This guide contains a ton of tiny pictures and some videos. Please be patient while it loads!
Update 2/15/11: If you’re already familiar with the items and monsters in Kanji’s Adventure, you may want to check out the brand new Kanji’s Adventure - The Advanced Class guide for more detailed tips.
Contents
- The Game
- Scoring & Kado Points
- Table Time
- Equipment
- Monsters
- Instantly Used Items
- 1-Time Use Items
- Carried Items
- Tips & Tricks
- Videos
- Final Rating
The Game
Kanji’s Adventure is available only at KadoKado, where you play to earn prizes! Your goal is to guide a ninja, Kanji, through a dungeon. Use the arrow keys to guide him around and attack monsters. Use the spacebar to throw shurikens (throwing stars). It’s easy!
But uh, there’s one downside. All of the text is completely in French. *^_^*
Wait! Come back! You don’t need to speak French in order to play. Really! I grabbed pictures of every item and monster in the game and have all of the information available in English! Yes, it took an extremely long time to put together. You can thank me later. ^_^
But first, before you can play Kanji’s Adventure you have to unlock it. All you need to do is pay a one-time fee of 20 Kado points. (You earn Kado points by playing games. 20 points is extremely cheap!) Each time you play, Kanji starts out with 12 life points, 250 energy points, 3 shurikens, and 3 empty inventory slots.
Life points and energy points are VERY important. Whenever Kanji attacks a monster he has a chance of taking damage. This shows up as a little red number above his head. That number is subtracted from his life points. When he has 0 life points the game is over.
Energy points keeps him moving. Every step Kanji takes uses 1 energy, and every action (like attacking a monster) uses 1 energy. If he hits 0 energy he’ll start losing life points with each step. And of course, if he reaches 0 life points it’s game over.
Note: The monsters only move when Kanji moves! There is no rush with Kanji’s Adventure. You’re free to step away if you need to take care of something else! I love having that option. ^_^
As you move Kanji around you’ll find items to restore energy and health points. However, he can’t tromp around the dungeon willy nilly. You need to be strategic and avoid pointless backtracking since it wastes precious energy. Luckily the dungeons are incredibly simple! Each level is essentially one big square divided into nine parts. (A 3x3 grid.) Most of the time 1 part = 1 room in the level.
I see stairs!
Sometimes sections combine to create big rooms.
If you can remember that each level is a big square, you (hopefully) won’t get lost too often. Oh! And you ALWAYS start in the middle room on the first floor.
Now the shopkeeper is someone you may (or may not) encounter on your travels.
He appears randomly and always has 4 items for sale. Once you find him he will always be at that spot and sell those items. At least until the next game, that is. ^_^
The shopkeeper has a pool of 13 different items to choose from. The next shopkeeper you meet might have completely different items for sale!
You can kill the shopkeeper. (Use either shurikens or get a monster under a chaos spell to do it.) He’ll drop some money, but the amount varies. Some people report getting over 100g while others got less than 10g. Personally, I’d rather use my shurikens on monsters.
Scoring & Kado Points
Each time you play Kanji’s Adventure you’ll be given a challenge. (KadoKado calls it a “contract,” but I think that sounds scary.) The challenge is a random score, and if you beat it you’ll get Kado points. The amount of Kado points changes from game to game, and it’s just as random as the challenge score.
How do you score points? Well, in Kanji’s Adventure you score points in 3 ways.
- Kill monsters
- Coins x 20 (counted at death)
- Energy x 5 (counted at death)
That’s it!
In addition to earning Kado points through challenges, you can also get KP by earning stars. Just think of them as trophies. ^_^
- Score 18,700+ points for a Green star, worth 10 Kado points
- Score 56,100+ points for an Orange star, worth 50 Kado points
- Score 74,800+ points for a Red star, worth 100 Kado points!
You can only have one star per game per Kalendar period (2 weeks), so aim for the top! When the period ends your star will convert into Kado points.
Another way to earn Kado points involves ranking, and that’s a bit complicated to explain. If you want to learn about it you can read more in the KadoKado site review.
