Hi everyone I'm excited to announce that this year, I'll be releasing my first full-length standalone music album! It will contain around 20 tracks. Most songs will be completely new! However I have also made the decision to include a handful of remastered classics like Cube Land, From the Ground Up, Zombies On Your Lawn and remastered music from Rakuen! Today, you can actually listen to the debut single from this album (When You Wake Up) as well as watch a beautifully animated pixel art music video (created with Morizora Studios). Music Video: https://youtu.be/SGnxRXG9lQ8 Song: https://ffm.to/when-you-wake-up I truly hope that youll enjoy this music. And to everyone who has played Rakuen or listened to its music, thank-you for taking the time to be part of this little world. For updates: Twitter & Mailing List! Follow our Publisher Page: Morizora Studios For live music performances from the developer: Check us out on Twitch!

Attention Rakuen fans! Our Sue & Puchi plushie campaign is NOW live! https://www.makeship.com/products/sue-and-puchi-plush These two best girls are ONLY available for 23 days, and we must sell 200 units for the campaign to be funded! So any help with sharing it would be greatly appreciated! I hope that these adorable plushies will bring you joy, and inspire you to build tiny planets of your own! For updates: Twitter & Mailing List! Follow our Publisher Page: Morizora Studios For live music performances from the developer: Check us out on Twitch!

Tonight (May 27th at 7pm PDT) we'll be holding a special mini-concert on Twitch! I'll be performing live music from various games I've worked on (Rakuen, Meg's Monster, Plants vs. Zombies, Deltarune, To the Moon, and more) along with giveaways (games, plushies, etc.). Hope to see you there! If you already own Rakuen, for a limited time you can get an extra 15% off Meg's Monster with the Meg's Monster x Rakuen Bundle! Meg's Monster is a story-based indie RPG where you play as a monster from the Underworld (Roy) trying to help a lost little girl (Meg) find her way home. It has a lovely pixel art style reminiscent of SNES games, a beautiful soundtrack and a unique combat system. I also had a wonderful time singing the game's theme song! Have fun in the Underworld, but be careful not to let Meg cry, or the whole world will end... https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/32695/Megs_Monster_x_Rakuen/

Rakuen: Deluxe Edition (which includes Rakuen, Mr. Saitou and a 3D animated film collection) has finally been released on Switch! Players will now be able to experience Rakuen in Japanese! An official Japanese version (localized by 8-4, with Keiko Fukuichi in charge of translation) has also been released today! RAKUEN Don't forget to check out Mr. Saitou! A bite-sized adventure in the world of Rakuen where you play as an overworked Japanese salaryman who is spirited away to the corporate world of... Llamaworms. https://store.steampowered.com/app/628740/Mr_Saitou/ https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31390/Rakuen__Mr_Saitou_Bundle/

Hi everyone, First of all, I wanted to thank you for the love and support that you've shown me over the years. Every day I'm thankful and honored that I'm able to create music and games in the hopes of moving people in a positive direction. This is a dream come true for me, and I'm so moved every time someone shares that Rakuen has helped them somehow. I wanted to address something about Mr. Saitou before the game comes out tomorrow. I've seen a lot of people joking about how (based off of their experience with Rakuen) they're preparing to be "emotionally destroyed" by Mr. Saitou (or other references to lots of crying :) - While I definitely appreciate that Rakuen resonated with people, I want to make 100% sure that folks don't have the wrong impression about what kind of game Mr. Saitou is. While Mr. Saitou takes place in the same universe as Rakuen, it's meant to be playable in one sitting (around 2-3 hours as compared to 6-10), and it's more of a quirky and lighthearted game (it's *not* an emotional roller coaster spanning multiple character arcs). The game focuses on a friendship between an overworked Japanese salaryman and a goofy extroverted kid. The characters are silly, there's a lot of poking fun at corporate business culture, and some of the stupid parts make me laugh. For those who have played Rakuen, Mr. Saitou serves as a fun enhancement of that world, rather than a direct sequel. That being said, there is an underlying heavy topic and some bittersweet moments (which do cause me personally to tear up when I'm playtesting), but it's approached in a more subtle manner than the topics in Rakuen. While Rakuen is a story about accepting and understanding tragic fates, Mr. Saitou is a story about growing beyond yourself to find meaning and purpose in loving others. Despite being a short game, we put a lot of love into it. You can interact with most things, there's lots of hand-drawn portrait art, colorful pixel art & animations, and a varied musical score (from Enka to Hip Hop with a callback to a certain Sunflower through whom many of you came to know me). Mr. Saitou means a lot to me. It's kind of my love letter to the introvert world, and to my community. It's silly, with a bit of serious. And I really hope that even though it's not going to be as long or as intense as Rakuen, that it will still be a good and uplifting experience for you. Thank-you for playing --laura (a.k.a. supershigi) https://store.steampowered.com/app/628740/Mr_Saitou/

