In a world where problems and frustrations seem to be around every corner, you might find yourself wanting to escape from it all. Maybe you dream of taking in the Japanese countryside, strolling around in a field of sunflowers, catching some bugs, fishing, all without a worry in sight. Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, and you don’t mind muddy textures, a little funky translation, and blocky 3D models, then this is just the game for you.
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid takes place in Japan right around the turn of the millennium. August 1999, to be exact. You play as 10-year-old Satoru, who’s traveling with his circus-owning parents, and since you’re only a kid, you aren't performing and instead have all the free time in the world for the 31 days the circus is in town.
Each day follows roughly the same structure. Wake up, eat breakfast, do morning stretches, and then you’re free to do what you please until 5pm, when dinner-munching commences, and afterward, you’ll also have some nightlife hours before you enter dreamland. The daytime hours are the star of the show, though, when you’ll be scaling mountains, helping out the locals, riding the bus to a nearby town, becoming Mr Bug Catcher, or simply doing nothing .
See, although the game has missions — and we’ll touch on that in a bit — there’s no obligation to do any of them. The 31-day countdown will still progress, and the game will end after 20 or so hours. This is a philosophy that creator .