Game creator Daisuke Taka founded his own company Impachi in January 2026. Highly regarded for his unique approach to game development and attention to storytelling, Taka previously worked as the early producer for GREE’s Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space, and is best known for his successful run at Square Enix, where he served as the producer of Harvestellla.
Upon hearing of Impachi’s establishment, AUTOMATON conducted an interview with Taka, who serves as the company’s representative director. In this installment, we talk to Taka about the unannounced game his studio is currently working on. For more about how Impachi was founded, check out Part 1 of this interview.
The new project is a 4X roguelike deck builder
―The games you’ve worked on so far have quite memorable stories, so I feel like you’re often seen as a creator who puts a lot of effort into narrative.
Taka:
That’s true. Given that I’ve been making RPGs for so long, and since RPGs are a genre I really love, I understand why people might see me as a “story person.” That said, until now, my approach hasn’t been to create a game around a story, but rather, to develop worldbuilding and narrative within the game system.
―So you don’t create the story as your starting point.
Taka:
Actually, none of my games have had a scenario-first approach, and I don’t think that will change. However, my desire to provide a wonderful scenario and worldbuilding that compliments the mechanics remains unchanged.
―I see. Would you say that rather than narrative, your goal is for players to enjoy the game primarily through its mechanics?
Taka:
Of course, I’d love to impress everyone with storytelling and worldbuilding as well, but that’s not my main focus. I don’t mean to say that these aspects are not important, but I think a game isn’t good unless the excellent mechanics, worldbuilding, and scenario are deeply intertwined.
Some indie games these days sell themselves on their mechanics, but to make that the only focus, you need a lot of content. If you can’t dedicate enough time to the worldbuilding and scenario, it’s difficult to build a game that relies solely on mechanics. With the establishment of Impachi, we want to work hard to create games with a small team, or rather, we want to create a system that allows us to do so properly.
―What kind of game are you specifically working on?
Taka:
…I can’t announce the exact details yet, but to give you an idea of the genre, our first title as Impachi will be a strategy game, a 4X roguelike deck builder.
―“4X” brings to mind titles like Sid Meier’s Civilization and Stellaris. Is it a genre you’re personally fond of?
Taka:
I like indie games, but I’ve also always loved Sid Meier’s Civilization, especially IV and VI. Sid Meier’s Civilization IV used to have a legendary unofficial Japanese wiki called “Pericles Server,” and I even managed it.
―I think I’ve heard of it.
Taka:
The original wiki is gone now after we encountered server issues… I’m truly sorry that it ended on that note.
―Who are you apologizing to? (laughs)
Taka:
We really made a lot of Japanese Sid Meier’s Civilization fans sad at the time, and I guess that’s how much I love the series.
In our current project, we’re combining the 4X genre, exemplified by games like Sid Meier’s Civilization, with roguelike deck-building elements. Our goal is to create a game that’s neither like Sid Meier’s Civilization nor Slay the Spire, but rather deeply fuses both genres.
―That’s interesting. What kind of experience do you want to offer with this game? I assume you’re focusing on mechanics.
Taka:
Mechanics are certainly important, but I think that in 4X and roguelike deck builder games already out there, the scenario tends to not play a huge role, so we’d like to tackle this as a challenge.
―I see, I’m looking forward to the scenario then. How far along you are in the development process?
Taka:
We’re currently working on a vertical slice (a short, functional demo). The demo is running, but there’s still a long way to go.
―Titles like Slay the Spire evolved rapidly thanks to players feedback received during Early Access. What kind of approach are you considering for Impachi’s first game? The genre “4X roguelike deck builder” seems like it would be quite challenging to balance.
Taka:
Yes, that’s why we brought in Uemura, who was in charge of balancing in both Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space and Harvestella. I think the early version of Another Eden had an almost divine balance. That balance was something Uemura and I worked on.
―I see. So that track record gives you confidence.
Taka:
We’re extremely confident when it comes to balance.
―I can’t help but have high expectations. I’m looking forward to it.
For Starters, I want to reach the “six people” who think my game is fun
―Even though this is a project you’re confident in, with so many games being released these days, how do you plan to reach users?
Taka:
With the games I’ve worked on so far, my approach has been to do absolutely everything I could. I just kept building on what could be done for free… I used Twitter back then to gather as many people as possible, make announcements, run closed beta tests, and just kept building on that foundation.
This time, I’m working with a small team, but still, I’m going to build things up little by little with everyone’s help. In particular, since we’re releasing the game worldwide from day one, I want to introduce the project to overseas media and exhibit it on game shows.
Also, while I’m not able to go into the details about the game’s content now, I’ll be able to reveal more concrete information around this summer.
―That’s something to look forward to! Finally, could you please give a message to our readers?
Taka:
Even during my time as a salaried worker, I was always thinking about how to reach people with the games I want to make, and while that principle remains the same now, I’m planning to shift my focus toward delivering even more of what I personally want to create.
However, in a world overflowing with games, getting a slice of that pie of gamers is a difficult task. So, I figure there are about six people in the world who love everything I make, and I’ll do my best to cater my games specifically to them.
―Only six people? Isn’t that bad for business? (laughs)
Taka:
If I were a game creator driven by commercial interests, I’d be receiving various investments and developing a game worth hundreds of millions or even billions of yen, but I really don’t think the games that individual gamers love are determined by budget.
More simply put, some people might say that tic-tac-toe is their favorite game, while others might say that playing cards is their favorite. It varies from person to person. Since everyone’s different, I’m sure there are at least six people out there who’ll say the game I want to make is the most fun, so please stay tuned for updates.
―Thank you very much.
The Impachi official website was launched with the publication of this article, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested in what Taka and his team are working on.