Don’t forget, Kado points can be turned in to buy game tokens or Amazon.com certificates!
Table Time
The next few sections contain several tables. Everything should be easy to understand, but here are a few terms that might be fuzzy for new players.
- Dungeon – the item may be found laying on the floor
- Monsters – the item may be a reward from killing a monster
- #g in shop – item may be purchased from the shopkeeper
- Max damage – how much damage Kanji can do
- Hitpoints – how many life points a monster has
- Max hit – how much damage a monster can do
- Loot – what you might get from killing a monster
Most (but not all) of this information can be found on the Twinpedia guide to Kanji’s Adventure. ALL of the information is in French, so you can compare if you wish. (I wish I’d seen this link before I spent hours working on teeny tiny icons. *Headdesk*)
Equipment
Kanji starts out geared in cloth and a few shurikens. The shurikens can hit up to 3 damage on a monster, but he must be at least one square away from the target! He can’t throw a shuriken at something that’s right next to him. (Unless it’s the shopkeeper. I’ve accidentally hit him many, many times. *^_^*)
Kanji’s fists count as weapons, and he can hit up to 2 damage with fists alone. If you’re lucky you might find other weapons or armor on the dungeon floor. These items are immediately equipped and don’t take up any inventory space!
Alternatively, you can buy these items in a shop, provided it’s in stock and you have enough gold!
| Equipment | Found | Effect |
Knife   | Dungeon 80g in shop | Max damage of 3 |
Katana   | Dungeon (rare) 180g in shop Bat (very rare) | Max damage of 5 |
Shurikens (group)  | Dungeon 15g in shop | Three shurikens Max damage of 3 |
Shuriken (large)  | Dungeon | Ten shurikens Max damage of 3 |
Leather Armor   | Dungeon 150g in shop | Reduces damage taken by 1 |
Metal Armor   | 400g in shop | Reduces damage taken by 2 (maybe more) |
Note: Equipment automatically changes if Kanji walks across it. For example, if he had a katana equipped and walked across a knife, the katana would drop on the floor and he’d now have a knife. Just walk him across the knife again to switch things back.
Monsters
Any proper dungeon has monsters, and Kanji’s Adventure is no exception! On each level you’ll encounter a new monster plus all of the other monsters you’ve met.
This is where you’ll score most of your points. Harder monsters are worth more points, but they can cause more damage too. Use this information to decide when to fight and when to retreat!
| Monster | First Seen | Hitpoints | Max Hit | Loot | Points |
Ghost  | Level 1 | 2-3 | 2 | Coins | 250 |
Goblin  | Level 2 | 4-5 | 3 | Coins Meat Apple | 500 |
Fire Imp  | Level 3 | 2-3 | 2 | Coins | 750 |
Skeleton  | Level 4 | 3-4 | 5 | Coins Magic Bone | 1000 |
Shaman  | Level 5 | 8-10 | 5 | Coins Teleport Scroll Meat | 1250 |
Cyclops  | Level 6 | 9-13 | 5 | Coins | 1500 |
Bat  | Level 7 | 5-8 | 6 | Coins Meat Katana | 1750 |
Mage  | Level 8 | 2-8 | 10 | Coins | 2000 |
That’s it! After level 8 there are no more new monsters. You keep going, of course!
Also, most monsters just wander around, but the Fire Imp and Cyclops are chasers. If they’re anywhere nearby they’ll chase after Kanji.
Instantly Used Items
These items are used as soon as you pick them up. They take zero inventory space and there’s no limit to how many you can get. Very fun. ^_^
Almost everything here is found solely on the dungeon floor or in monster drops. The two exceptions are the bag and meat, and you can buy those at a shop if it’s in stock. The bag is a great item but so far I’ve never seen it on the floor. Buy it if you see it!
