Ever tried learning Japanese idioms while playing a Game Boy game? Eijukugo Target 1000 throws you straight into the deep end with four-character compound words—some obvious, some that’ll make you scratch your head. The first few rounds feel manageable, like "ichigo ichie" (treasure every encounter), but then it hits you with curveballs where the meaning isn’t what you’d guess.

What’s cool is how it turns memorization into a game—you’re not just flipping flashcards. You pick answers against a timer, rack up points, and slowly unlock harder sets. The retro chiptune soundtrack somehow makes grinding through obscure phrases less painful. I won’t lie, some words stuck with me way better because I kept mixing them up here first.

It’s one of those games where you either walk away with a weirdly specific party trick or actually learn something useful. Either way, the pixelated charm makes the struggle fun.