Tentacle Bento (Review and Thoughts)

Tentacle Bento has created quite a controversy before when it's pulled from Kickstarter because some people just can't take a joke. It's already out for some time now but I never really got plenty of chances to play the game.

First let's get this straight, just because the game has tentacles and is inspired from Japanese tentacle porn doesn't mean that the game promotes rape or the objectification of women. Well if it does then it's as worse as how Video Games promotes violence and murder (and you and I know that that's just a pile of bullcrap). And even if you say that it's two totally different cases entirely do you really think people who bought this game actually feel like raping women because of it? that's a matter of mental health and people who suggest that the players are so easily affected by these kind of games really need to stop underestimating people's intelligence.

What's the game all about then? well, basically the player acts as a tentacled alien from outer space who comes to an all-girls school and planning to kidnap them. The gameplay revolves around the player trying to get a set of student, location and capture cards. The set can be of any different set but getting all cards from a certain set will have additional effects.

For example, if you successfully got a "Smart" Student, Capture and Location you get to turn over the direction of play, essentially depriving a player of his/her next turn. The other suits (Cute, Sexy and Sporty) also have their own effects that can be used to affect the game.

Of course it's not just pure luck and hoping to get a set every time it's your turn. There are also various cards that you can use to screw up your opponent's plans. There are cards that can negate the score of an opponent's girl or even steal a girl from other players finished set. I like this as it adds more conflict to the game instead of just four people just collecting cards by themselves.

The game is quite simple but it is pretty interesting and does need some strategy as players must discard a card every turn and other players may take cards from the discard pile. This means that you must think of which cards to discard. A card that is useless for you might mean a triple noble capture for other players, so watch what you're doing.

The artwork of Tentacle Bento is superb, especially if you like anime art. If you don't like anime, well...I guess you'd have already stopped reading before the first few paragraph anyway so it doesn't really matter. The flavor text for the cards are an interesting read and filled with sexual innuendos. It might be crude for some, but for those who can appreciate the joke it is pretty funny.

Is it a game that I can recommend? why, yes...to anime fans. For those who dislike anime or are still thinking that the game is "promoting rape" then I have nothing to say that will change your opinion. You have your opinions and I have mine.