Free Game Friday: Hungry Sumo

When I first saw this game, I was skeptical. It looked completely ridiculous, yet another of those games that’s more silly than it is fun. This proved not to be the case. Of course, Hungry Sumo is silly; you’re feeding rice to increase the size of a happy sumo wrestler in order to knock out your opponents. But the silliness does not outweigh the entertainment value.

Hungry Sumo is a browser game by Ninja Kiwi wherein you hover your cursor over your sumo(s) to make them rapidly consume rice so as to become bigger and stronger than your opponents. Each time you bump into an opponent, both of you reduce in size, and if the size difference is great enough, the smaller will succumb to the larger. It’s important to not be feeding your sumo when they collide with an opponent, however, as this will instantly cause them to burst and become an opponent, or cause you to lose, depending on how many sumos you have remaining.

Because of the growth mechanic, the game feels similar to Osmos in terms of playstyle, but the overall atmosphere is very different, for obvious reasons. And as you progress through the levels, new enemies are incorporated, such as ninjas that hit harder than your standard sumo, and statues which can’t be affected by anything, but will turn your sumos into statues if you bump into them while eating.

Hungry Sumo is simple entertainment at its finest, and the ridiculous factor is a welcome one.