There has been a lot of talk about Honobono among us, particularly about Ryuutama and Golden Sky Stories/Yuuyake Koyake. I usually describe by calling it a “feel-good” genre and making associations with Ghibli films, usually in the same breath. Recently Andy and I talked with Kamiya-san and Elmeth-san from Tsugihagi Konpo about Honobono, and Elmeth said that his idea of Honobono comes from fairy tales, and mainly is about using words to resolve conflict.

I often think of Honobono as a very Japanese genre of games–hell, you can’t find anything like the games I mentioned on shelves in America–but how Japanese is it? It’s clear that Honobono exists in America: comics like Garfield and Family Circus fit the bill, and many Disney animated films are based on fairy tales (but to be honest I don’t know if many if them really fit in “Honobono”, there seems to be quite a few violent endings).

But what about western Honobono gaming? I mean besides stuff like “Candy Land” or “Mouse Trap.” What sort of examples are there?