An artist recently reimagined Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service into an adorable video game. The 1989 Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki is about a young witch named Kiki who delivers goods while riding her broom. She's accompanied by a talking black cat named Jiji.Studio Ghibli put out a number of iconic films, like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. So far, Ni No Kuni is the only Ghibli-produced video game, which became a successful RPG series. There are also video games that were heavily influenced by Studio Ghibli's work, like the Princess Mononoke-inspired Soulframe; and Battle Chef Brigade, which took some food inspiration from Kiki's Delivery Service's bakery.Because of Studio Ghibli's distinct character design and fantasy-filled stories, creative fans have recreated the films for their art. This was what pixel artist cloudtrumpets did with their isometric video game sample based on Kiki's Delivery Service. In a tweet, they uploaded photos showing a menu screen, Kiki and Tombo talking in the bakery, a mini-game where players can design cookies, and Kiki and Jiji running out for deliveries. Based on the art alone, it looked like the game could run on either a Nintendo 3DS or Switch if it were real.
In the past, cloudtrumpets created other Ghibli-inspired artwork and video game mockups. Their proposed RPG based on Arrietty shows the titular character getting ready to fight a giant cat. They also made a "Borrower's Compendium" that documented the plants and creatures that Arrietty encountered.
Fans who saw cloudtrumpets' Kiki's Delivery Service game expressed how much they loved their work and praised the design. Many wanted to wishlist it, hoping that someone would turn it into a real game, even suggesting that it should have a Kickstarter. The artist also expressed in a reply that this would be a "dream game" to work on. Meanwhile, some threw in ideas of other mini-games players could do based on the movie, like doing chores at the old lady's house. Considering the positive reaction towards the Kiki's Delivery Service game, perhaps an indie studio would be willing to work with the artist in the future.
While Studio Ghibli doesn't seem to have newer games in development, fans can still play Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds on mobile and the remastered version of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the Witch on Xbox. There are also games with Ghibli-esque art style and stories that fans could enjoy.