Japanese indie games have a way of making the strangest and most macabre things look cute. Released on September 10 on Steam, The Little Tomb: The Maholova Club and the Search for a Dead Body falls right under this category. The 3D exploration game puts you in the shoes of Kofun, a young boy whose peculiar key-hole shape leads him to believe he is, in fact, an ancient Japanese tomb (as is the literal translation of his name). With his self-appointed identity, Kofun is on the lookout for a body to bury inside of himself.
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As Kofun, you start the game within the confines of a park playground. Too scared to leave the safety of the park, you soon run into Haniwa, an energetic clay sculpture boy who is eager to show Kofun the outside world. Apart from Haniwa, Kofun will run into several characters who will aid him on his journey. There’s Specs, a bespectacled sculpture boy who loves archeology, Mr. Pipe, an elder who spends his time excavating a nearby dig site, and Ms. Curator, a human who works at the local museum and is an expert on ancient tombs.
The Little Tomb is fully voiced and features the talents of Akari Kito (who voices Nezuko Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) as Kofun and Yuka Nukui (Airi Yamamoto in Back Street Girls, Noelle in Kizuna no Allele) as Haniwa.
Gameplay-wise, The Little Tomb has you exploring several locations and interacting with different objects. While Kofun’s to-do list gives you tasks to complete to progress the main story, you are free to explore the world as you see fit. Interacting with something for the first time awards you with Action Points, which you can use to acquire new skills (such as curling up into a ball and rolling down the streets); as well as hints regarding your tasks.
The Little Tomb: The Maholova Club and the Search for a Dead Body is out now on PC (Steam).
