"The grade-school protagonist, Shunsuke, stays over at his grandmother's house. Upon his return home, he finds not his familiar hometown, but a ruined town of death. He meets his surviving friends and other children their age, but a crueler reality awaits them…”

Re:Kinder is a “a survival horror RPG where your actions decide the fate of your friends,” created by Horafuki Yokochou/Parun with the RPGMaker VX engine. It was made available for download on Parun’s site in 2010 as a remake of the original “Kinder,” which was released in 2003. The game eschews typical RPG-style design in favor of an approach that emphasizes exploration, environmental cues, party management, and off-the-beaten-path solutions. Rather than traditional battles and EXP-based progression, Re:Kinder forces the player to problem solve through a series of unconventional mechanics, with each being largely unique to the situation that calls for it. Parun listed the expected play-time as roughly 5 to 7 hours, but it can be completed in as little as 2 to 3 with the help of a walkthrough.

Beneath a thin outer layer of overwhelming superviolence, irreverent joke-cracking, vulgarity, and self-deprecation, Re:Kinder reveals an intricately woven and deeply convicted narrative. In its short runtime, it uncompromisingly covers topics ranging from cycles of abuse to escapism into the world of fiction to societal attitudes towards mental illness...and the list goes on. All of this finds itself sandwiched in-between gratuitous, dated pop-culture references that call to mind the enigmatic culture of online forums of the early aughts, ridiculous visual gags, and, for some reason, energetic Spanish guitar. Re:Kinder is unapologetically committed to the bit. It's campy, over the top, and tonally dissonant, while still maintaining an air of complete sincerity. It is at once hilariously stupid and emotionally devestating.

Among other RPGMaker horror classics of the 2000s and 2010s, Re:Kinder has fallen through the cracks somewhat in terms of recognition and discussion. Despite having been translated and distributed around the same time as such beloved and significant titles as Ib, Mad Father, The Witch’s House, and Misao, Re:Kinder never really received the same level of acclaim and enthusiasm as its contemporaries, and it's not terribly difficult to figure why. Re:Kinder is abrasive and often relentlessly uncomfortable. It’s not necessarily fun to play. It’s difficult to recommend to people. It defies description. And yet, there's something blindingly beautiful hiding just under its surface. We hope you can see it too.

Because of its relative obscurity, it can be a bit of struggle to find a reliable repository of information on Re:Kinder and its context on the English side of the web, espescially in the case of its precursor, Kinder, and Kinder's "side story." This website was concieved as a method of ameliorating the dire shortage of coverage on the game, as well as paying tribute to a story that moved us greatly.
If you'd like to give Re:Kinder a try, VGPerson's excellent English translation is located here, along with a helpful walkthrough and other resources. Please mind the content warnings listed here or on their site.

“I know that what you and I both desire sleeps at the bottom of that river.
So, let us go. For that river now becomes a blue sea of stars.”