Mr. Saitou (the next Rakuen game) comes out March 23rd

No Holds Bard!!!

New Engine Open Beta!

Update Features:

• Overall improved performance
• Resizable window & borderless windowed fullscreen mode
• No more blurring of pixels when the game window is expanded--nice, crisp pixel art!
• Steam Deck compatibility (with improved controller/touchscreen support)
• Fixed the RPG Maker XP issue where clicking off the game disrupts audio-synchronized cutscenes
• Steam Achievements now compatible with Mac/Linux/Steam Deck
• On-screen lyrics subtitles for translations
• New art, character animations, and smoother graphics.
• Original build will still be accessible to those who are using older machines.

Improved Livestream Experience:

• Pixel perfect game window resizing for StreamlabsOBS (or other streaming software)
• Audio-synchronized cutscenes will no longer be interrupted by stream alerts
• Streamers can switch tabs to chat on Twitch (or other platforms) without window issues

Accessing the Beta/Reporting Bugs:

Hi everyone! In celebration of releasing a demo for the next Rakuen game (Mr. Saitou), we're hosting a contest with MULTIPLE ways to enter! Winners will receive a special pin set or a made-to-order Rakuen-themed plushie! (You can choose characters like Lil' Budz, Minimori, Monsieur Bud, Saitou-san, and many others!)

Contest Details:

The Mr. Saitou DEMO is now live for a Limited Time!!

New Rakuen Translations!

Which Would You Choose?

Art & Music Preview for our NEW GAME!

[previewyoutube=nra31mia8Y0;full][/previewyoutube]

Don't forget to Wishlist Mr. Saitou on Steam!

Return to the world of Rakuen for a new adventure

Upcoming PC Update

I am so incredibly thankful that in the past 5 years, so many people have experienced Rakuen. Thank-you for sharing your stories, for sending us fan art, and for all of the love and support throughout this whole process. It's more than I could have ever hoped for. That's why today, I'm so excited to share that on March 23rd, 2023 we're releasing:

• A major update for the original game that includes a new custom-built engine powered by Ebitengine, new art, animations, a Japanese localization done by 8-4 and...
• ...The next game in the Rakuen universe: Mr. Saitou!!

Hello everyone! I'm happy to announce that our new merch store is finally live! Here you can find Rakuen themed pins (like the chaotic good "No Holds Bard!!!"), an oil-painting-style Monsieur Bud "family portrait" poster, and stickers inspired by food & drink from the world of Morizora's Forest.

[previewyoutube=tSOHvSoDV8I;full][/previewyoutube] I'm so happy to announce that Rakuen is coming to Nintendo Switch (and Mobile)! Five years ago, I set out to tell a story about love, living for others, and walking a mile in your neighbor's shoes. And through Rakuen, I've met so many incredible, kind and strong people who have shared their stories with me. Thank-you for playing

Hello everyone! Can you believe that on May 10th, Rakuen will be turning 5?? I can't either!!
We have a lot of cool things planned, starting with a Fan Art Contest & some really cool prizes! How to Enter: -Post your submission in the Artwork section of Rakuen's Community Hub using #Rakuen5th somewhere in the title. -Alternatively, you can post your submission on Twitter using the hashtag #Rakuen5th -Deadline for submissions by May 10th @ 2pm PT! -You may submit fan art that you've made in the past (as long as it hasn't won a previous community contest). Prizes: Winners will be the first to receive Rakuen themed merchandise from our new store! Winners will be announced live on the Rakuen 5th Anniversary stream (May 10th @ 5pm PT): https://www.twitch.tv/supershigi Good luck and I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

