Uncut
Curated by taste and lineage

A Touhou fan-work word game from a Japanese developer, where one typed character decides what you hand over as tribute.

Per the Steam store text, Tribute Me! Joon-chan!! is a fast-paced tribute simulation in which Joon-chan sets a request and you answer with a two-character word, one character of which you type yourself, and hand over that item as tribute. It is a Touhou Project fan work, which the store and the developer's own BOOTH page both state, so it stands on borrowed characters. Steam lists ISY as developer and publisher, and Japanese development is confirmed by the Steam listing, the developer's BOOTH shop and AUTOMATON's Japanese-edition article. It went on sale on DLsite and BOOTH on November 17, 2023, before Steam, and the BOOTH version is also paid at ¥700. The Steam version was released on December 5, 2023 for ¥700, not free and not in Early Access, with Japanese as the only store language. It sits at Very Positive with 119 of 128 reviews positive, about 93 percent, and 122 of those reviews are in Japanese against 5 in English. Steam's content descriptor IDs are empty and there is no AI disclosure. It is the third ISY game on this site, after nabe-with-joon and suika-solo-drinking. Japanese outlets have covered it (AUTOMATON, 4Gamer, Game*Spark), and we found no English-language coverage in one web search.

Published 2026-08-22

01First, the one feeling

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

For you

  • You want the taste of NKODICE, kana combined into a word that the game reacts to, in a form built around a request, a time limit and a budget
  • You already know ISY's other Joon Yorigami game, nabe-with-joon, and want the same character in a different word mechanic where the price is hidden until you hand it over
  • You want to dig up something that has barely reached English speakers: 122 of its 128 reviews are Japanese and only 5 are English

Not for you

  • You need English; Japanese is the only store language, and the game asks you to type a Japanese character, so you cannot play it without reading Japanese
  • You want a game that stands on its own characters or a free trial; it is a Touhou Project fan work that borrows its cast, and both the Steam and BOOTH versions cost ¥700

03The roots of this taste

93% positiveonly 128 reviewsno English support yet — yet almost no one has found it

Tribute Me! Joon-chan!! Buried gem

Per the Steam store text, Tribute Me! Joon-chan!! (no official English title on the store) is a fast-paced tribute simulation built like a quick-fire improv round. Joon-chan, the god of misfortune, sets a request, and you answer with a two-character word, one character of which you type yourself, and hand over that item as tribute. It has to fit the request and please her: a luxury ingredient might delight her while cheap sweets might not. A budget is set, but what an item costs is unknown until the moment you give it. She is busy and leaves if you keep her waiting. The store adds that it is not a dating sim, so no amount of tribute raises affection. It is a Touhou Project fan work, which the store and the developer's BOOTH page both state, so the game stands on borrowed characters. Steam lists ISY as developer and publisher, and Japanese development is confirmed by the Steam listing, the developer's own BOOTH shop and AUTOMATON's Japanese-edition article calling the maker a domestic developer. It went on sale on DLsite and BOOTH first, on November 17, 2023, and the BOOTH version is also paid at ¥700. The Steam version was released on December 5, 2023 for ¥700, not free and not in Early Access, and the only store language is Japanese. It sits at Very Positive with 119 of 128 reviews positive, about 93 percent. By language, 122 are Japanese, 5 English, 1 Simplified Chinese, and none Traditional Chinese or Korean. Steam's content descriptor IDs are empty and there is no AI disclosure. Japanese outlets have covered it (AUTOMATON, 4Gamer, Game*Spark); we found no English-language coverage in one web search, and with 5 English reviews it has barely reached English-speaking players. This is the third ISY game on this site, after nabe-with-joon and suika-solo-drinking; the hot-pot game stars the same Joon Yorigami and also builds words by adding one character.

Give it your first pass

NKODICE The critical echo

The origin of this taste: NKODICE, the dice game by the solo creator ksym released on Steam in May 2021, in which the faces come up as kana-like symbols and the combination you roll spells out a word the game reacts to. The link to Tribute Me! Joon-chan!! is this site's own reading: neither ISY nor anyone in the record names NKODICE as an influence. What the two share is the mechanism, Japanese kana combined into a word that the game then reacts to. Where they differ: NKODICE builds the word from dice rolls, while Joon-chan hands you a request, lets you type one of the two characters yourself, and turns the word into an item you give under a time limit and a budget, with the price known only at the moment of handing over. ISY's hot-pot game on this site, nabe-with-joon, sits on the same origin for the same reason.

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