Video Game / The Sakabashira Game

Due to the sheer volume of spoilers, all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

At least this first boss isn't as hideous as the other ones.

"An amnesiac, a nurse, a baker, a fashion model, a computer genius, a tough guy and a grumpy old man wake up in a mysterious place with no exit. They have supplies, a bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom. But there is no way out and time appears to have stopped...
What is this place? Are they trapped forever? Or are they part of something beyond their understanding? Help these people and uncover the truth of...THE SAKABASHIRA GAME."

— Game page description

The Sakabashira Game is an RPG Maker game by Axel Vejar Dossow. As the quote above goes, you play as an amnesiac 21 year old guy (default name Alex) who wakes up in a weird place with 6 other people - cute and friendly nurse Ceci, cookie-obsessed baker Marjorie, fashion model Bella, computer genius Evan, a tough guy known only as “Cool”, and grumpy old Harold. No one knows how they got there or why they're there, so they decide to work together and try to find a way out.

Eventually, a stairway to the basement opens, and a voice welcomes the players of the Sakabashira Game, where they will have to navigate various obstacles and play for their very lives.

There are two routes you can take in the beginning depending on whether you choose to Leave down the stairs when first prompted, where you'll tag along with Ceci, Belle, and Evan, or Stay with Harold, Cool, and Marjorie. The path you traverse will be the same, but certain events will change and you will get different pieces of the story and characters.

The game has several Japanese references, with the title of the game itself referring to a folk belief about wooden structures in Japan, and it refers to reversing the vertical direction of a tree from its original direction of growth when using it to make a pillar in a wooden building.

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The Sakabashira Game provides examples of the following tropes:

