People who enjoy searching for needles in a haystack will love this game. The rest of them may have a sudden urge to pull their hair out. 

As far as Japanese quick bites go, Baby Star Ramen is a perpetual childhood classic. The snack comes in a variety of flavors but the most basic form is a bag of crispy, fried noodles that may be eaten alone or added to other dishes as a crunchy garnish. Its maker, Oyatsu Company (which literally means “Snack Company”), is also instantly recognizable for their character-based packaging. While longtime mascots Bei-chan and Bi-chan sadly retired two years, this change allowed the company to rebrand its image with a new character called Hoshio-kun (Hoshi, which means “star” in Japanese, is a nod to the “Star” found in Baby Star Ramen’s name) to take over being the face of the brand.

Earlier this month, Japanese Twitter user (and Hoshio-kun big-time fan, as evident from their profile picture) @013_uotias shared a post about an interesting little game that Oyatsu Company is offering on their website. While the game starts off seemingly innocent enough, @13_uotias was in for a big shock once things got really serious.

Read the game directions below and then scroll down for our own experience playing it.

▼ “I was directed to this absolutely insane mini game when I visited Oyatsu Company’s website for the first time in a while.”

Game directions: 

Picture 1: 

Search for Baby Star! If you can clear the mission, you too can become a ‘Baby Star Master’! Look for the Baby Star noodle that Hoshio-kun dropped!!

Rules:

Hoshio-kun dropped his precious Baby Star…Find the noodle with the exact same shape! You can share your results with everyone if you find it in the allotted time! 

Picture 2:

WANTED: Find the Baby Star with the same shape within the allotted time.

Picture 3:

The noodle is hiding somewhere in here. 

OK, so it sounds like a classic Where’s Wally/Waldo? or I Spy type of challenge. This kind of thing should be a cinch, right? I’ve always prided myself on those skills, so I pulled up the website and clicked the “Start” button. The screen changed to display a quick image of the squiggly noodle that I had to find. There was nothing striking about it–just a little curve in the middle with tapered ends. As the screen flashed the words “READY…GO!!” my heart leaped in eager anticipation…only to come crashing down.

▼ What. The. Heck.

It was absolutely impossible. My eyes spun in circles as I frantically searched but to no avail. The clock stopped me after two minutes and it was game over.

Discouraged but not yet defeated, I kept trying my luck until the following wanted noodle popped up on my fifth try:

Hey, that one’s pretty distinctive–it’s like a “G.” Maybe, just maybe, I could do it this time.

▼ Let’s go!

By now I was also a pro at following Hoshio-kun’s advice in the lower left corner. He provided helpful hot-cold comments such as “No no, it’s not there!” (違う、違う！そこじゃないよ～) if I was nowhere near the target and “Oh! You’re a little bit close” (お！すこし近いかも) as I got warmer. Once I was really close, he yelled, “Hey!! Can you sense its presence!?” (ムムッ！！気配を感じる！？). Sure enough, a few moments later…

▼ Whoohoo! Finally.

▼ I also received this option to share my results over social media. Given my unimpressive record of 72.8 seconds, I decided that it wasn’t worth letting the world know…

Japanese net users responded to the game with a mixture of boasting and musing: 

“I cleared it in 5.9 seconds!”
“I got 4.2 seconds on my third try.”
“Oyatsu Company is terrifying.”
“They’ve got me stumped.”
“Is it just me, or is the color of the hidden noodle a little off?”

Check out Oyatsu Company’s website if you’d like to be tortured by the game in a similar fashion yourself. If after playing it you then have an urge to devour the source of your misery, see our previous piece on Baby Star Ramen on ice cream.

Source: Twitter/@013_uotias via My Game News Flash
Featured image: Oyatsu Company
Insert images: Oyatsu Company