{"id":66052,"date":"2026-05-05T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=66052"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:38:23","slug":"bizarre-korean-game-in-which-you-have-to-raise-a-severed-head-of-a-goddess-stuck-in-a-flowerpot-was-only-possible-to-make-back-in-the-2000s-because-things-were-much-more-immature-ac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bizarre-korean-game-in-which-you-have-to-raise-a-severed-head-of-a-goddess-stuck-in-a-flowerpot-was-only-possible-to-make-back-in-the-2000s-because-things-were-much-more-immature-ac\/","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre Korean game in which you have to raise a severed head of a goddess stuck in a flowerpot was only possible to make back in the 2000s because \u201cthings were much more immature,\u201d according to devs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A cult-classic Korean oddity from the early 2000s, TOMAK: Save the Earth ~ Love Story ~ <\/strong>, has come back in remastered form after 25 years as TOMAK: Save the Earth Regeneration. Originally released in 2001 by indie studio Seed9 (now Netmarble Monster), TOMAK combines elements of a raising simulation and romance games in  surreal narrative experiment. In a recent interview with Game*Spark<\/a>, the game\u2019s original developers discussed TOMAK\u2019s bizarre premise, explaining that it reflects a bygone era when \u201cthings were much more immature,\u201d both in terms of technical limitations and creative approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TOMAK<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kim Gun, CEO of Netmarble Monster and a member of the original dev staff, describes how the team\u2019s resources were limited back then, which led them decide on developing a raising simulator where they could \u201ccut corners with resources\u201d. Initially launched as a free title, TOMAK reached its definitive form when the developers decided to add romance elements into the game, in order to expand it for a formal release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, being a resource-constrained character-raising simulation didn\u2019t have an effect on the original vision of the game. \u201cThis idea came to me naturally as I was thinking about how to create a story that would allow players to empathize as deeply as possible.\u201d Kim said. Since it was the team\u2019s first game, they didn\u2019t hope for much except for TOMAK to be recognized as a \u201cnormal game\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what defines \u201cnormal\u201d back then is much different from now, and according to Kim, TOMAK was definitely a product of its time. He notes that Korea\u2019s entertainment scene was experiencing a wave of interest in \u201ceccentric\u201d concepts in the early 2000s, and TOMAK was initially seen as \u201ca minor work riding that trend,\u201d but its reception in Japan exceeded expectations despite its shortcomings. \u201cEven if we tried to make it now, we couldn\u2019t come up with the same thing,\u201d he says, adding that it was \u201cborn precisely because we were inexperienced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TOMAK<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe branching design leading to the endings was very underdeveloped,\u201d Kim admits, attributing it to the team\u2019s inexperience and limited time. While he confesses that the dev\u2019s approach to the romantic scenario was slightly immature and chaotic, he was pleasantly surprised by the writing upon revisiting the project recently.  \u201cI was prepared for there to be a lot of quite immature lines, but it turned out to be a more coherent story than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now revived as TOMAK: Save the Earth Regeneration, the updated version remains largely faithful to the original. As Kim explains, the changes were limited to upscaling visuals and \u201cadjusting the balance slightly\u201d due to the game\u2019s high difficulty. Rather than modernizing the graphics, the team chose to preserve TOMAK\u2019s visual identity for the remake, prioritizing \u201cnot losing the charm of the original.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOMAK: Save the Earth Regeneration is available to play on PC (Epic Games<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese studios like Nihon Falcom can\u2019t compete with China and Korea in development scale and capital, but they can in individuality and creative spirit, CEO says<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida says overseas publishers are neglecting Korean indie games, despite the market\u2019s high output<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Developers of bizarre Korean game TOMAK: Save the Earth ~ Love Story ~ discuss the story behind the title’s development. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":66057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,17],"class_list":["post-66052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nBizarre Korean game in which you have to raise a severed head of a goddess stuck in a flowerpot was only possible to make back in the 2000s because \u201cthings were much more immature,\u201d according to devs - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Developers of bizarre Korean game TOMAK: Save the Earth ~ Love Story ~ discuss the story behind the title's development.\" \/>\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\/news\/bizarre-korean-game-in-which-you-have-to-raise-a-severed-head-of-a-goddess-stuck-in-a-flowerpot-was-only-possible-to-make-back-in-the-2000s-because-things-were-much-more-immature-ac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bizarre Korean game in which you have to raise a severed head of a goddess stuck in a flowerpot was only possible to make back in the 2000s because \u201cthings were much more immature,\u201d according to devs - 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