A-M

• Advancing Boss of Doom: Unlike other bosses, Evan chases you around and you have to move away from him for a bit before going in for the attack.
• Affably Evil: Strangely enough, all the villains could qualify. The unseen Big Bad is very polite and fairly well spoken. Even the horrors aren't too hostile towards the player before fighting them. The sole exception to this would be Evan.
• Ambiguous Situation: If you step off the cherry blossom path, an unknown entity will appear and presumably kill you. It could be the unseen host, but it's never made clear.
• Amnesiac Hero: Alex has no recollection of his life except for his name.
• Arc Hero: In each of the two routes, Alex is accompanied by a different set of people:
  • Bella, Ceci and Evan in the Leave route.
  • Cool, Harold and Marjorie in the Stay route.
• Arc Villain: Evan is only fought on the Leave route, where he becomes the Disc-One Final Boss.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Marjorie killed her abusive, cheating husband.
  • Regarding the players themselves, Evan turns out to be this in the Leave route.
• Attack Its Weak Point: All of the bosses (except Evan, who you have to attack directly) are defeated by dealing damage to their crystals.
• Big Bad: The unseen host of the titular Deadly Game forces the seven characters into it, challenging them to reach the exit.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Once The Corruption turns him into a Horror, Evan hypes himself up to be the ultimate challenger to Alex. While he puts up a good fight, he's still outshined by Ceci who is the actual Final Boss.
• Bittersweet Ending: Alex wins the game, but every one of the other players is either dead or was a Horror all along, and if Alex chooses to revive one of them, he'll have to lose his memories and play the game again.
• Black Dude Dies First: Subverted with both Cool and Bella:
  • Bella is actually the second person to die in the Leave route. The first one was Harold.
  • Cool is the last person to die in the Stay route, after Marjorie then Harold.
• Boss Battle: You have to get through 4 of them if you leave the first room. If you stay then leave later, it will only be 3.
• Boss Room: Every boss fight takes place in a dark room with only petals to show where you can move.
• Cassandra Truth: Alex saw Evan killing his sister back in the orphanage, but no one there believed him.
• Cherry Blossoms: The game uses both the life and death meanings simultaneously, as they are featured extensively in the titular Deadly Game to mark the paths where it is save to traverse, while stepping outside of them nets an instant death and Game Over.
• Connected All Along: The Leave ending reveals that both Alex and Evan were raised in the same orphanage.
• Content Warnings: The game has those at the beginning.
• The Corruption: Happens to Evan in the Leave route, where he slowly transforms into a Horror after killing Bella.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The game ends with a Last-Second Ending Choice on whether Alex decides to save himself by returning back to the real world, or strands himself by letting somebody else do so instead. A House for Alesa 3, another game in Axel Vejar Dossow's Shared Universe, has Alex make a return in which he recounts his experience, confirming that he concluded that everyone else was too far gone, and therefore used the opportunity of escape on himself.
• Did Not Die That Way: Evan claims that his sister succumbed to an illness, banking on Alex's amnesia to conceal the truth. Alex eventually remembers that Evan actually killed her himself via shoving her out of a window.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Evan is fought and killed in the Leave ending, but then Ceci reveals herself to be the true final Horror.
• Dismembering the Body: After slashing her husband's throat, Marjorie did this to dispose of the body.
• Domestic Abuse: Marjorie was a victim of this, courtesy of her husband. She killed him in retaliation.
• The Dragon: Ceci is revealed to be the servant of the Host, disguised as a game participant.
• Dramatic Irony: When you choose to revive another player, Alex will say "let them resume their life" for everyone. If you revive Evan, he will be seen at his sister's grave, regretful of murdering her, then promising to join her soon.
• The Dreaded: Alex mentions that everyone in the orphanage was scared of Evan, including his sister.
• Driven by Envy: Because of his jealousy over her getting adopted, Evan killed his sister back at the orphanage.
• Driven to Suicide: Evan kills himself upon having a Heel Realization if you send him back to see his dead sister again.
• Evil All Along: Used twice:
  • Ceci is revealed in the end as the Final Boss and The Dragon to the mastermind.
  • Evan is revealed in the Leave route as having been horrible since childhood, as he actually killed his sister and then lied about her being ill.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Evan doesn't seem to understand that his sister was more favorable to be adopted than him because she wasn't at all an Evil Orphan like him.
• Evil Orphan: Evan was always terrible, even when he was back at the orphanage.
• Final Boss: Ceci is the final horror needed to be cleansed in both endings.
• Forgotten First Meeting: It turns out Alex and Evan met in childhood in the same orphangae, though neither remember it until they battle.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Marjorie, Harold and Cool all have glasses on (doubling as Sinister Shades for Cool) and all have committed some kind of murder in their lifetime.
• Game Face: Both Evan and Ceci reveal their true corrupted nature through their manic faces before the boss battles.
