Douzo Douzo review: the game of deceptive courtesy

Japanese are known for their courtesy, but as Douzo Douzo likes to point out, this level of politeness can be a tool of deception. This little iOS game puts you in 15 different awkward situations for you to politely shift responsibility off of you and onto the last person who reacts. Mobage’s Douzo Douzo puts you in the some real life situations with a real Japanese solution.

This really happens!

Imagine walking into an office building and getting to a crowded elevator filled with sweaty men. There is just enough space for one more person, but there are eight people waiting to get on. How do you decided who rides?

Being Japanese, you have two real choices. You can make the personal sacrifice and ride the uncomfortable elevator, or politely step aside so that someone else can go first. However, the culture of courtesy found in Japan will never allow for someone to make the personal sacrifice. The second someone says that they will do it, the surrounding people will immediately follow suit with a similar declaration. As the last person volunteers, everyone will turn to them and say ‘Douzo Douzo’ meaning to go right ahead.

It is from this inevitable course of action that Douzo Douzo bases its game. The game will start you off at the elevator, and immediately someone will say they will ride. As others follow suit, you must tap the screen to volunteer. The closer you are to being the second to last person, the more points you get. If you are the last person, you will get zero points and lose that round.

Colorless, motionless, and gameless

Douzo Douzo sticks to a simply drawn figures and rarely uses any color. For the most part all of the figures are drawn black, white, and gray with the occasional special item in color. The lack of color makes for a drab scene out of what should have been more of a fun, WTF is going on, type of game.

Still, the lack of illustrations in the game is suitable, since Douzo Douzo is all about the right timing. You want to be the closest to last to volunteer, without actually being last. This is fun and all, but when there are only four people to compete against it is by no means a challenge. The game does have some harder levels with bigger crowds, but for the most part, you will zoom through the fifteen stages with no problems.

There lies one of the biggest problems with the game. There are only fifteen stages. There is maybe ten minutes worth of playability here, before you finish. Very little to this game.

Perhaps Mobage is using Douzo Douzo to make a statement saying that as a culture we can do better than this boring and shallow facade. That this form of deceptive courtesy needs to have an abrupt end.