See the Rakuen universe come to life in this fully animated short film, that is suitable for all ages and languages (as there is no dialogue). Now's also a great time to pick up Rakuen, as it's 67% off! We'll be doing a live viewing of this episode of "Farmer in the Sky" (Rakuen's animated series) today on my Twitch stream. Catch us live from 4-6pm PST at https://www.twitch.tv/supershigi or download the DLC now! Since it's an mp4 file, you can watch it virtually anywhere. For information on how to access the video after purchasing, see this thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/559210/discussions/0/2250056952654348715/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1331270/Rakuen_Animated_Short_Film__Farmer_in_the_Sky_Ep_2/

Hi everyone! I'm so excited that I finally get to do this... Today at 5:30pm PT I'll be doing a developer's commentary stream of my game (Rakuen) at: https://www.twitch.tv/supershigi/ I can't wait to do the voices, haha! Also, Q&A, dev stories, and Rakuen/OST giveaways And if you're interested in picking up Rakuen, the Steam Summer Sale is going on, so it's only $4.99 right now! Either way, I hope to see you at the stream tonight! I'm so excited to share stories about the game (and maybe drink a Ramune) https://store.steampowered.com/app/559210/Rakuen/

Hello folks! If you didn't get a chance to watch the premiere of Rakuen's animated series, "Farmer in the Sky" during the 2nd Anniversary Stream, it is now online at: https://youtu.be/fnj_OpJ0Cro Don't forget to subscribe to the official channel for future episodes as well: https://www.youtube.com/c/morizorastudios Hope you all enjoy!

Hi everyone! Today is Rakuen's 2nd Anniversary, and we have some fun things planned!

• If you've been waiting for a time to pick up the game, Rakuen has a Daily Deal, and is on sale for 66% off today only (it's only $3.39)!
• At 6pm PDT, we'll be doing a special 2nd Anniversary stream at https://www.twitch.tv/supershigi with live music performance, developer Q&A, sharing art/music/stories from the community, and more!
• We'll also be premiering the 1st episode of Rakuen's animated series ("Farmer in the Sky") live on stream!

Today's Deal: Save 66% on Rakuen!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Sunday at 10AM Pacific Time

This Friday (5/10) is Rakuen's 2nd Anniversary!

• The premiere of RAKUEN'S ANIMATED SERIES!
• Live music performance of the game's soundtrack by the composer!
• Developer commentary and Q&A.
• Sharing art, music and "Towel Cape Hero" stories from the community!
• 3D versions of Rakuen characters making appearances on stream via Augmented Reality...

Interested in submitting art, music or a Towel Cape Hero story?

What is a "Towel Cape Hero" story?

Can you tell us the details again?

From now until March 3rd (at 10am PST), half of the proceeds from Rakuen's sales will be donated to GameChanger Charity (the game is also 40% off). So if you'd like to help support GameChanger's mission to make life easier for children with life-threatening illnesses (and you've been wanting to pick up Rakuen for you or a friend), here is an easy way to help!

Rakuen is now 40% off at the Steam Halloween Sale! What better time to get chased around in a flooding, abandoned hospital, alone in the dark? No for real, that's actually part of the game.

Hi everyone~! Recently I was introduced to a wonderful charity that works to improve the lives of children in hospitals all around the world. They're called GameChanger, and throughout the month of August, they're trying to raise $75,000 for children's hospitals. This event will culminate on August 29th, where friends of GameChanger (people like CaptainSparklez, Strawburry17, JeromeASF, and many more) will be streaming games that empower and bring hope to people battling illnesses (or those fighting along their side). I'm really excited to share that they'll be playing both I,Hope as well as our very own Rakuen! I'll also be joining the stream at some point, so I hope to see you there! The full-day event will be happening on August 29th (beginning at 8am PST) at the following link: https://tiltify.com/+gamechanger-friends/gamechanger-and-friends-2018 Please help us spread the news! While we won't be filling patient lounges with Sila Berry Bean Bags or Ogee the Cat, there will be scholarships given for cancer survivors, game days and gifts for children receiving long-term treatment, and many other initiatives to improve the lives of the patients^^

Rakuen T-shirts, stickers and poster are now available via Fangamer! Find it all here: https://www.fangamer.com/collections/rakuen Have you ever wanted to tell your boss what you really think of them by putting a Lil Budz' "cold buns" graffiti sticker on their cubicle wall? Do you want to let people know how much the No Holds Bard!!! concert ROCKED by wearing a concert tour T-shirt complete with all of the tour locations from the world of Rakuen printed on the back? Well now you can!

