Play Barcode Taisen Bardigun (Japan) Online

Game Overview

Barcode Taisen Bardigun is one of those weird little Game Boy Color games that makes you go, "Wait, how did this even get made?" It’s a monster battler, but instead of catching creatures in tall grass, you scan actual barcodes—like, from cereal boxes or shampoo bottles—and the game turns them into pixelated fighters. Half the fun is just seeing what bizarre thing pops out when you swipe a random can of soda.

The battles are simple turn-based stuff, but there’s something oddly satisfying about building a team from stuff in your pantry. Some barcodes give you absolute garbage monsters, while others spit out surprisingly powerful ones—it’s a gamble every time. And yeah, you’ll need a barcode scanner (or some creative workarounds if you’re emulating), but that’s part of the charm.

Never officially released outside Japan, so it’s all in Japanese, but the gameplay’s straightforward enough that you can muddle through. If you’re into obscure retro games with a gimmick, this one’s a delightfully strange time capsule.