Future Classic
Modern games you’ll still be playing in years to come
The surprise hit of 2023 is a fruity puzzle game that inspires rage and relaxation in equal measure, and came from a totally unexpected source. Here’s why so many players are after a big pair of watermelons
Words by Nick Thorpe
» [Switch] In the early game, lining up fruits by size is a worthwhile strategy.
Info
» System: Switch
» Year: 2021
» Publisher: Aladdin X
» Developer: Aladdin X
» Key People: Unknown
Go Deeper
» Suika Game is the only game to date that Aladdin X has released on home consoles, since game development is not its main business focus.
» The official English title of Suika Game briefly changed to Watermelon Game, before reverting back to its betterknown Japanese title.
» The concept for Suika Game can be traced back to a 2021 Chinese browser game called Synthetic Big Watermelon.
SUIKA GAME
THE BACKGROUND
If you visit the website of Suika Game developer Aladdin X, you won’t see any games on the front page. You’ll see tech devices including wireless HDMI connectors and projectors, and that’s where this viral hit puzzle game originates – it first surfaced in April 2021 as a built-in game for the company’s projectors, and proved popular enough that the company decided that it should be made available elsewhere. The company considered a mobile-phone release, but instead decided to port the game to the Nintendo Switch, for which it launched exclusively in Japan in December of 2021. The game initially didn’t gain much in the way of attention, and the crowded nature of the eShop meant that it could have easily faded into obscurity.