| Yandere Simulator | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | YandereDev |
| Designer(s) | Alex Mahan |
| Programmer(s) | Alex Mahan |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) | Alex Mahan |
| Composer(s) | CameronF305[1] |
| Engine | Unity[2] |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Stealth,action,visual novel |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Yandere Simulator is an upcomingstealthactionvideo game developed by Alex "YandereDev" Mahan for thePC.[3][4] The story follows obsessively lovesick schoolgirl Ayano Aishi, nicknamed "Yandere-chan", who takes it upon herself to eliminate anyone she believes is attracting her "senpai" Taro/Taeko's attention.[5][6] A1980s-set prequel,Yandere Simulator: 1980s Mode, following how Ayano's parents Ryoba and Jokichi met, wassoft-launched on October 10, 2021. Thenon-canonYandere Simulator: Mission Mode follows Ayano as anassassin pursued by Nemesis.
Beginning development in 2014, the game achieved a considerable amount of attention online the following year, leading to millions of downloads ofpre-release versions of the game, as well as crossovers and spin-offs.[7] The game has endured alengthy development and been subject to several controversies.[7]
In202X Mode, the player controls Ayano Aishi (nicknamed Yandere-chan; voiced by Michaela Laws), an apatheticmonoromanticasexual[8]student[Note 1] who has developed a crush on 18-year-old Taro/Taeko Yamada (voiced by Austin Hively as a boy – Taro – and by Laws as a girl – Taeko – depending on the gender the player chooses for them), a student only ever referred to in game as "Senpai", believing Taro/Taeko to be the treatment to her "Aishi Condition", an inherited condition causing the women of her family not to feel emotion until they find theirlove at first sight.[9][10] Over the course of ten weeks (whilst Ayano's parents are out of town tracking down "The Journalist"), a different girl will fall in love with Taro/Taeko each week, becoming a target for Ayano to "eliminate" with the help of the anonymous information broker, Info-chan (voiced by Cayla Martin, Megan Souza, and Amberleigh Elderweb).
The player has the ability to kidnap, torture, poison, electrocute, matchmake, befriend, betray, frame, and drown rivals – Osana Najimi (voiced byBrittany Lauda), Amai Odayaka (voiced by Kimberley Anne Campbell), Kizana Sunobu (voiced by Katelyn Barr), Asu Rito,Nurse Muja Kina, and Hanako Yamada/Nemesis (all voiced byDawn M. Bennett), Osoro Shidesu (voiced by Alexis Silvera),[11] and Megami Saikou (voiced byAmaLee), befriend other schoolmates – includingStudent CouncilSecretary Akane Toriyasu andvampire Inkyu Basu (both voiced byKira Buckland), Kokona Haruka/Generica and Oka Ruto (both voiced by Caitlin Myers), Student CouncilVice-President Kuroko Kamenaga and vampire Sakyu Basu (both voiced byKayli Mills), andDrama Club member Riku Soma (voiced byJonah Scott), as well asghost Fun Girl Saikou (voiced by Yuko Sakura),guidance counselors Mae and Genka Kunahito andsubstitute teacher Mida Rana (all voiced byMarissa Lenti), play small minigames, earn money by playing amaid café minigame, spend money at shops to buy items – and more.[12][13][14]
Yandere Simulator: 1980s Mode, set in1989, centers upon Ryoba (voiced by Michaela Laws),[15] the future mother of Ayano, who as an 18-year-old had become obsessed with a popular Akademi Academy student named Jokichi Yudasei (voiced by Austin Hively), the future father of Ayano, to treat her own "Aishi Condition".[1] The featuresVHS effects and a newsoundtrack in order to differentiate it from the main story. Ten rivals stand in her way and a journalist is watching her every move, aware of her homicidal tendencies. In order to prevent detection, Ryoba must plan her moves out carefully. If she acts suspiciously or does not clean up after her murders properly she will gain a "guilty" point. She can counteract these by befriending fellow students and maintaining a good reputation. The Journalist (voiced byBradley Gareth) eventually brings Ryoba to court after eliminating her rivals; if she has collected more guilty points than innocent ones she will be found guilty and imprisoned. If found innocent she will kidnap Jokichi and keep him in her basement until he agrees to enter into a relationship with her.