Hi everyone! I'm so very excited to announce that over the past 6 months, we've been developing a 3D animated series based around the world of Rakuen! It's called "The Farmer in the Sky" and you can view the trailer now! Please make sure to subscribe to that youtube channel in order to watch the series as it airs! Also, if you missed the Summer Sale, but have been looking to pick up Rakuen... it's ON SALE FOR 40% OFF in celebration of us finally finishing this trailer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXQhjtiECPQ p.s. I heard that if you leave a comment on the video, there's a chance Minimori 8 may respond...

Hello everyone^^ Glowshroom and Pungent Onion would like me to tell you that Rakuen is now 50% off for the Steam Summer Sale! If you enjoyed the game and would like to help us out, we'd really appreciate if you left us a Steam review^^ (even if it's super short, it helps us a lot)~ Take care and I hope you're all having a good week so far ^_^/

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank-you to everyone who joined the contest! You're all so talented! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed going through all of the entries (it got me right here *points to heart*) You can see the full contest results here: https://projectrakuen.com/2018/06/16/rakuen-fan-art-contest-winners/

We hope that you enjoy this Mother's Day card! If you can, tell your mom that you love her today, I'm sure that she'd appreciate it very much :) I also wanted to share with you one of my favorite pieces of fan art featuring Mom. It was created by Minachi Arisa, and I can't look at it without getting goosebumps (if you've played the game, then you know why~).
Don't forget that you have until May 24th to submit your fan art for a chance to win some cool prizes by sending it to rakuenbeta@gmail.com with the subject "Rakuen Fan Art Contest & Giveaway" And if you're not an artist, that's okay! There are many other ways you can enter the contest (and ways to get extra entries if you've already submitted art). Details for that can be found here: https://twitter.com/supershigi/status/995134567034929152 Take care and much love to everyone <3

Hello everyone! As part of an ongoing series of community events in honor of Rakuen's 1st Anniversary, we're holding a special contest where you can submit your fan art for a chance to win some really cool Rakuen-themed prizes! Not an artist? That's okay! You can still win by helping to spread the word about our game! There are multiple ways to get more entries (some give you more entries than others, some allow you to repeat them daily; so make sure to check back)! Details and How to Enter: https://twitter.com/supershigi/status/995134567034929152 Also (and unrelated to the contest), who is your favorite Rakuen character, and why? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We'll choose the Grand Prize Winner and 2 Runner Up Winners from the fan art submissions to receive the following prizes:

One Grand Prize Winner will receive:

2 Runner Up Winners will receive:

2 randomly selected entrants will receive:

5 randomly selected entrants will receive:

Hello friends! Today is Rakuen's One Year Anniversary! In order to celebrate, I have a handful of fun things planned that will span the next two weeks! To kick things off, Rakuen is now on sale for 40% off~! I'll be announcing more later on, so stay tuned ^^ p.s. 50 bonus points if you can tell me what kind of donuts are on that table :) p.p.s. This picture may or may not be related to a big project we're working on involving certain characters from the Skylands... :)

Attention bilingual (and multilingual) Rakuen fans: Would you like to help translate Rakuen into your language? We now have an official team managing the process! If you’d like to join, Andrii (the translation lead, who also organized the "Finding Paradise" translations) explains how to sign up in the quote below. Thanks so much for your help everyone^^ [quote] Dear fans, We are extremely glad that so many people want to see Rakuen in their language. That's why we decided to help you and ease all processes, so you can focus on translation. Currently the game is already translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean and Chinese (Simplified), but all other languages are welcome. Here is the form to register into translation: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0BWr-eZ0zsPRptlcf2nf_E8AiF6L6aiu-JcASxMHN7j3waA/viewform?usp=sf_link We will use SmartCAT (free online tool) for translation and Discord for communication. If you're a registered in SmartCAT member, please use the same email and name, I will simply add you to the project. If you're new user to SmartCAT, please write correct email as you will receive an invitation there. It's better to have ...gmail.com as some email providers do not receive notifications or consider it as a spam. And here is a link to 'The Leeble Forest' Discord channel, where we will communicate: https://discordapp.com/invite/PDS3ctg You will see only general channels and welcome page from Translation category, but after submitting the form above you will receive correspondent role and will see instructions and separate language channels. And please be patient if you don't receive notifications and roles immediately, we will try to do it ASAP.[/quote]

