Trivia / Touhou Kouryuudou ~ Unconnected Marketeers

• Early-Bird Release: The game released on Steam a whole week before it hit retail stores in Japan.
• Feelies: Copies of the game purchased at Comic1 BS Festival Special came with a physical Ability Card of Chimata named "Chimata's Participation Certificate for Free Market".
• Reality Subtext:
  • Chimata is losing her power since physical markets are becoming less and less common. While it's obviously a nod to how online shopping is becoming more and more popular, this game also released right in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic, when lockdown regulations caused physical markets to be downright prohibited. ZUN even discusses the pandemic itself in the game's Afterword. In addition, Chimata's domain more specifically covers marketplaces to commemorate specific occasions...like Comiket or Reitaisai, where Touhou games are usually physically sold by ZUN himself. As noted on the main page, this is the first Touhou game to be released digitally first.
  • Chimata and Iizunamaru's Ability Card scheme bear some uncanny resemblances to cryptocurrencies, which were at the height of their popularity when the game was released. The Ability Cards have their power if you follow the rules, but will turn into worthless scraps otherwise, just like how cryptocurrencies only work if people agree on their value. Additionally, the process of gathering more cryptocurrency is frequently called "mining" while here we have Momoyo literally mining the currency in a cave.