| Item | Found | Effect |
Bag  | 15g in shop | Adds 2 inventory spaces |
Gold (small coin)  | Dungeon Monsters | 1g |
Gold (group of coins)  | Dungeon Monsters | 2-9g |
Gold (big coin)  | Dungeon Monsters | 10-25g |
Treasure Chest  | Dungeon Monsters | 50g+ |
Apple  | Dungeon Goblins | 50 energy |
Meat  | Dungeon 25g in shop Goblins Shaman Bat | 100 energy |
Emerald  | Dungeon | 1000 score points |
Sapphire  | Dungeon | 3000 score points |
Ruby  | Dungeon | 8000 score points |
1-Time Use Items
These items take up space in your inventory. Click on them to activate!
| Item | Found | Effect |
Awesome Bomb  | Dungeon | Kills ALL enemies on the level. |
Grappling Hook  | Dungeon | Instant teleport to the next level. |
Lighter  | Dungeon | Adds +1 damage to all shurikens. Affects future shurikens! |
Magic Bearskin   | Dungeon | Summons a bear to fight with Kanji when he goes up or down a level. Bear hits up to 5 damage and has around 6 life points. |
Magic Bone   | Dungeon 40g in shop Dropped by Skeletons | Summons a dog to fight with Kanji when he goes up or down a level. Dog hits up to 3 damage and has around 3 life points. |
Potion (Round)  | Dungeon 35g in shop | Heals 8 life points |
Potion (Square)  | Dungeon | Heals to full health and adds +2 to Kanji’s max life. Multiple potions have a stacking effect. |
Scroll (Chaos)   | Dungeon 30g in shop | Affects all monsters currently on the screen. Chaotic monsters have a purple aura and attack whatever touches them. |
Scroll (Fire)   | Dungeon 30g in shop | Incinerates ALL monsters directly touching Kanji. |
Scroll (Ice)   | Dungeon 30g in shop | Freezes ONE monster close to Kanji. |
Scroll (Teleport)   | Dungeon 30g in shop Dropped by Shaman | Teleports Kanji to a random spot on the current level. New spot is at least 1 step away from monsters. |
Spirit Charm  | Dungeon | Makes skeletons, cyclopes, and MAGES run away from Kanji. Useable only on levels 4+. |
Carried Items
These items can be found only on the dungeon floor. They will not “go away” unless Kanji picks up a new item that pushes it out of his inventory.
You do not need to click these items to activate them. Once they’re in your inventory they’re “active.” (Exception: Pillow.)
| Perm Use Items | Found | Effect |
Lucky Rabbit’s Foot  | Dungeon | Increases chance to get better loot from monsters. |
Pillow  | Dungeon | Consumes 10 energy points to add 1 life point. Unlimited use. Cannot use if there are monsters nearby. |
Emerald Amulet  | Dungeon | Improves your chance to avoid taking damage. (Dodge.) |
Ruby Amulet  | Dungeon | Adds +1 to your melee attacks. (Fists, knife, and katana.) |
Sapphire Amulet  | Dungeon | Improves chance to hit monsters. |
Bracelet  | Dungeon (extremely rare) | DOUBLES melee damage! (Fists, knife, and katana.) |
In approximately 200 games, I found the bracelet only once. It’s amazing! If you had a katana and the bracelet, you’d have a max hit of ten. o_O Yipes!
Tips & Tricks
1. The first few levels are the easiest, so you should explore the entire area before you head to the stairs. Sometimes you’ll find nothing, but most of the time you’ll find food, potions, scrolls, or weapons. It’s worth the effort!
2. If you’re running out of energy and you don’t see any food close by, attack the Goblins. They occasionally drop meat or an apple! The Shaman also drops meat, but he hits pretty hard. It’s usually not worth the risk unless you have a scroll to take care of him.
3. Teleport scrolls and grappling hooks are great for an emergency exit. However, teleport scrolls are a bit random, and aren’t guaranteed to take Kanji completely out of harms way. Keep that in mind!
4. Grappling hooks are also good for moving quickly to the next level. If you’ve cleared a level, aren’t anywhere near stairs, and are almost out of energy, a grappling hook can save Kanji’s buns. (This scenario happens more often than I’d like.)
5. Inventory space is precious! Click on Magic Bones and Magic Bearskins as soon as you get them. You’ll free up room and have buddies to help you for the next level!
