{"id":47184,"date":"2025-04-17T19:08:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=47184"},"modified":"2025-04-17T19:09:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:09:00","slug":"bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/","title":{"rendered":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/this-two-player-game-will-expose-any-power-imbalances-in-your-relationship-and-possibly-make-things-even-worse-we-asked-the-dev-why-hed-do-something-so-twisted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In our previous article<\/a> about <strong>BOKURA: planet<\/strong>, we talked to developer Tokoronyori on how the upcoming sequel to BOKURA is a two-player game crafted to test the limits of your relationship with your best friend or partner. This time, we ask the creator about the game\u2019s underlying themes and his motives behind making it the way he did. In BOKURA: planet, you and your coplayer will be reminded that, despite everything, the only certain thing in life is loneliness. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u201cBOKURA: planet\u201d 2nd Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GK64JraWE7U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll of the games I\u2019ve made so far (\u2026) have had the idea of loneliness as their main focus. So why did I make BOKURA and BOKURA: planet into two-player games? You may think \u2018oh, but isn\u2019t this guy being contradictory?\u2019 However, to me, the obvious answer was lying in that very contradiction: I wanted to make people who aren\u2019t lonely experience loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As to why he went from making single-player games like Lonely Planet to making two-player-exclusive games, Tokoronyori explains: \u201cI made my mind up \u2013 rather than catering to the lonely people, I thought I had to take direct action and drive people who aren\u2019t already lonely into loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"566\" height=\"319\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184001.jpg\" alt=\"BOKURA: planet gameplay\" class=\"wp-image-47187\" style=\"width:670px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184001.jpg 566w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Needless to say, two-player games usually require (and inspire) mutual trust and cooperation, which is why they\u2019re most often played between friends, partners or even family. However, Tokoronyori\u2019s games, inversely, serve as a device to question those relationships. \u201cThat feeling as if the two players are being asked: \u2018But, you\u2019re actually lonely, aren\u2019t you?\u2019 is what I wanted to make into a recurring theme in both titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One important element of BOKURA: planet which plays into this is the \u2018keeping of secrets\u2019 \u2013 from the get go, both players will be given different stories and objectives that they will be required to hide from each other. In contrast to the BOKURA series\u2019 previous installment, which required the players to share information between each other, the sequel was created in a way which leads players into keeping their secrets until the right time comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tokoronyori mentions that through the two titles, he wanted to bring out the players\u2019 innate loneliness as he considers that every person on the planet is, in a way, lonely. \u201cIt\u2019s just like in real life, you don\u2019t know if everyone else sees the same things as you, you don\u2019t know what the other person is thinking or whether they actually understand you.\u201d He adds, \u201cMaybe it seems like you two are getting along really well, but I want you to remember that you\u2019re lonely \u2013 that being lonely is only natural.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"566\" height=\"319\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184002-1.jpg\" alt=\"BOKURA: planet gameplay\" class=\"wp-image-47189\" style=\"width:670px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184002-1.jpg 566w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184002-1-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The feeling of loneliness is a crucial part of our being, and, according to Tokoronyori, we need to embrace it in order to find mutual understanding. \u201cLet\u2019s say you and the person you\u2019re facing are completely different \u2013 if you don\u2019t come in with the assumption that, to each other, you are complete strangers who are both equally lonely, I believe you won\u2019t end up feeling like you want to try and understand that person.\u201d As he believes, accepting your loneliness is a significant step towards making the world a better place. \u201cIf you don\u2019t acknowledge (that both of you are lonely and complete strangers to each other), we\u2019ll never achieve world peace,\u201d he jokes. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BOKURA: planet will be released next Friday, on April 25 for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3126150\/BOKURA_planet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>). In the meantime, you can try out its special demo, which offers a different storyline from the full game.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you&#8217;re all alone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":47192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-47184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie-games","category-interviews","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you&#039;re all alone.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you&#039;re all alone.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T10:08:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T10:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u0110or\u0111e P\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u0110or\u0111e P\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you're all alone.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you're all alone.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2025-04-17T10:08:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-17T10:09:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":565,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"\u0110or\u0111e P","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u0110or\u0111e P","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/"},"author":{"name":"\u0110or\u0111e P","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e62deb6406bad91fe5f441afc29c1696"},"headline":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why","datePublished":"2025-04-17T10:08:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-17T10:09:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/"},"wordCount":618,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["Indie Games","Interviews","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/","name":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-17T10:08:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-17T10:09:00+00:00","description":"BOKURA developer Tokoronyori talks about his motives behind creating a two-player game which constantly reminds you that you're all alone.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250417-47184-header-1.jpg","width":565,"height":315},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/bokura-planet-is-a-two-player-game-created-to-drive-people-who-arent-lonely-into-loneliness-we-ask-the-dev-why\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BOKURA: planet is a two-player game created to drive people who aren\u2019t lonely into loneliness. We ask the dev why"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e62deb6406bad91fe5f441afc29c1696","name":"\u0110or\u0111e P","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","caption":"\u0110or\u0111e P"},"description":"Automaton West Editor","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/djordje-p\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47191,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47184\/revisions\/47191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}