Uncut
Curated by taste and lineage

Don't just wire it. Compute the four operations until the current lands exactly on target.

A Japanese arithmetic wiring puzzle that crosses jigsaw assembly with the four operations of arithmetic. Each piece carries a number and interlocking tabs, and you connect them so that plus, minus, times, and divide transform the current and land it exactly on a goal's target value, powering aging reactors, the distribution dungeons, back to life alongside a superconducting lifeform called neko in a far-future terraforming world. It is mouse-only, hand-drawn pixel art, with over 250 stages, no time limit, and built-in hints. Made by kinjo, a solo developer based in Okinawa, Japan, published by Phoenixx, and an award-winning entry from the first GYAAR Studio Indie Game Contest. It already supports English, yet the wider West has barely found it.

Published 2026-06-28

01First, the one feeling

02Who this is for (and who it is not)

For you

  • You love the KenKen idea of bending the four operations to make numbers hit an exact target value, the pure arithmetic-puzzle core, rather than action or twitch
  • You want that core lifted onto physical jigsaw pieces you interlock to wire and power a circuit: chain numbered pieces, choose plus, minus, times, or divide, and land the current exactly on each goal across 250-plus stages, with no time limit and hints when you stall
  • You want a Japanese solo-dev indie gem the wider West has barely noticed, an award-winning entry from the first GYAAR Studio Indie Game Contest, Very Positive at 93 percent over 85 reviews, that already supports English

Not for you

  • You want action, fast reflexes, or fail states; this is a slow arithmetic puzzle with no time limit and built-in hints, so the thrill is landing the exact number, not being quick
  • You expect a big, already-popular Western title; this is a Japanese solo-dev indie, paid at 980 yen, fully released out of Early Access, and still largely undiscovered abroad (about 23.5 percent of reviews are English)

03The roots of this taste

93% positiveonly 85 reviews — yet almost no one has found it

Electrogical Buried gem

A Japanese arithmetic wiring puzzle that crosses jigsaw assembly with the four operations of arithmetic (plus, minus, times, divide). Each piece carries a number and interlocking tabs, and you connect them so that the four operations transform the current and land it exactly on a goal's target value, powering the circuit to completion. Set in a far-future terraforming world, you repair aging power reactors, the distribution dungeons, alongside a superconducting lifeform called neko. It is mouse-only, hand-drawn pixel art, with over 250 stages, no time limit, and built-in hints, a roughly four-to-six-hour run. Made by kinjo, a solo developer based in Okinawa, Japan, and published by Tokyo's indie label Phoenixx; it is an award-winning entry from the first GYAAR Studio Indie Game Contest run by Bandai Namco Studios. Released in Early Access in November 2024 and fully launched on 15 April 2026, so it is out of Early Access. Very Positive at 85 reviews and 93 percent. It already supports English, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, German, and Russian, yet with only about 20 English reviews (23.5 percent) the wider West has barely found it. At 980 yen it is a paid, fully released game.

Give it your first pass

KenKen The origin

The origin of this taste: KenKen, known in Japan as Kashikoku Naru Puzzle and internationally as Calcudoku, an arithmetic logic puzzle devised by the Japanese educator Tetsuya Miyamoto in 2004. On a Latin-square grid divided by heavy outlines into cages, each cage prints a target number and one of the four operations, and you fill in digits so that each cage's numbers combine through its operation to reach that target, with no number repeating in any row or column. It crystallized the puzzle of bending the four operations to make numbers hit an exact target value, the arithmetic-puzzle lineage. Electrogical is a clear heir to that idea: it keeps the core of working plus, minus, times, and divide to land on an exact goal value, but lifts it off the grid and onto physical jigsaw pieces you interlock to wire and power a circuit, set inside a far-future terraforming tale, making it its own creature rather than a clone. There is no official Steam release of KenKen, so its origin is anchored to its Wikidata entry.

Give it your first pass

04Make this gem shine

If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.

See it on Steam

05The bloodline of this taste