Top 10 Kairosoft games we want in English in 2013

Last year, we scoured the Kairosoft website in search of existing titles we hoped the Japanese management game studio would translate into English for us. Well, and for you, too.

The unofficial master of the smartphone management sim continues to tease us all by putting up screenshot after screenshot of its brand-new games on its site. Brand-new games that we in the West will no doubt have to wait months for.

So, what can we expect in 2013? Are we going to simply see more of the same from the Kairosoft team, or is the Japanese firm getting a bit more wacky?

Read on, then, to find out the results of our most recent Kairosoft investigation. Oh, and to discover what our ten most wanted Kairosoft games in 2013 are.

This one looks a lot like Mega Mall Story. One major difference, though: it's, ahem, set in a pyramid.

By building up your pyramid, your kingdom will grow and you'll discover more and more crafting tools to help you become the greatest pharaoh of them all.

On the side, you'll be able to attract tourists; foster relations with diplomats for trading; and establish new civilizations. Looks like classic Kairosoft fare.

We all enjoyed Game Dev Story a hell of a lot - in fact, it remains one of our all-time favourite Kairosoft games. But, what about a sim centred on selling software rather than developing it?

Shazam!

Wai Wai! Dealer is a video game and book store simulation, which tasks you with enticing punters into buying the latest video game releases.

If only they knew that the retail side of the gaming industry will be dead soon. Ah, well.

Now, here's one we really want to get to grips with.

Your Dream House is an apartment management game, in which you attempt to design the perfect layout for an apartment block and its inhabitants.

It's all about arranging the furniture in the right place and keeping your denizens up to date with the latest technology.

Horse racing ahoy!

In Stakes G1 Ranch, you're the owner of a small ranch, and your goal is to win all of the top horse racing prizes.

To do so, you'll have to breed stallions the likes of which have never been seen before at Ascot and Epsom.

The horse races themselves appear to play out in a similar way to the car races in Grand Prix Story, with your horse bolting around a field and trying to outrun the rest of the pack.

This one's all about recycling and digging for buried treasure.

It may seem like a pretty strange combination, but, then again, this is Kairosoft we're talking about.

Essentially, you go out hunting for cool trinkets, and then sell them back at base to crazy tourists. If you find enough willing treasure buyers, you can explore the surrounding areas more.

Another one with a weird name, though the concept itself is rather familiar. Indeed, Pikopiko! sounds a lot like Game Dev Story, although there are a few differences here and there.

For one, it's a free-to-play title. For another, the character models look much taller than those in other Kairosoft games.

We're clutching at straws here, really, mind. If it turns out to be half as good as Game Dev Story, though, you won't see us complaining.

In this game, you are a cartoonist living the dream. So, yep, you're drawing pictures of manga ladies in the morning and selling them for money in the evening.

Once you and your manga studio become popular, you can start releasing entire series of comics, winning awards, and drinking champagne straight out of the bottle. Go, you.

Will publishers choose to pick up your brand? Of course they will - it's a game.

Comics not really your cup of tea? How about animated stories for TV, then?

If that got your attention, Story Animation Studio is definitely going to be your thing.

You start life running a small animation studio, working hard to get your cartoons out there, and eventually onto mainstream television. Good luck, sir.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work at Pocket Gamer for a day or two? Don't lie to me.

Publications Office Friendship will allow you to find this out for yourself (sort of), since in this Kairosoft sim you are the editor-in-chief of a video game magazine.

Put together great features about upcoming games! Conduct interviews with the biggest video game developers! Do a better job than we do here at Pocket Gamer! Hang on...

Another video game-centric one from the Kairosoft peeps - it's as if they really like games or something.

Anyway, Game Center Club is all about setting up your own arcade, complete with the latest coin-op classics.

What's great is that you can organize competitions in store, and watch punters battle it out in Street Fighter-esque beat-'em-ups on a big screen with huge audiences.