Cookie’s Bustle is a Windows 98 Japan-exclusive point-and-click game. The language barrier alone makes the game really obscure for Westerners, coupled with needing a Virtual Machine to play it, do it makes sense not a lot of people even know it exists.

What makes Cookie’s Bustle even more obscure is the fact that any mentions of it seem to get erased from the Internet. YouTube videos about the game also end up being struck by false copyright claims, even bigger YouTubers like Vinesauce aren’t immune to this game’s disappearing act.

Despite being notorious for having difficult and obtuse puzzles, Cookie’s Bustle is a really charming game, usually praised for being funny and well-written by those who play it, so it’s weird that someone seems really dedicated to making the game disappear completely from the Internet.

Someone out there, who knows how to abuse copyright claims very well, is working tirelessly to erase anything related to the game: download mirrors, soundtrack re-uploads, YouTube playthroughs, you name it.

What is widely believed is that a PC game collector is trying to make the game retain its value by keeping it obscure and unknown. This goes against the Internet’s modern movement of proper video-game archival and preservation.

Another theory is that the game’s IP has been purchased and the game will be re-released or remade in some capacity, although it doesn’t seem very likely, considering the game’s almost unknown status in the West.

Fans of Cookie’s Bustle are working tirelessly to keep the game’s files circulating through private groups, as well as re-uploading any YouTube footage that gets claimed wrongfully.

Cookie’s Bustle was developed by Keisuke Harigai and published by Rodik on December 9th, 1999, for Microsoft Windows and Classic Mac OS.