a few good laughs.
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Console Cosy
Shiro and the Coal Town is not Steam Deck verified, but I decided to boot it up on the Deck anyway. I love being able to port cosy games around wherever I go, especially when on holiday. I’ve had no issues to date and it’s been great running around Akita, Shin-chan’s father’s hometown.
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The game is perfect for portable play. Its paired back UI and beautiful, painting-like backdrops look great on the smaller screen. Shiro and the Coal Town starts with a lovely sequence of credits that showcases scenic shots of Akita, ending with a cool pan of the whole town from on high.
Bugs, Fish, Plants, Oh My!
You play the game as Shin-chan, visiting your father’s hometown of Akita. The game’s passage of time starts from the bright afternoon to evening, then night. You can choose to sleep at night or explore further, but eventually, Shin-chan gets tired and you’re sent back home to rest.
Your grandfather, Ginnosuke, gives you a butterfly net and teaches you how to catch bugs on your first day in Akita. Over the next two days, you learn to fish, collect plants and gems, garden and harvest vegetables while exploring the town.
As Shin-chan runs around, the animation changes to his signature ‘mooning pose’, which often had me chuckling to myself. While exploring, the camera angles change in dynamic ways, giving you different perspectives of the graphics and artwork. It helps you really appreciate how charming the world is as well as keeping things interesting while playing.
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Coal Town
On the third day, Shin-chan’s dog Shiro leads him to an old tramcar, and of course, they hop on to see where it goes. It takes them to the titular Coal Town, a construction of several steampunk-style levels with a series of shops and homes above the local mine.
There we meet a girl called Sumi who asks us to save Coal Town. What could she mean? From what could this quaint little town need saving!?
The game is giving me major Professor Layton vibes, albeit with less mystery and puzzle solving.
As you follow Sumi around, you unlock more quests and, to my delight, a cooking mini-game at the local restaurant. As you explore, you can collect ingredients to create delicious looking dishes later on. There’s nothing I love more than a cosy cooking mini-game, so I was right at home here.
Finishing a quest also takes you straight back to the quest giver, which I appreciated.
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Late on the third day a new character, Mr. Discardson, is introduced. He is only shown from behind and has a henchman at his beck and call, giving off some seriously ominous vibes. While the character remains a mystery, through conversations with residents, it’s revealed that the Discardson family originally built Coal Town.
After exploring the town, heading home, and taking a nap, it’s dinner time. To Shin-chan’s surprise, his family has never even heard of Coal Town and thinks he’s dreamed it up. There’s clearly more going on here than just quiet country life in rural Japan, and I can’t wait to see how the mystery unfolds in the rest of the game.
I’m so hooked on this cheeky kid’s antics!
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is available from October 24th on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch for $63.99.
