The Tawashi

The Tawashi

MUTOYS · 2020 · Indie, Action, Shoot 'Em Up, Bullet Hell, Pixel Graphics

PC
Positive100% · 22
Best price
$7.99
lowest tracked $2.39
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Steam
Standard Edition · Steam
$7.99
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Screenshots

About The Tawashi

- What kind of game is it?
A game where you evade enemy bullets whilst shooting them down. Don't think, just evade and shoot!

- Controls

Smartphone:
Move: Tap and slide
Attack: Tap
Precision control: Slowly slide
Pause: Tap with 2 fingers
Horizontal feed: None
Vertical feed: tap and slide

Gamepad:
Move: Left joystick
Attack: Button 1 (A)
Precision control: Button 2 (B) + direction
Pause: Menu button
Horizontal feed: Button L/R
Vertical feed: Right joystick

Keyboard:
Move: \ \ \ \
Attack: \ \ \
Precision control: \ or \ + direction
Pause: \
Horizontal feed: \ \
Vertical feed: \ \

You can also use the arrow keys or numeric pad for keyboard controls. Disable NumLock to use the numeric pad. Failing to do so will prevent the game from stopping.

The game is best experienced using a Bluetooth-connected gamepad. Select the 'Gamepad' icon on the settings screen when using a gamepad. However, the compatibility of gamepads may affect the controls of the game. If this occurs, please use another method of control.

- Gameplay
Select a stage and difficulty. Use the directional controls to avoid enemy bullets, and shoot down enemies using the attack button. Collect your friends to boost your score, and shoot at present boxes to switch to better weapons every now and then. When you see a flash on the ground, dig up the treasure, and if you get bombarded with enemy shots then use your precisions controls to slowly dodge them. Don't forget to 'pause' if you get tired.

It might sound difficult, but you'll get the hang of it as you play.

- Game rules
Getting hit by enemy bullets reduces your HP. You lose 1 life when you run out of HP, and the game ends once you've lost all your lives.

Complete a stage by defeating a boss before you lose all of your lives!

Bumping into an enemy will not reduce your HP, but you may get knocked back or paralyzed.

- Stages
You can select the next stage once you have cleared a stage. There are 5 stages in total! Can you clear all the stages?

Cleared stages and proceeding unlocked stage are always available to play, so you can constantly play stages you're good at or practice difficult ones at your leisure.

- Power-ups
Collect the weapons that appear when you destroy present boxes! They change the bullets shot from your character. Choose from various weapons to suit the situation. Some strong enemies can be easily defeated by switching weapons. Just a quick heads up - all weapons are disposable.

- Difficulty
There are 5 difficult levels: Easy, Light, Normal, Hard, and Impossible. Select a difficulty level that suits you at the Start Stage screen.

Try playing on 'Easy' or 'Light' if you're new to these kinds of games. If you're a veteran to this scene, then choose 'Hard' or 'Impossible' and aim for a high score! The harder the difficulty, the higher your possible score.

- Treasure
Collecting various treasures in the game will increase your number of extra lives at the start of the game. When you collect 50/100/200/300/400/450/ALL different types of treasures, you will gain 1 extra life. (Note: collecting multiples of the same type of treasure does not count)

The more extra lives you have, the easier it is to clear a stage. Try dropping the difficulty to collect more treasures if you're having trouble avoiding bullets. Each stage features different treasures, so play through different ones to collect more of them.

- Any bombs?
No, nothing like that.

- What about 1UPs?
Nope. Nothing. Collecting various different treasures will increase the number of lives you start with.

- Any HP recovery?
Your HP is recovered when you clear a stage.You can do it!

- What about replays?
Sorry to break it to you, but no. Please use the automatic highlights recording function.

Recorded videos are saved to your gallery or my videos folder. Videos are saved in GIF format, so please use compatible software to view them. Unfortunately, there is no sound-recording function.

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Players praise this bullet hell shmup for its charming pixel art, fair difficulty design with multiple accessible levels, varied gameplay mechanics including different shot types and collectible treasures, and engaging music. The main criticism is the absence of tate (vertical screen) mode, though this doesn't significantly diminish the overall appreciation for what's described as a polished, fun indie shooter with strong appeal to both newcomers and experienced genre fans.

Recommended Jun 29, 2021
actual based game
7 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 24, 2024
disregard playtime, have hard mode clear on mobile. this is one of my favorite of the new crop of indie shmups alongside demonizer. highly recommended
1 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 20, 2021
Amazing game, proper difficult bullet hell game with a variety, great, cute pixel art and good music. i rate it 1/1 cookies.
1 found this helpful
Recommended May 1, 2021
Wonderful game. Fair and varied patterns, beautiful PC-98 graphics, and simple, stripped-down gameplay. A large selection of difficulty levels means you can be a shmup noob or an expert and have fun. So far I've beaten Hard, and am working on beating Hell difficulty. Only thing I wish is that there was a tate mode. Other than that, perfect.
1 found this helpful
Recommended Feb 2, 2026
Incredibly fun and oozing with charm, please give it a go!
Recommended Nov 23, 2022
ridiculously fun. all the different shot types are crazy and the treasures add a nice collectathon nature that i wasn't expecing.

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