Kioku: Last Summer is offering a lot for being a demo of an indie game; it’s got polished 3D graphics with an adorable art style that harkens back to the 1990s, complete with creature collecting, deck-building, and even stealing stuff.
For the most part, hell yeah! I loved it. Players get to spend one full day in the demo – I, on the other hand, also spent a good chunk of that in-game day dealing with glitches.
But let’s talk about the plot. You play as Asti, a young girl who’s just moved to Kioku Island with her father on what appears to be the last day of school. She arrives on the island just in time to rush to the elementary school.
Her teacher, Miss Arie – who instantly reminded me of Miss Honey from Matilda – immediately onboards her into a group of kids, making Asti someone else’s problem as she dismisses the class for summer break.
It doesn’t take Asti long to fit in with her new friends. On your first day on the island, you’ll run around town so you get the lay of the land, and also learn about Marubi. It’s like Pokémon, but with cards and marbles. If you were a ’90s kid with a Pokémon card addiction, this will take you right back to your childhood.
There’s a whole set of cards and marbles to collect, each with its own unique abilities. But instead of indulging in creature combat, you’ll literally be pulling cards out of your binder when you challenge your friends, setting that card’s marble up against their marble. As you progress, you can fight more complex battles with multiple cards/marbles, but the demo doesn’t get that in-depth.
I never thought I’d be excited to play with marbles, but here we are…
You’ll pick your starter card and marble, and one of your new friends will eagerly teach you how to play. Honestly, it was pretty fun. I’m not someone who typically enjoys pitting creatures against each other (except for Ova Magica, I really love that game). But this was a lot better because it’s clear these are just children’s toys. You’ll shoot your marble at your opponent’s marble, back and forth, until one of you loses all of your HP.
It’s a really relaxed take on the genre, and I love it because I’m not about to get emotionally attached to marbles and feel like I personally ordered them to their doom if I lose. The strategy elements are really light here, so it makes for a great entry-level game if you sort of want to try something like Pokémon or Digimon, but you’re not sure if it’s really for you.
The collectathon elements are also relaxed. There’s no pressure to catch different variants while crabbing, this game’s version of “fishing.” Don’t worry, though! You throw them back into the ocean once you’ve caught them, but the game tracks which ones you’ve already caught. Or, you can also find stickers or stray Marubi cards.
While I greatly appreciated the pacing, the fishing mechanic may be difficult for you if you struggle with dexterity in your hands. I couldn’t tell if I was reeling the crabs in too quickly or too slowly, but it was kind of difficult to catch them successfully.
The little island is absolutely gorgeous and you can tell a lot of heart went into making it what it is. The shops, the NPCs, the adorable dog statue– I spent so long exploring every corner that when Asti’s friends asked to meet up for an evening of “scrumping” (stealing the local farmer’s apples from right under their nose), I actually met up with them in the morning.
This was hilarious because the game still registered it as nighttime. So I had to dodge a farmer and their high-powered flashlight beam in broad daylight.
Unfortunately, this is also where my first glitch occurred. While dodging the flashlight beam, I got stuck behind this wooden palette. Reloading didn’t fix the issue, so I had to start a new game.
Unfortunately, Kioku: Last Summer has glitches galore
On my second playthrough, after the teacher releases the class and tells Asti to go speak with the three kids she’ll end up befriending, only one of the kids appears. On my third restart, after successfully making it to the nighttime scrumping without any issues, I lost track of Asti’s friends after they all scattered. I ended up wandering into the elementary school because there was a glowing circle around it, and it just replayed the schoolhouse scene a few times.
Asti’s friends were outside, and the initial “stealing from the farmer” scene replayed. A photo was abruptly snapped, and I got the notification to head home. I did, and when Asti spoke to her father, there was an abrupt cut. Then, the scene I should have gotten before I stepped into the school played, giving me the memory I would’ve gotten had the game not glitched out.
It was a really cute scene. I’m glad I got to see it. But it would’ve been nicer to see it as the devs intended, not because of a glitch. Still, I was relieved to bid Asti’s father a goodnight and head to bed, technically ending my playthrough.
I had a lot of fun with it. I loved the color palette, the vibes, and the fact that a lot of familiar mechanics are updated here to make them feel fresh. But it’s also hella bugged.
I’d love to see things smoothed out before the final release, because it has a lot to offer cozy gamers. It just needs a little TLC first.
Kioku: Last Summer is expected out around the first quarter of 2026. If you want to check out the demo now or during Steam Next Fest, don’t forget to also Wishlist it on Steam as well as it helps the developers out!
Want more cozy demo goodness? Check out our overview of Tabletop Game Shop Simulator.