• Graceful Loser: Both Ceci and The Host take their losses at Alex's hand in stride and congratulate him for winning.
• Green and Mean: The floating head boss is colored in green.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Evan was so jealous of his sister getting adopted that he killed her.
• Grumpy Old Man: Harold, who's the oldest of the cast.
• Harmful to Minors: According to Marjorie, her kids watched her as she brutally killed their father. Then she killed them.
• Hate Sink: Evan is by far the most detestable character in the whole game. He's constantly condescending, apathetic and outright demonic and has been this way since he was a child.
• Heel Realization: Evan gets one if you spare him in the end regarding his murder of his sister. Unfortunately, his response is to be Driven to Suicide so he can join her in the afterlife.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You can give names to all seven participants.
• Here We Go Again!: Should you choose to send someone else instead of going back yourself, you'll be back in your bed with Ceci waking you up.
• Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of the game, you have the option to revive another player instead of going back yourself.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: The Host remains hidden throughout the whole game.
• Hidden Villain: The supposed mastermind of the so-called titular game is never revealed, only heard as a disembodied voice.
• Horror Hates a Rulebreaker: A quite literal example; the Horror hosting the Deadly Game has one major rule, to Stay on the Path of Cherry Blossoms, and if you step outside the path, the Host will kill you explicitly for breaking the rule.
• Hospital Hottie: Ceci is more of a cute example rather than sexy, and Alex seems to take a liking to her more because she's a Nice Girl. Ultimately subverted with the cruel reveal that she's the final horror and never was human to begin with.
• A House Divided: Rarely do the principal characters get along with each other. Even when they team up to get out, they still argue often.
• I Gave My Word: The Host honors their deal to allow the winner to go back home should they win the game.
• Informed Ability: Evan is a computer genius, but that never comes into play at all.
• Insufferable Genius: Evan, who's apparently very good with computers. He's also very condescending.
• I Warned You: The Host left a sign warning you about the petal trail. If you don't follow it, you only have yourself to blame...
• Jerkass: Quite a few characters display unpleasantness, such as Harold and Evan.
• Killed Off for Real: Regardless of the ending, everyone dies, except for either Alex if he goes home, or the Sole Survivor he chooses to send back.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Should you choose to send someone else to the real world, you'll be sent back to the beginning with Ceci waking you up.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Evan gets this in the Leave route where he gets corrupted then you kill him in a boss fight.
• Last-Second Ending Choice: Regardless of which route you go through, The Sakabashira Game ends with Alex being given a choice on whether to save himself and condemn everyone else, or be forced to replay the game while somebody of his choosing returns to the land of the living.
• The Mole: Ceci is secretly a Horror and the servant of the Host who's assigned to pretend to be a human and ensure the Sakabashira Game is running smoothly.
• More Despicable Minion:
  • Downplayed with the Horrors (except for Ceci). The first and second Horrors are fairly polite, but they still want to eat you, unlike the Host.
  • Played straighter with the minor demon minions. They have no characterization and solely exist to be an obstacle and kill you.
• More Hateable Minor Villain: The nameless host of the titular Deadly Game and their helper Ceci the nurse are both Affably Evil. Evan the computer genius, one of the players, turns out to be far easier to hate. He starts out as a Jerkass who antagonizes the other players, and just when it appears to be showing some hidden goodness, it's an act so he can kill one of the players to advance. He then reveals himself to be the one who terrorized the orphanage he and Alex grew up in, killed his own sister, and decides to join the Horrors by becoming one himself while taunting Alex about all the evil he has done.
• Multiple Endings:
  • Alex Ending: invoked Alex is sent back to the real world, just wanting to put an end to his adventure. According to Word of God, this is the canon ending.
  • Marjorie Ending: Marjorie is sent back to the real world, where she's caught by the police for her crimes. Meanwhile Alex goes back to the beginning of the game with no recollection of what happened.
  • Bella Ending: Bella is sent back to the real world, where she returns to her hedonist life. Meanwhile Alex goes back to the beginning of the game with no recollection of what happened.
  • Evan Ending: Evan is sent back to the real world, where he visits his sister's grave, intending to kill himself too to reunite with her after repenting. Meanwhile Alex goes back to the beginning of the game with no recollection of what happened.
  • Cool Ending: Cool is sent back to the real world, where he stares at the sky. Meanwhile Alex goes back to the beginning of the game with no recollection of what happened.
  • Harold Ending: Harold is sent back to the real world, where he is so exhausted that he goes to sleep. Meanwhile Alex goes back to the beginning of the game with no recollection of what happened.
• Mysterious Past: Bella is the only character we get no hints about their past because she doesn't trust anyone enough to say anything except that she works as a fashion model.

