Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand

Imagine a video game chasing you outside into the sun. Literally. That it's not enough to just sit on the couch, but that you have to take the console out into the garden, because otherwise you simply won't get any further. This is exactly what Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand pulled off — and to this day it's one of the boldest experiments ever created.

Behind this crazy idea from 2003 stands none other than Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear, with his team under the Konami banner. And their move was utterly unexpected: the cartridge contained a real solar sensor. The game thus reacted to real sunlight falling on the console, and with that light you charged your main weapon — a solar gun against vampires.

The logic was brilliantly straightforward: you're a vampire hunter and your enemies can take only as much as vampires in folklore can — that is, the sun kills them. But to actually crumble them to dust, you had to expose them to direct light, which the game literally demanded of you outside on a bright day. Playing Boktai thus became dependent on the weather, the time of day and the season.

The game itself is a thoughtful stealth action with RPG elements, where you sneak through dungeons, avoid enemies and solve puzzles involving the manipulation of light and shadow. The day-night cycle here isn't mere scenery but a full-fledged mechanic you have to understand and use. Kojima's sense for ideas and atmosphere shows at every step.

In today's emulation the intensity of the sun is thankfully set in software, so you can enjoy the game even in a basement at midnight — although this takes away a bit of that original, physical magic. Boktai simply belongs among the curiosities that, with their connection between the real world and the game, were never repeated.

It's a title that's valued today more as a bold experiment and proof of Kojima's untamed imagination than as a mass-market game — and that's exactly why it's worth getting to know.

Why play: For a unique experience where the real sun influences the gameplay — Kojima's boldest experiment and a curiosity the likes of which will never be made again.