Michinoku Hitou Koi Monogatari Kai

Michinoku Hitou Koi Monogatari Kai is the “sequel” or better said is an updated version to Michinoku Hitou Koi Monogatari that was a mix between a first person adventure game and a hanafuda game that tells the story of a young photographer that travels around the northeast part of Japan playing hanafuda games and taking pictures of the places that he visit. In this “sequel” the game features hints to help the player win in the hanafuda games.

During his journeys he will meet different girls and to take pictures of them he will have to defeat them in the hanafuda games.

Hanafuda are playing cards of Japanese origin (karuta cards), used to play a number of games. The name literally translates as ‘flower cards’.

HANFUDA RULES:
– Object of Play: Accumulate more points than your opponent. Either a set number of rounds is played, a point goal is set to determine the winner, or players try to get so many more points than their opponent.

– Rules of Play: Cards are shuffled and placed into a pile (called the stock). Eight cards are placed face up between the players, and then eight cards are dealt face-down to each player. If there are more than two players, then the hand size is decreased.

– The Play: Play starts with the dealer. The player takes a card that was dealt to him and matches suit with a card that is on the table. If there isn’t a matching card, the player discards a card to the center of the table. Then, the top stock card is turned face up, and if there is a matching suit on the playing field, the player takes the cards, otherwise the stock card is added to the playing field. Play ends when either the stock is exhausted or either player’s hand is empty. If a player is dealt four pairs or two complete suits, that player automatically wins the round. Scoring for this instance varies, but can be the value of the cards in the playing field.

– Hiki: If there are a number of cards on the playing field of one suit, and a player has the rest of the suit in hand, this is a hiki. The player may take the entire suit of cards on his turn instead of playing a card from his hand. Trying to take a card from a hiki with the storm card is an illegal move. If the cards are dealt so that all four of one suit are on the playing field, the cards are shuffled and redealt. If three cards are on the table, they are stacked together and the remaining card takes all three.

– Scoring: At the end of the round, each player adds the value of all cards he has taken. In some variations, ‘winner takes all’, meaning the winner of the match gets all the points the opponent has accumulated in that round. See the page ‘Hanafuda Rules’ for card sets and scoring.

– Oya Gachi: In case of a tie, dealer wins. If the dealer isn’t involved with the tie, the player closest to the dealer’s left wins.

The game features japanese voice acting for the female character and a picture gallery viewer in which the player can see all the pictures that he took during the game loading from the memory card save.