Incremental Epic Hero 2 Officially Released in January 2025!
Hello everyone!
I’m Hitan from Hapiwaku, the development team behind Incremental Epic Hero (IEH). Thank you so much for always supporting and enjoying our games!
After 2.5 years of Early Access, we are thrilled to announce that Incremental Epic Hero 2 (IEH2) has officially launched in January 2025!
What is Early Access?
Early Access refers to beta versions of games released on the Steam platform before their official launch. IEH2 first launched as an Early Access game in July 2022, and even during EA phase, 150,000+ players worldwide joined us on this journey!
Thanks to the warm support and invaluable feedback from so many players, we’ve been able to grow and improve IEH2 over the past 2.5 years with consistent updates. Your input has been instrumental—through our Discord server, we’ve implemented over 100 player-suggested ideas into the game. Thank you so much!
Meet the Hapiwaku Team
Hapiwaku is a small, family-based development team.
I handle the programming, while my wife Wakana (who is 19 years older than me) our high school-aged daughter Arua, and my younger sister all contribute artwork for the game. My college-aged son Minato also helps out with programming, and my 3-year-old daughter Yuni always cheers us on with her bright energy! 😄
I got married while I was a university student, becoming the head of a family with two children—then middle and high school students—at a young age. Inspired by the desire to provide a safe and fulfilling life for my family, I decided to create games, something I’ve loved since childhood, as a way to achieve happiness and excitement in our daily lives.
At the time, I was studying physics (primarily quantum mechanics) at university and had no programming knowledge. With the help of my university friend Kei, I started learning programming from scratch and, within six months, released our first game, Incremental Epic Hero (IEH1), in 2020!
In IEH1, nearly all the in-game illustrations were created by my daughter Arua, who was just 13 years old at the time. With her charming Japanese anime-inspired art style, IEH1 resonated with players worldwide, amassing over 2 million plays!
The games we create belong to the genre of Idle/Incremental games.
IEH1 and IEH2 are better described as “Incremental RPGs that gradually become idle games.” Players start by actively engaging with the game, leveling up their characters and unlocking automation features step by step, making it easier to leave the game running over time!
At the time of IEH1’s release in 2020, the Idle game genre was still relatively niche, especially in Japan, and there were no Japanese-developed Idle games. IEH was warmly received for a long time thanks to you all!
Our family focuses not only on visible elements like game mechanics and graphics but also on the “invisible energy” infused into our projects. We pour positive energy—happiness and excitement—into our games every day, hoping that everyone who plays them will feel this energy and be inspired to lead richer, more joyful lives!
If you’re not familiar with the meaning of Hapiwaku, “hapi” stands for “happy,” and “waku” comes from the Japanese word “wakuwaku,” which means “excitement.” At Hapiwaku, our goal is to spread happiness and excitement to people all around the world 😊
See more about Hapiwaku’s projects
Creating IEH2 Alongside Our Children’s Growth
After the release of IEH1, my university friend Kei established his own company and focused on developing other idle games. As a result, his involvement with IEH gradually decreased. Wanting to continue supporting the IEH community and fans, I decided to lead the development of IEH2 myself in 2021.
IEH2 has been a journey intertwined with my children’s growth. Arua’s skills as an artist have flourished, and she poured her love and effort into designing the six main characters of IEH2, perfecting them through trial and error.
During IEH2’s development, a new family member also arrived—my youngest daughter, Yuni!
Yuni was born in June 2021, and her birth was a profound moment for me. Despite being just 24 at the time, I embraced fatherhood anew and approached IEH2’s development with a renewed sense of purpose.
Watching my children grow each day brings me immense joy, and I’ve grown alongside them as a father. Together with my family, I poured my happiness and excitement into IEH2, hoping that players around the world would feel the same joy and excitement while playing!
In July 2022, we launched IEH2 as an Early Access game on Steam. The warmth and support from fans around the world have helped us and our children grow tremendously. We are so deeply grateful for your kindness and encouragement! 😊
To the 7,500+ members of our Discord community, thank you so much for your warm support—not only for the game but also for embracing glimpses of our family life, such as sharing our family photos!
Yuni has been loved by everyone in the community, and it feels as though she has many moms and dads from all around the world! Thanks to your kindness, she has grown up happy and free-spirited. We truly, truly appreciate it! 😄
By the way, with this major update accompanying the full release, Yuni also makes her debut in the game!
She appears as the Unique Equipment in the Unicorn Area. Be sure to get it! 😄
Previously, we also wrote an article to commemorate the Early Access release of IEH2. If you’re interested, feel free to check it out! 😌
Read the article about IEH2’s Early Access release (Past Blog Post)
A New Beginning
The full release of IEH2 is not the end but rather a new beginning!
Our family will continue to work on new content, game improvements, and updates for IEH2 alongside all of you!
If you haven’t played IEH2 yet, now is the perfect time to give it a try 😄
And if you enjoy it, we’d be incredibly grateful if you could leave a review on Steam!
Your reviews help more people discover IEH2 and join our amazing community.
Finally, to every player who has supported us on this journey, we extend our deepest gratitude. Thank you for the love and kindness you’ve shown our game and our family!
Additionally, my close friends Morkyl, Kazuya, Ringold, McNutty, Widget, Sharkbite, and Lulero, whom I met through IEH, have actively supported the development and debugging of IEH2. Thank you so much!
We will continue to pour our Hapiwaku energy into all our creations. Please keep supporting us in the future! 😊
Bonus Code
In IEH2, you can receive in-game items by entering the following bonus code via the [Settings] > [Bonus] tab! Be sure to claim it 😊
- [IEH2hapiwaku]
- 1000 Epic Coin
- [IEH2onemonth]
- 1000 Epic Coin
- 5 Proficiency Scrolls
- [IEH2portalorb]
- 30 Portal Orbs
- [IEH2ExtractForge]
- 3 Extract Scroll [Forge]
- [IEH2Hapiwaku]
- 1000 Epic Coin
- 100% Nitro
- [IEH2SuperDungeon]
- 1000 Epic Coin
- 100 Portal Orbs
- 5 Refresh Tickets
- [IEH2MajorUpdate]
- 1000 Epic Coin
- 100% Nitro
- 5 Refresh Tickets
- [IEH2Gift]
- 2000 Epic Coin
- 100% Nitro
- EXP Gain Blessing (6h)
- Gold Gain Blessing (6h)
- [IEH2WA] – This code is available after you perform World Ascension once
- 100% Nitro
- Skill Prof Gain Blessing (6h)
- Equipment Inventory Slot +5
- 10 Refresh Tickets
- [IEH2BetaChristmas]
- 2000 Epic Coin
- 20 Refresh Tickets
- [IEH2FullRelease]
- 3000EC
- 50 Portal Orbs
- 10 Refresh Tickets
- [IEH2HapiwakuGift]
- 2000 Epic Coin
- 100% Nitro
- Skill Proficiency Blessing (6h)
- Equipment Proficiency Blessing (6h)
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