Conveni Wars Barcode Battler Senki is one of those weird, hyper-Japanese SNES games that makes you go, "Wait, this was a thing?" It’s a barcode battler—yeah, like those old-school barcode scanner toys—where you recruit fighters by scanning actual product barcodes. The more obscure the snack or drink, the stronger your warrior gets. Weirdly addictive once you get past the initial "what am I even doing" phase.

You start off with a handful of basic units, but the real fun is raiding your pantry for barcodes to scan. Found an energy drink? Congrats, you just unlocked a beefed-up samurai. Scanned a bag of chips? Here’s a ninja, I guess. The battles themselves are simple turn-based affairs, but there’s something oddly satisfying about watching your grocery haul turn into an army.

Fair warning: unless you’ve got a stash of Japanese products lying around, some of the barcodes won’t register properly. But hey, that’s part of the charm—or frustration, depending on how patient you are. Definitely a cult classic for collectors who love offbeat retro oddities.