Katamari Damacy’s not-so-hidden message about mass consumption

Katamari Damacy is a joyful game. It’s bright and colorful, full of memorable, goofy characters. There’s almost no learning curve: Just roll up junk into a big ball of stuff! And the soundtrack? It positively slaps. But now that the game is getting an HD update for Nintendo Switch and Windows PC, I’ve looked at what lies underneath Katamari’s sticky, sweet surface and discovered a secret. One that’s been sitting in plain sight.

Katamari Damacy is about mass consumption.

Look, I’ll admit, this is a wild fan theory. I know that I’m not the first to assume some cute game’s friendly exterior is actually hiding some searing message about a critical societal issue of the day. I’m probably stretching to reach many of the conclusions I make in this video. But if you give it a watch, I think you’ll see that the evidence really is overwhelming.

Now that that’s out of the way, for no particular reason, I’d also recommend you check our interview with Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi talking about his upcoming game Wattam!