6. If you’re lucky enough to find an Awesome Bomb, save it for lower levels! You’ll earn a LOT more points that way.
7. Don’t gamble with your life points. If you’re fighting a Goblin and have 3 life points left, DRINK A POTION. (Assuming you have one.) The Goblin has a max hit of 3 and can end your game right there. I suggest keeping the monsters section open until you learn the max hit for each one.
8. Spirit charms are great for the deeper levels because they keep the cyclopes and mages away. It adds a nice bit of breathing room since cyclopes are normally avid chasers.
For more detailed tips, check out the Kanji’s Adventure – The Advanced Class post!
Videos
Watching someone else play is an excellent way to pick up some new ideas. Here are three videos of different players reaching 90k+ scores. After each video are a few of my own thoughts.
1. Borknodrull’s score of 91,820 – Favored items: Potions, pillow, chaos scrolls
My jaw fell open when I saw zie got the uber-rare bracelet on freakin’ level 2!! Holy shmokes!! *Jealous*
It seems that zie doesn’t plan on backtracking. When hir inventory is full, zie uses whatever is “extra” right then and there. Watching hir drinking a potion when zie’s missing only 2hp made me wince, but I can’t argue with that high score.
Since there are a ton of potions, zie hangs on to the shurikens for lower levels. Pretty smart. And once zie has a bear, there’s some pretty fancy maneuvering to put the bear between Kanji and monsters, and then throw the shurikens through the bear.
The biggest thing to note is that zie never comes across any armor, weapons (other than shurikens), or shops. Yes, the kick-ass bracelet helped a TON, but there’s a lot of clever ingenuity at work too.
2. Borknodrull’s score of 97,675 – Favored items: Shurikens, pillow, meat
Zie had some decent finds to start with, which always helps. Finding the lighter on level 2 meant that zie could do up to 4 damage with the shurikens while hir fists could do only 2. I know I’d be throwing tons of shurikens. ^_^
Since zie purchased a bag I was a little surprised that zie didn’t buy more potions when there were 3 empty inventory spaces and plenty of money. I’m not saying that zie should have filled hir inventory with potions. I just think it wouldn’t have hurt to buy at least 2 potions. You never know when you’re going to be in a tight spot.
3. glederic’s score of 241,870 – Favored items: Shurikens, fire scrolls, pillow, dogs
This video is a long one, partly because there are several pauses during gameplay. I suspect that in these pauses he’s making a short-hand map of stair locations, missed items, shop locations and what they sell. Starting around 7:11 he begins to backtrack through the levels. He knows exactly which shops to stop at and where he missed items. It’s pretty brilliant. ^_^
He’s also very good at using the dogs to fight for him. It may look like some awkward twisting and turning, but by using the dogs he avoids taking damage.
Also, he was extremely lucky that he found a katana on level 5! Having a good weapon makes a huge difference! (The one time I found a katana, my end score was over 99k.)
Final Rating
When I first starting playing Kanji’s Adventure I was really overwhelmed by the French. Then I started figuring things out, and it wasn’t so bad. Once I understood everything I realized how awesome this game is! ^_^
Each time you play it’s a unique experience, so you have to learn to adapt. If your plan is to use chaos scrolls to make the monsters fight each other and all you find are meat and shurikens, well, you’d better change your plan! Games that require you to change strategy are absolutely fascinating to me. My one complaint is that I wish Kanji had three lives each game instead of just one. Ah well.
5 out of 5 stars! What would you rate it? Do you have any tips for new players?
Credits to @mbif, for asking me to make a guide for Kanji’s Adventure. I hope she likes how it turned out. ^_^
Thanks also to the KadoKado games forum Kanji’s Adventure thread, where I started gathering some of the information; and to @JenniferKrumm for fetching me the star scores at 4 am! Thanks to Klebonas for sending me new info about Bat drops and the max hit for the Mage!
Also thanks to the video makers, Borknodrull, and glederic.
If you play Kanji’s Adventure and find that some part of my guide is incorrect, please tell me! My contact information is on the About Me page.