Guitar Controller Doubles as Shovel in 'Iseki Hori' for Switch
The release pushes an off-the-shelf peripheral into a role HORI never advertised it for, and the grip gauge turns the guitar's frets into a safety mechanism rather than a musical input.
Key Facts
- Takahiro Miyazawa released "Iseki Hori" on the Nintendo Store on October 1, 2026, priced at 700 yen (tax included).
- "Iseki Hori" requires the guitar controller bundled with HORI's "GUITAR LIFE -LESSON1-" and a separate Joy-Con (R) for play on Nintendo Switch 2.
- "Iseki Hori" has eight stages set in the yard of an ordinary house, cleared when the excavation rate around a relic reaches 100 percent.
- HORI's "GUITAR LIFE -LESSON1-" is priced at 7,980 yen (tax included) at the HORI Store through October 13, down from a regular 12,980 yen.
- "Iseki Hori" includes "Mini Iseki Hori," a 2D mini-game playable with a normal controller instead of the guitar controller.
Reporting from 2 sources: 4Gamer.net, Automaton.
Indie developer Takahiro Miyazawa released "Iseki Hori" on the Nintendo Store on October 1, 2026 for 700 yen (tax included). The Switch game is an excavation title in which the player holds a guitar controller by the neck and pushes it into soil like a shovel. The required controller is the one bundled with HORI's guitar lesson software "GUITAR LIFE -LESSON1-" and a Joy-Con (R) is also needed. Across eight stages set in an ordinary house's yard, players clear each stage by removing soil around a relic until the excavation rate reaches 100 percent. A grip strength gauge tied to pressure sensors on the guitar's neck means soil cannot be dug in Adult Mode unless the neck is squeezed firmly. A Child Mode allows digging with light force. A 2D mini-game, "Mini Iseki Hori," can be played without the guitar controller. HORI Store is offering "GUITAR LIFE -LESSON1-" at 7,980 yen (tax included) through October 13, down from 12,980 yen.
HORI promoted the release on its official account the same day, writing that the guitar becomes a "shovel." The peripheral maker also linked a special page for the game.
Miyazawa is the representative of make.ctrl.Japan, an event for games built around custom-made controllers, and he makes his own hardware for those projects. His earlier titles include "Moai Mawashi" and "Iseki Climber."
Automaton described the digging feel: the neck is gripped like a shovel handle, the controller is pushed toward the soil to thrust the blade in, and a light upward swing lifts the dirt. One swing moves a small amount of soil, so relics buried deep underground take considerable patience to reach. The grip gauge is read as a safety measure that forces players to hold the controller firmly. The game is billed as a "physical action game that pursues the sensation of digging with muscles."
Relics scale up as stages progress, from small pieces to gigantic ones that are likely to demand stamina. Adult Mode requires a firm squeeze on the neck throughout, so digging costs real physical effort.
Automaton noted the author owned "GUITAR LIFE -LESSON1-" and played the game, calling the sight of a guitar controller used as a shovel strange.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.