The game revolves around a colour-matching concept, with a mechanic similar to that of Snake, taking place within a diffuse world of microorganisms.

It was initially released in Europe on May 28, 2010, under the alternative title Penta Tentacles,[1] and followed in North America on June 21, 2010.

[2] The objective of the game is to extend the rotozoan's tentacles by using them to absorb other organisms in the primordial ooze, known as goobugs.

To absorb a goobug, the player has to move through the environment and rotate the rotozoan, in order to direct its tentacles to touch it.

Some of the goobugs in the liquid are easy to absorb, as they simply float about aimlessly, while others may be combative and pursue the rotozoan.

It can then effortlessly absorb any goobug within the ooze for a limited time, allowing its tentacles to extend accordingly when the Cyclone has completed.

Eventually, as the third and fourth levels are subsequently unlocked, the player can proceed with new stages as a rotozoan with four and five tentacles, respectively.

As additional tentacles are introduced, bugs with matching colours also appear in each respective stage, thus increasing the difficulty of the colour-matching process, as the player advances to higher levels.

When the game is over, the highest score achieved is displayed on the title screen, when Endless Mode is selected.

Announced at a Nintendo press summit on February 24, 2010,[4] Rotozoa was developed by skip Ltd, under the executive production of Satoru Iwata.

[5] The game sports a dark and fluid visual theme, with its graphic design credited to Yohei Kikuchi, while Kazuomi Suzuki's credit for sound design also spans an extensive soundtrack of ethnic beats and chants, fused with atmospheric electronic sounds.

As the player makes progress extending the rotozoan's tentacles, the music will begin to evolve, adding more elements to the sound.

In an interview with Nintendo of Europe, Suzuki explained the concept as an idea of making "exclusive experiences that only can be made in video games", also noting that it has been an integral part of the Art Style project itself since its beginning.

[6] This feature can be noticed particularly when a significant amount of progress is lost by the breaching of a tentacle, as the additional elements in the music will simultaneously fade.