Mister Mosquito
Stealth game where you play a mosquito sucking blood.
Mister Mosquito, released as *Mr Moskeeto* in PAL regions and simply *Ka* (meaning "Mosquito") in Japan, is a stealth game from developer Zoom and publisher Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It first came out in Japan in June 2001, with an international release by Fresh Games following in March 2002. Players take on the role of the title character, a mosquito who has moved into the home of the Yamada family—ordinary humans who serve as his living food supply. The objective is to gather enough blood over the summer to survive hibernation through fall and winter, all while sneaking up on the family members and avoiding detection.
The gameplay centers entirely on drawing blood from the Yamadas as they follow their daily routines. However, the mosquito can only feed from specific body areas that become available at set times. Each family member moves in a predictable, looping pattern, and the player must hit a blood quota for each stage. The key challenge is managing each victim's "stress meter": sucking too quickly or too slowly raises their stress, and if Mister Mosquito is swatted while feeding, it's instant death. If the player is spotted while flying around, Battle Mode kicks in, playing like a boss fight. The victim will try to swat or attack the mosquito, and the player must hit pressure points to calm them down, eventually returning them to their loop.
The game is structured as a series of stages that unlock in order. Players can choose their own path through each stage, which begins with a briefing about the room, the victim, the available feeding spots, and any environmental hazards. Rooms are fully explorable, with hidden items that provide various benefits.
Development was first announced in March 2001, just before the Tokyo Game Show, under the tentative title *Ka: Yamada-ke No Natsu* ("Mosquito: The Summer at Yamada Residence"). Sony published it in Japan on June 21, 2001, while Fresh Games (a label of Eidos Interactive) handled North American and PAL releases in March 2002. According to Fresh Games' Kevin Gill, the company picked up quirky, odd titles like this one because their "brilliant" gameplay might otherwise never leave Japan.
In its debut week in Japan, *Mister Mosquito* was the fifth best-selling game, moving 41,006 copies, and sold about 160,210 units in the country by the end of 2001. It later joined Sony's PlayStat
- Publisher
- Sony Computer Entertainment (Japan); Fresh Games (a label of Eidos Interactive) (North America and PAL regions)
Quick Facts
- Title
- Mister Mosquito
- Developer
- ZoomAdditional work by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan.
- Publisher
- JP · Sony Computer Entertainment · WW · Fresh Games
- Director
- Hiroaki Nakagawa
- Producer
- Yasuhide Kobayashi
- Programmer
- Junichi Takeda / Yoshinori Nakamura / Yuzaburo Maruyama / Masaru Sasaki
- Composer
- Akihito Okawa / Hozo Okazaki
- Released
- PlayStation 2: JP · June 21, 2001 · NA · March 13, 2002 · PAL · March 22, 2002 PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5: September 17, 2024
- Genre
- Simulation, stealth
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 (PSN), PlayStation 5 (PSN)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Mister Mosquito was first announced in March 2001 just prior to the Tokyo Game Show, with the tentative title Ka: Yamada-ke No Natsu (蚊 ～山田家の夏～; lit. 'Mosquito: The Summer at Yamada Residence'). The game was published in Japan by Sony on June 21, 2001. Fresh Games (a label of Eidos Interactive) published the game in North America and PAL regions on March 13 and 22, 2002, respectively. According to Fresh Games' Kevin Gill, the company chose to release games like Mister Mosquito because they are often 'quirky' or 'odd' with 'brilliant' gameplay that would otherwise be unlikely to be available outside of Japan.
Reader's Guide
Mister Mosquito is significant as a cult classic stealth game with an unusual premise. Its gameplay revolves around sucking blood from the Yamada family while managing a stress meter and avoiding detection. The game was re-released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 via PlayStation Network on September 17, 2024, with a downgraded ESRB rating to E10+. According to Famitsu, it was the fifth best-selling game in Japan during its release week, selling 41,006 copies, and approximately 160,210 copies by the end of 2001. Sales in other territories were poorer. In 2008, Game Informer named it one of 'The Top Ten Weirdest Games of All Time,' and it appeared on similar lists by G4 and GamesRadar. A sequel, Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii, was released only in Japan on July 3, 2003. Mr. Mosquito also appeared as an unlockable character in Astro Bot.
Did You Know?
- The game was originally titled Ka: Yamada-ke No Natsu (蚊 ～山田家の夏～; lit. 'Mosquito: The Summer at Yamada Residence').
- If Mister Mosquito is swatted while sucking blood, instant death occurs.
- The game was re-released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on September 17, 2024, with an ESRB rating of E10+ instead of the original T.
- A sequel, Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii, was released only in Japan on July 3, 2003.
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