KODANSHA
Sweet Hamster Days has quickly become one of the internet’s strangest viral games, and after sparking headlines for its unusual premise, the developer has now revealed that it has some truly wild inspirations.
The bizarre game has exploded in popularity recently, drawing attention well beyond its original audience thanks to its weird premise. So much so that even former Japanese politician Seiko Hashimoto commented on the game, joking that Japan’s declining birth rate is “going to decrease even further” because of it.
For those unfamiliar, Sweet Hamster Days is an adventure game where players experience life as a pet hamster looked after by its owners. Its offbeat concept and viral clips have made it one of the most talked-about indie games online, and now its creators have explained exactly how such an unusual idea came together.
Sweet Hamster Days creator reveals GTA 5 and mascot inspirations
Speaking to Automaton, designer Oda described Sweet Hamster Days as a “being-taken-care-of adventure game,” explaining that the project was built around the idea of experiencing life from a completely different perspective.
When discussing what inspired the game, Oda pointed to several existing titles, saying: “My influences were Knowledge, or Know Lady, and Five Hearts Under One Roof.”
However, project overseer Katayama revealed that one of the biggest inspirations came from a previous part-time job.
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“Years ago, I worked a part-time job wearing mascot costumes. I realized that whenever I wore a costume, children and elderly people who would normally never approach me suddenly became very friendly. That made me wonder, ‘If I took on a form different from my usual self, wouldn’t I experience that same kind of joy and fun?’ That’s where the idea came from.”
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That unusual experience eventually evolved into the concept of becoming a hamster, although another major gaming influence also helped shape the project.
“I’m a big fan of Grand Theft Auto V, where you switch between three protagonists as you progress. As I was having fun switching between the lives of other people, lives that weren’t my own, I had this idea that it might be nice to have a hamster as one of the options instead of a human,” explained Katayama, revealing that GTA 5’s story helped bring Sweet Hamster Days to life.
It’s probably safe to say that when Rockstar was designing GTA 5, it never expected one of its biggest gameplay ideas to help inspire a viral game about living life as a pet hamster.
