Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics is one of those weird little GBC gems that never left Japan—which is a shame, because it’s basically Pokémon meets tactical RPG battles. You recruit these monster kids (they look like rejected Digimon designs, in the best way) and fight on grid-based maps where positioning actually matters. First few fights feel simple, but then you realize some monsters combo better from certain angles, and suddenly you’re overthinking every move.

The pixel art’s surprisingly lively for a Game Boy Color game, especially when your little gremlins start doing special attacks. No idea why they gave the onion monster a sword, but I’m not complaining. Emulator’s the only way to play it in English unless you’re fluent in moonrunes, but it’s worth the hassle if you like strategy games with personality.