The Ongaku

XI [sái] (Devil Dice) for PlayStation celebrates 28th anniversary of launch

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XI [sái] (Devil Dice) for PlayStation celebrates 28th anniversary of launch
XI [sái], known as "Devil Dice" in the West, launched for Sony PlayStation on this date in 1998. The puzzle game was included as one of the twenty pre-installed titles in Japan's PlayStation Classic in 2018.

Lead designer Yuichi Sugiyama was a university student when his SHIFT team from Keio University submitted the prototype as an entrant in Sony's Game Yarōze competition. Kemmei Adachi of LocoRoco and Patapon wrote music and designed sound effects for XI [sái] while at Sony Computer Entertainment.

Players control chibi devil Aqui, navigating a room-sized rectangular grid full of oversized dice. Aqui can rotate dice by running across them, revealing a new face, or hop off and push the dice around. The goal is to group adjacent dice with the same number on top—with at least as many dice as the number shown on top—to clear them from the board.

The 16-track soundtrack is streaming on Apple Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music Unlimited. A gameplay video can be viewed on the Dengeki Online YouTube channel.


From the PlayStation Blog:
12月3日(月)発売の｢プレイステーション クラシック｣に内蔵される『XI [sái]』は、1998年6月に発売され、ミリオンセラーを記録した大ヒットパズルゲームだ。 かわいい悪魔AQUIちゃんが玉乗りのようにダイスを転がし、次々に現われるダイスを消していくアクションパズル。｢目と同じ数以上のダイスをつなげて消す｣というルールは、シンプルながらもエキサイティングだ。
XI[sai] オリジナルサウンドトラック - Apple Music / YouTube Music