Gee's Blog World: Haiku Hero helps you find your inner poet -- Time-Waster

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Haiku Hero helps you find your inner poet -- Time-Waster

Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.
- Richard Wright, courtesy of Wikipedia

Ah, the timeless art of haiku. This beautiful form of Japanese poetry has now been made into a Flash game, Haiku Hero. And if that sounds like a bad idea, there's a reason for it.

I just don't think that composing "timed haiku" really conforms to the spirit of the art, and truthfully, they are incredibly difficult to write. The crappy haiku you see in the screenshot was created under the threat of a ticking clock, and there were arbitrary rules thrown in for good measure ("include the word 'thirteen'").

However, the game does have an untimed mode, which is far less stressful to use. You can either embrace the suggestions the game gives you or ignore them. When you compose your haiku, a syllable counter is continuously updated, so it's easy to get the number of syllables right.

The soundtrack is nice and soothing, and when you finish playing, you can read all of the haiku you've composed. All in all, it's a fun and interesting way to get into this art form. Just stay away from the timed modes!

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters