Battle enemies, talk to cute anime girls, tell them all about the size, shape and colour of your poop! Can you guess which country Unkore is from?
It’s Japan. Of course it’s Japan. But “There is a life that can save in the shit”, according to the English tagline. Unkore is a new free game that does it all in the name of health promotion and saving lives.
In keeping with the anime tradition of anthropomorphising things into cute anime girls (nations, warships, basically anything), the characters in Unkore are intestinal bacteria in tight shirts and short skirts.
Unkore rewards players with in-game currency for reporting the colour, shape, and consistency of your latest bowel movements.
The project is the brainchild of gastrointestinal surgeon Yousuke Ishii, president of the Japan Unko (shit) Society. The game was developed by volunteers, and aims to promote digestive health and to detect illnesses like inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.
Colon cancer screening is less common per capita in Japan than in other nations – a statistic that Unkore is hoping to correct.
“Colon cancer, if detected in early stages, is pretty much curable, but most patients who come to hospitals are in advanced stages. That’s because there are virtually no symptoms in early-stage colon cancer, and that’s why screenings are vital in detecting it,” Ishii told The Japan Times.
If that sounds like fun to you, Unkore is available for free on Google Play and the App Store.
