| Developer | h.a.n.d., Inc. |
| Platforms | Steam Nintendo Switch |
| Genres | Adventure |
| Difficulty | Upper Intermediate |
| Language | English, Korean Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese Japanese and more… |
As soon as I discovered that Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town has a Cantonese dub, I couldn’t say no to this game and purchased it straight away.
The cast for the Cantonese dub is the original Cantonese cast for the animation, so it’s nostalgia heaven for someone who loved the show as a kid.
Mandarin dub is also available, as well as Standard Written Chinese, in both Simplified and Traditional characters.
About the game
Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town is a heartwarming, cosy adventure game where we play Shiro as he explores a village in the countryside of Japan. Along the way, he makes friends with the locals, catches bugs and fish, learns new cooking recipes and most importantly, discovers the magical and mysterious place called Coal Town.
Trailer
Gameplay and Story
The gameplay loop in Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town is extremely simple. It involves completing quests by gathering items, catching bugs and fishing for fish. The quest is the driving element of the game, and completing them will advance the main story and all the side stories of each character.
Gathering, catching bugs, and fishing require just one button press!
Although the story is nothing groundbreaking and relatively simple, it’s extremely heartwarming, magical and engaging.
The simplicity of Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town, along with its Cantonese and Mandarin dubs, is what makes this a great game for Chinese second-language learners.
As a Chinese learning material
The dialogues and narration in Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town are short, easy to follow, and written in everyday language. Unfortunately, not all the dialogues have voice acting; around 50% of them do. Nevertheless, along with the really simple gameplay loops, it’s a good choice for Chinese second-language learners with some reading experience.
Some experience with various fonts would also be ideal. The font used in Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town is not the easiest to read, and some characters appear quite different from their counterparts in textbooks, media content, and apps.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town very much, especially the Cantonese dub. It’s a great, simple, relaxing game!
A cart racing mini-game unlocks during the final third of the game. This mini-game is really fun, though it would be better if it were accessible earlier in the game.