Suika: How a Watermelon game took over the internet

Suika, aka ‘the watermelon’ game, is currently all over the internet. This little cute and fruity indie game on the Nintendo Switch is taking over the world, but how did it do this? Let’s take a look.

‘Suika’ is a Japanese word that literally means watermelon in English. The title is basically a hint towards the final objective of the game, which is to create a big, pulpy, and smiling watermelon by combining other fruits and berries.

The Suika Game, also known as the Watermelon Game, became popular due to its viral spread across the internet, particularly among streamers and VTubers.

The game’s popularity can be attributed to its cute and friendly art that appeals to a wide audience, the simplicity of the game’s rules, and the fun and challenging puzzle-solving experience it offers.

It’s physics-based gameplay, where the fruit bounces and rolls around and the pressure builds up when the fruit is dropped in a line, squeezing some of the fruit up or down in the box and shifting everything around in new ways, adds to the game’s appeal.

The game’s popularity has led to a surge in sales, with the game multiplying its previous daily sales by more than 50,000 times. It has been consistently ranking No. 1 on the Nintendo eShop every day, and the momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

The game has been downloaded over a million times, despite only receiving a Japanese launch. Being a simple and easy to pick up and learn game, with wholesome art mixed with its feel-good vibes, Suika is the perfect concoction of mass appeal.

This little game is gaining massive numbers on streaming platforms. Some streamers are even focusing solely on streaming Suika on their channels. The easy-to-learn mechanics and addictive gameplay are not only fun to play but also very entertaining for making content.

According to Stream Charts, Korean streamer 녹두로 alone has gained over 857,391 hours of watch time in the last 7 days. Another streamer named 아야츠노_유니 gained 171,055 hours of watch time in the last week. But not only among Asian creators, the game has also entered the Western content sphere.

Popular streamers and VTubers such as Ironmouse, Ludwig, and CDawgVa have been playing the game on their channels. Each stream lasts from 3–5 hours, consisting only of footage of the streamer trying to match fruits to fill up a basket.

In the end, all I can say is that in an era of gaming where graphics, the latest mechanics, and other cutting-edge qualities play a very important role, Suika is a statement of the fact that if the gameplay is enjoyable while bringing something fresh to the table, then everything else is optional.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated gaming section, so be sure to follow them as well.

Feature image source: Nintendo

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