Yandere Simulator: Mission Mode is anon-canon storyline and aparody ofHitman where-in Ayano is anassassin hired by Info-chan on behalf of theyakuza to kill various targets around Akademi Academy (with Taro/Taeko being her first victim), pursued by a rival female assassin known as Nemesis (voiced byDawn M. Bennett.[16] InYakuza Mode, the highest difficulty setting ofMission Mode, Ryoba is playable instead of Ayano, depicted as a fully-dressed yakuza withkatana in-hand.
Yandere Simulator is developed by YandereDev, a freelance game developer run by Alex Mahan and based inTemecula,California.[2][17] He first pitched the idea on4chan around 2014, and after receiving positive feedback, decided to begin development.[18] Mahan has stated that the seriesMirai Nikki andSchool Days were inspirations for the game. In order to work on the game full-time, Mahan opened aPatreon account in 2016; he has stated that prior to this he worked as a freelance programmer.[19]
On November 16, 2016, aspin-offMetroidvania game titledYandertale was released; aparody ofUndertale, it follows Ayano Aishi as she fights Oka Ruto inSans-inspired battle.[20]
On November 16, 2016, anon-canonMission Mode was released; aparody ofHitman, the mode follows theassassin Ayano Aishi as she is hired to kill various targets around Akademi Academy, pursued by a rival female assassin known as Nemesis.[16]
From March to December 2017, YandereDev partnered withtinyBuild to help him polish, promote, and publish the game,[21][22] the partnership ending due to tinyBuild's programmer and Mahan conflicting.[23]
On August 31, 2020, the game's first demo was released along with Ayano's first rival, Osana Najimi.[24][25]
On October 10, 2021, a prequel game,Yandere Simulator: 1980s Mode, was released.[1] This game is a story mode that follows Ayano Aishi's mother, Ryoba Aishi, and follows the same storyline as the main story, inspired by1980sslasher films. The developer has stated that this game was created to test the main game's various systems.[1]
In September 2023, after an allegation was brought against Mahan by a 16-year-old girl claiming that he had beengrooming her and released a recording and transcript of their conversation, several of the game's developers and voice actors, including Ayano's voice actress Michaela Laws, left the project.[26] In January 2024, Mahan apologised for the "inappropriate" conversation that had occurred, stating that "I did not attempt to establish a romantic or sexual relationship with the girl [but] after having my behaviour explained to me as commonly associated with romance, I can understand how it was interpreted that way [and am] sorry for having stupid, inappropriate conversations I never should have had", and that on opening a dialogue with the girl in question,Yandere Simulator would resume development.[27]
On March 31, 2024, on the 10th anniversary ofYandere Simulator, YandereDev estimated that the final game "would come out towards the end of 2026, or maybe the beginning of 2027".[28] On May 1, 2024, YandereDev released Ayano’s second rival, Amai Odayaka.[29]
YandereDev released "The Hardware Update", adding an in-game store at which to spend in-game currency on items on July 15, 2024.[30] YandereDev released the1980s Revamp on October 21, 2024, giving the characters of1980s Mode "a completely new appearance".[31] On October 31, 2024, YandereDev announced the return of voice acting and the addition ofvisual novel features to the game, along with confirming the game's "supernatural elements" to factor into the main story mode.[32]
On January 1, 2025, YandereDev announced that the game would be ported to be playable onAndroid.[33] However, due to file size limitations, the idea was scrapped in March.[34]
YandereDev has released several animated prequel shorts delving into thebackstories of Ayano Aishi and Osoro Shidesu: "Yandere-chan's Childhood" in 2017, and "Delinquent Backstory" and "A Childhood Lesson" in 2018.[9][11][15]
LoveSick, aweb series adaptation ofYandere Simulator written and directed by Abby Roebuck, animated by Sakura Media with permission from YandereDev, and sponsored byAmino, aired for nine episodes from June 6, 2017 to January 24, 2020.[35]
Aspin-offmanga series based onYandere Simulator: Mission Mode and entitledNemesis: Retribution, written by Alex Mahan and illustrated by Vanelover and JIBJAB, was published from August 1, 2019 to March 19, 2022.[36][37] Set during the events ofMission Mode, the series explores the origin and motivation of its antagonistHanako Yamada / Nemesis.
