AND—Search!note
And-Kensaku is a party game developed by Nintendo and Shift Games in direct collaboration with Google and is a video game all about Search Results. Yes, Search Results!The game is a collection of 14 minigames all of which revolve around the idea of collecting simple search results and predicting which term currently has the most searches. The collection of games is hosted by a robot named Ando Kensaku.
Needless to say, with the general idea of the game itself along with the fact that the game's have a lottery element to them because of the nature of search results, the game never left Japan. The game has been officially defunct since the discontinuation of Nintendo WiFi Connection services in 2012 but fan servers have brought the game back online and still able to use real Google search results. In addition, Ando Kensaku appeared as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Tropes Found In The Game:
- Minigame Game: The game has 14 different modes all of which involve the use of Google Search results for simple words.
- Monitor Equals Computer: Ando's face is on a computer screen and it's clear that Ando's "brain" is the back part of the screen behind the face.
- Tech-Demo Game: Shift developed this game because they wanted to develop a video game that wrapped around something mundane, such as Internet searches.
- Stairway to Heaven: In the "Climbing Kensaku Stairs" game the players build a stairway into the sky by choosing words from a list which adds more steps to the stairs depending how many search results to word has.
- Wire Dilemma: In the "Bakudan Survival" game, players see a list of words each attached to boxes that represent different fuses attached to a bomb. All but the correct fuse, the one with the lowest number of search results at the present moment, will explode the bomb.
