One Night Hot Springs

One Night Hot Springs (2018) is a narrative game where you play Haru, a 19-year-old transgender woman in Japan. She's invited by an old friend on an overnight trip to a hot springs resort. You make dialogue and interactive choices as you discover that Haru is reluctant because hot spring baths in Japan tend to divide by gender.

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With cartoon visuals, and dialogue bubbles, you guide Haru through various moments of decision: should you be cautious about anxiety-inducing scenarios, or more open and truthful? For example, when your friend calls, do you agree to go on the trip provided there are private reserved baths, or do you say you don't want to go? The choices have various consequences that shape Haru's day.

The game is a chance to share a small experience about what it can be like to be transgender in Japan. Haru is legally male and hasn’t had gender-affirming surgery, but lives as a woman. Unlike a book or a film, you are part of the story, making choices and seeing the implications. This means that it's a good game to play through a few times to see the different outcomes.

After the success of the On Night Hot Springs game, a trilogy of stories was released more widely:

• One Night Hot Springs: Visit the hot springs with Haru, a young and anxious trans woman who just wants to enjoy herself on a trip with Manami but doesn't want to cause any trouble.
• Last Day of Spring: Spend a week as Erika, a well-meaning ex-delinquent who runs into more issues than expected when trying to plan a spa day for Haru.
• Spring Leaves No Flowers: Help sheltered university student Manami think about what friendship and romance mean to her as she spends a day with Haru, Erika, and her boyfriend.

They are each well-told and moving stories. Along the way you learn about Haru, Erika and Manami and how they feel about their life.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked One Night Hot Springs 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 9 months ago.