Ryukyu
Ryukyu is a 1989 puzzle video game developed by ASCII Corporation and published by Login Soft for X68000, PC-98 and MSX2. It was ported to the arcades by Success and the PC Engine and Game Gear by Face; Sega released the game in the arcades and the Game Gear version outside Japan as Solitaire Poker. Hamster Corporation released the arcade version outside Japan for the first time as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in May 2025.
Also recorded as Solitaire Poker
Ryukyu
- Model
- Ryukyu
- Date
- 1989
- Publisher
- ASCII Corporation · FACE
- Genre
- puzzle video game
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Ryukyu is a 1989 puzzle video game developed by ASCII Corporation and published by Login Soft for X68000, PC-98 and MSX2. It was ported to the arcades by Success and the PC Engine and Game Gear by Face; Sega released the game in the arcades and the Game Gear version outside Japan as Solitaire Poker. Hamster Corporation released the arcade version outside Japan for the first time as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in May 2025.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Ryukyu. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q107822614
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Designer — Ryuji Kuwaki • Title — Ryukyu • Developer — ASCII Corporation Success (arcade) Face (consoles) • Platforms — X68000, PC-98, MSX2, arcade, PC Engine, Game Gear • Genre — Puzzle • Modes — Single-player • Released — August 8, 1989
Gameplay
Gameplay
Ryukyu is a combination of solitaire and poker. Players carefully select cards from their deck to drop into a 5x5 square, in order to create the best Poker hands possible in vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines to clear stages and compete for high scores. All poker hands rise in score as defined in actual poker.
Development
Development
Ryukyu was designed by Ryuji Kuwaki, a college student at the time, as a submission to a software contest held by LOGiN, a regular extra issue of ASCII that eventually branched off to become Famitsu. The game was named after the Ryukyu Islands, present-day Okinawa Prefecture, where the game is set at. Kuwaki won the grand prize, in addition to the Yuji Horii and Yoshio Kiya Awards held by the magazine. ASCII helped Kuwaki finalize the game, which was released on August 8, 1989, for X68000, PC-98 and MSX2, while Kuwaki retained the copyright. Success successfully negotiated for the arcade rights with ASCII, developing an arcade port released by Sega which brought the game to a wider audience. Face developed ports to the PC Engine and Game Gear, the latter of which was released overseas by Sega.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Ryukyu is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
Famitsu gave the arcade version a 25/40 score.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Rytíři GráluWork
- Rytlock's Critter RampageWork
- Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!Work
- Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!Work
- ryūtekiTerminology
- RyzomWork
- S. E. U. I. S.Work
- S.C.A.P.Organisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of Ryukyu?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.