Can you believe that it's been almost one year since Rakuen was released? We have some exciting stuff coming up for the one year anniversary (including a contest, updates about new translations and more)! But until then, please enjoy another tiny preview of our upcoming animation project at the link below: "Get out of the way, Minimori..."

Happy Saturday folks! Here's a teaser of something we've been working on, hehe ^^ p.s. For those who have played Rakuen, can you guess where this is? :)

Localizations for the following languages are now available for Rakuen: -Chinese (Simplified) -Italian -Korean -Spanish Just right-click the game in Steam, choose "Properties" and go the "Language Tab." From here you can change to the language of your choice! A big "thank-you" to everyone who made this effort possible^^

Will Rakuen be translated into (insert language)?

Do you guys remember Moonbowmusicmovie? (the really talented Japanese musicians who do video game covers on youtube) I'm joining them right now on youtube for a Livestream~! They're currently performing a variety of songs (from games like Chrono Trigger and Persona 5), and will be continuing their playthrough of Rakuen in a few minutes. Come hang out and chat with us! ^_^/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQF07zLCXkc

In order to help celebrate this Lunar New Year, Rakuen is on sale for 30% off~! Puchi would like me to tell you that 2018 is the Year of the Dog, so if you have a special doggie-friend, make sure to give them a big hug^^ Also, folks always ask how they can help get Rakuen out to more people. One of the best and easiest ways is to leave us a Steam a review (even a tiny 1-sentence one would help a lot)! We're so close to 1000 now, so if you enjoyed the game, please consider taking the time to recommend us^^ Every positive review makes a big difference! Thank-you all, and we wish you a Happy Lunar New Year!

We hope you enjoy these Valentine's Day cards featuring Boy/Sue, Kazuko/Kisaburo, and Winston/Gemma ^_^/

Attention international fans: I'm excited to announce that thanks to the efforts of our wonderful fan translation teams, Rakuen has been localized into four new languages: Chinese (simplified), Italian, Korean, and Spanish! In order to bring you the best possible translations, we now humbly ask for your help... For the next two weeks, the new language versions will be available to folks who already have Rakuen in their Steam library. We're looking for a few bilingual fans to help run through the game and report any errors they find. If you're interested in participating in the beta, please read the details below:

How to get the (Chinese/Italian/Korean/Spanish) version:

How to Report Errors:

Can I help translate Rakuen into (insert language)?

~Around the holidays, the Monsieur needs to drink a few extra gallons of tea in order to stay warm. So he's asked me to make it a bit easier for you all to come visit him in his mansion in the clouds... Wish granted, Monsieur! Rakuen is now 35% off!~ (Sale ends January 4th, so grab it before it's over!) (There will be NO COLD BUNS)

For just one more day, Rakuen is 30% off! (Sale ends November 28th, so this is your last chance to grab it before it's over) (I've also been told that this is the last day to nominate games for the Steam Awards, so if you'd like to vote for us, we'd really appreciate it <3)

Location:

Date:

Hi everyone! A lot of folks have been asking me about this, so... I'm super excited to finally announce that the complete Rakuen OST is now available on iTunes! Within the next 1-2 weeks, we'll be rolling it out to other online stores like Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, etc. People have also been asking me, "How can we get Rakuen more exposure?" One of the *best* ways is to leave a Steam review! So if you played the game and enjoyed it, leaving a review (even a tiny 1-sentence one) would help us a lot! Especially now, since we're so close to hitting 500~! Take care and talk to you soon!

Rakuen is Now Available on Steam!

A hospitalized Boy comes to terms with his own story by traveling with his Mom to a beautiful fantasy world; ultimately helping his fellow patients find closure by walking a mile in their shoes.