塊 - Kuai4 - Piece, Chunk, Lump, Clump, measure word for money

每日一字 returns! With a word inspired by a Japanese video game?

塊魂 - Kuai1 Hun2 - Clump Spirit — Katamari Damacy

This is one of those games you hear about from Japan, which sounds REALLY COOL (like a subway simulator or a restaurant management game) but you know they will never bring out in the US. Except this time they did! And they didn’t water it down like they did to poor Taiko no Tatsujin. Premise: The Lord of All Cosmos was having fun one day and destroyed all the stars in the sky. Later, he felt bad about it. You, the prince, must restore them by rolling up giant balls of junk from the planet Earth and sending them into space which become new stars. You start out at a tiny size, rolling up paperclips, thumbtacks, and pieces of candy, and as your katamari increases in size you can pick up bigger and bigger things: mice, books, cats, shoes, food, bushes, people, cars… eventually even airplanes, buildings, stadiums… I’m not sure what the limit is.

Katamari Damacy’s official site has an even better description. The game has a very unique style, as you can see from the official site, and also has really good music, which you can get a taste of at music (for robots).

If you have a PS2, I suggest you buy this game right now and start rolling up a nice healthy katamari.