and Roger: The $4.99 Game That Made Taipei's Judges Cry
A girl wakes up, her dad is gone and a stranger is telling her to take her medicine. TearyHand Studio's tiny visual novel beat 514 rivals to the Taipei Game Show Grand Prix. Here is why it lands so hard.
The first line on the game's Steam page is as simple as it gets: it was a morning like all the others, until she realised her dad wasn't home.
What follows is one of the most talked-about small games to come out of Japan in the last year. and Roger, by TearyHand Studio and published by Kodansha, won both the Grand Prix and Best Audio at the Taipei Game Show 2026 Indie Game Award, announced on 28 January 2026. Many of the judges said the game moved them to tears.
What and Roger is
and Roger is a short point-and-click, slice-of-life visual novel. Its heroine is a young girl whose ordinary morning goes wrong. Her father is missing. In his favourite spot sits a man she does not know. He says things that make no sense, and he keeps insisting that she take her medicine. Who is he? Where is Dad?
You find out not through combat or puzzles in the usual sense, but through a series of mini-games built from everyday household tasks. The small, repetitive chores of a home become the way the story reveals itself, one plate, one cup, one morning at a time.
We will not spoil where it goes. The less you know, the better it works.
Beating 514 other games
The scale of the win is worth spelling out. Taipei's 2026 award received 515 entries from 51 countries and regions, and only 38 teams from 16 countries made the final. and Roger was the only game to win two of the eight prizes.
Judges praised its emotional storytelling and its controls, and said its soundtrack drew players into the story. That second point matters, because the Best Audio shortlist was crowded with much larger productions.
Who is behind it
TearyHand Studio is a small Japanese indie team, and and Roger is its calling card. Its publisher is a surprise for anyone who thinks of games and books as separate worlds: Kodansha, one of Japan's largest publishing houses, released the game through its creators' lab, an arm set up to back new creative work.
That connection fits the game. and Roger reads like a short illustrated story, the kind of piece that might sit on a bookshop shelf, but it uses interaction to make you feel what a page could only describe.
How to play it
- Platforms: PC (Windows and Mac via Steam) and Nintendo Switch.
- Released: 23 July 2025 on Steam.
- Price: $4.99.
- Languages: nine in total, including Korean, Japanese, English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
- Try first: a free demo is on Steam, and the soundtrack is sold separately for anyone who falls for the music.
It is a short game, best played in one sitting, ideally in a quiet room. Have tissues nearby. You have been warned.
Why it matters
The most interesting thing about and Roger's win is what it says about juries in Asia right now. Taipei's 2026 prizes could easily have gone to the louder, flashier entries. Instead, the top award went to a quiet, low-priced story about a family, made by a small team.
That should encourage every developer working on something personal. You do not need a big world, a big budget or a big marketing push. You need an idea that matters to you, and the craft to make players feel it too.
WGC's take: and Roger is the rare award winner you can finish the same evening you read about it. For the bigger picture, see our guide to the Taipei Game Show Indie Game Award and the 2027 finalists.