N-Y

• Nice Guy: Alex is the only one who can qualify in the cast, aside from Ceci, who is strangely nice despite being a Horror herself.
• No Name Given:
  • Notably, only Ceci has a name between the Horrors. The Host and the other two Horrors never introduce themselves.
  • Evan's sister and Marjorie's family members also go nameless.
• Nothing but Skulls: Human skulls that belong to past players are scattered everywhere in the game.
• Not the First Victim: The aforementioned human skulls reveal this is not the first game to occur.
• Not What It Looks Like: If you interact with Bella in the bathroom, she will freak out you snuck up on her in silence while she's in a "vulnerable state" and accuse you of being a creep, while you try desperately to explain that you were just looking to chat.
• Offing the Offspring: Marjorie killed her children after she killed her husband.
• Old Soldier: Harold is a war veteran who killed many people in his time.
• Orphanage of Fear: Based on Evan's comments, the orphanage he and Alex lived in seems to have been horrible.
• Pater Familicide: Before the game's events, Marjorie murdered her abusive husband. Upon finding out that her kids witnessed it and denouncing her, she killed them as well.
• Posthumous Character:
  • Evan's sister, who supposedly died from an illness. She was actually killed by him out of jealousy of her being adopted unlike him.
  • Marjorie's husband and children, whom she butchered after being driven mad by her husband's abuse and infidelity, and from her children being horrified by said murder.
• Pre-Final Boss: The green head man is faced before taking on Ceci in the Stay route.
• Psycho Pink: The first boss fought is a Long Neck pink woman.
• The Quiet One: Cool is an Elective Mute variant, because he doesn't trust anyone else.
• Rule of Seven: We have seven main characters, not counting the disombodied voice that belongs to the supposed mastermind of the game's events.
• Senseless Sacrifice: If you choose to send Evan back to the real world, he will be regretful for killing his sister, but resolves to kill himself to join her in death.
• Ship Tease: There's a little between Alex and Ceci, with them remarking at the beginning that he wouldn't mind being trapped there forever with a Nice Girl like her around as a heart icon appears above him, which also happens a bit later when he compliment her food. Sadly, it gets shut down in the end when we find out Ceci isn't really a human like everyone else and is part of the game.
• Sibling Murder: Evan's sister didn't actually die of an illness like he claimed. He killed her out of jealousy because she was getting adopted and he wasn't.
• Sinister Shades: Cool has Cool Shades to go with his name, but he also used to be a Professional Killer.
• Slashed Throat: How Marjorie killed her husband.
• Slain in Their Sleep: Marjorie's husband, via Slashed Throat.
• Sole Survivor: Either Alex or one of the others (sans Ceci) should he choose to pull a Heroic Sacrifice. As seen in Cutting Off the Branches above, canonically Alex is this, meaning everyone else is Killed Off for Real.
• Someone Has to Die: Near the end, The Host introduces a ritual where one of the participants has to die so the others can continue.
• Starter Villain: The Long Neck woman, the first Horror.
• Stationary Boss: All except Evan. They stay in one stop while you have to Attack Its Weak Point.
• Stationary Enemy: Some of the demons are stuck in one spot and you have to get past them when their eyes are closed.
• Stay on the Path: One of the main gimmicks of the game is that you have to follow a path made of Cherry Blossoms throughout almost the entire game, with the path splitting up at points. If you step outside the path, the Host kills your for breaking the rules of the game.
• The Stoic: Cool barely emotes at all, to the point where Alex wonders if he has any feelings whatsoever.
• Story Branch Favoritism: The game has two main routes depending on whether you decide to leave the room you began in instantly, or stay until later on, and by extension who you decide to group with. The "Leave" route has more Character Development for both Alex and Ceci, and additionally contains an extra boss battle against Alex's Evil Former Friend Evan. The "Stay" route, on the other hand, leaves Alex's backstory largely in the dust.
• Together in Death: If Evan is sent back to the real world, you'll see him at his sister's grave promising to see her soon.
• Token Good Teammate: Alex really is the only decent person here. Everyone else is either a jerk, self-centered or in Ceci's case, secretly a Horror.
• Token Minority: Cool and Bella are the only black characters in the cast, and each one will go with you whether you leave or stay at the beginning.
• Tom the Dark Lord: Two of the seven main characters wind up playing an antagonistic role:
  • Evan, the supposed smart guy who was actually secretly evil since childhood.
  • It's more noticeable with Ceci, who is actually one of the Eldritch Abominations in the game, and the only one who has a name.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: In the Stay route, Marjorie will ditch the group upon revealing her past murder of her family, and runs into the second boss who decided to eat her, but upon encountering it, it'll comment that it despised her taste and instead, she'll be used as "decoration", which the player can find later.
• To Serve Man: The first and second bosses want to eat you.
• Trademark Favorite Food: If you couldn't guess, Marjorie really likes cookies.
• Unnaturally Looping Location: Trying to go up the stairway in the starting location will just lead you back there.
• Unseen Evil: The Host of the game is never encountered at any point.
• Villainous Breakdown: Evan absolutely loses it when Alex defeats him in battle, resulting in a Dying Declaration of Hate.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The first and second Horrors are killed shortly after they're introduced.
• Wham Line: If you decide to go with Ceci, Bella and Evan, the latter will eventually kill Bella and turn into a demon himself. When you confront him at the end, you'll get this:
  Alex: (To Evan) That's where you're wrong. You're not becoming a demon. You were always a demon! Even as a kid. Now I remember everything.
  Ceci: What do you remember, Alex?
  Alex: I was raised in the same orphanage as Evan. Nobody adopted him because he was pure evil and most people were afraid of him, even his sister.
  Evan: Ha! It's funny, because I now remember too, Alex!
  Alex: I also remember your sister...She didn't pass away of an illness! You pushed her from the second floor, I saw you do it!
  • Then a few seconds later when Alex demands to leave after defeating Evan:
  The Host: CHOSEN ONE. YOU STILL HAVEN'T DEFEATED THE FINAL HORROR.
  • On the other hand, there's this if you go with the other half of the cast and ask Marjorie about her family:
  Marjorie: It's okay! One day I cut his throat while he was asleep and then I dismembered him and put him in a bag.
• Wham Shot: In the route where you decide to leave:
  • Evan tricks Bella and kills her in a sacrifice to proceed.
  • Ceci springing up to her feet with a Game Face similar to Evan's after Alex asks who the true Final Boss is.
• Would Hit a Girl: Evan, as he killed his own sister and attacked Ceci and Bella with no hesitation.
• Would Hurt a Child: Marjorie killed her own children after they called her out for killing their father.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: It is theorized by Evan that by the time Alex arrived, the group has been in the pocket dimension for five years.
• You Wake Up in a Room: The basic setup. Alex, along with everyone else, woke up in a weird place with no recollection of how it happened.

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