On May 24, 2015, Pippi Osu,mascot from therhythm gameosu!, was added toYandere Simulator as aNPC student of Akademi Academy, with Samantha Chan reprising her role, with permission from the game's creator Dean Lewis "peppy" Herbert.[38]
On October 25, 2016, Yandere-chan (Ayano Aishi) and Generica (Kokona Haruka) were added as characters in theanime-style idledating simCrush Crush, with Michaela Laws and Caitlin Myers reprising their roles, while the cast ofCrush Crush were added toYandere Simulator as playable character skins.[39] Within the narrative of the game, after Ayano (later renamed "Ayeka" after theYandere Simulator licensing ended in 2023, as a parody composite character withMonika fromDoki Doki Literature Club!) kills the original eighth girl Generica, she begins to date the player, with her primary weapon being abaseball bat. Generica later returns as a ghost to become frenemies with Ayano/Ayeka, who the player may also romance.
In July 2017, Yandere-chan (Ayano Aishi) was added as a character in the open-source onlinestrip poker simulatorStrip Poker Night at the Inventory. In the game, Ayano is among the many characters the player character can play strip poker with.[40]
On January 1, 2018, the main characters ofDoki Doki Literature Club! (Monika,Sayori,Yuri, andNatsuki) were added toYandere Simulator as playable character skins for Ryoba and Ayano Aishi, with permission fromTeam Salvato.[41][42]
On January 9th 2019, Yandere-chan (Ayano Aishi) was added as aplayable character to thefighting video gameGo All Out! on theNintendo Switch, with Michaela Laws reprising her role.[43] In her narrative, she is presented as having beenisekaied into the realm of the game during the events ofYandere Simulator, aiming to kill Calamity to return to her Senpai.
On December 28, 2019, it was announced the characters fromYandere Simulator would be added asplayable characters to thepuzzle andactionrole-playing gameProject QT early the following year, with Ayano Aishi (renamed Patti in a 2023 update) and Info-chan (renamed Emily in a 2023 update) ultimately being chosen via poll, with Michaela Laws and Cayla Martin reprising their roles.[44] In the game's narrative, Ayano is presented as having beenisekaied into the realm of the game years after the events ofYandere Simulator, before mistaking theProject QT protagonist for her Senpai.
In March 2020, Osana Najimi was added as a playable character to thevisual novel gameTriple Treat by Screampunk Arts (later Nitropunk Arts) with permission from YanderDev, published viaMega through files made available at theirDeviantArt page.[45][46]
On June 24, 2020, Yandere-chan (Ayano Aishi) and Nemesis (Hanako Yamada) were added asplayable characters to the Frenchthird-person shooter gameBITC (Boobs in the City), with Michaela Laws andDawn M. Bennett reprising their roles.[47] In the game's narrative, Yandere-chan is depicted as an axe-wielding underclassman to the protagonist Coach, aiming to keep all other girls from him, while Nemesis is depicted as being "an artificial lifeform sent from the future to save Coach's life".
AYandere SimulatorDLC was added to the multiplayerhorrorparty gameDark Deception: Monsters & Mortals by Glowstick Entertainment on June 28, 2023, featuring aYandere Simulator map with Fun Girl as the boss of Boss Time, Police Officers as the bosses of Trap Time, as well as Senpai (Taro Yamada), Info-chan, and Nemesis (Hanako Yamada) as playable mortal characters, and Ayano Aishi as a playable monster character, with Austin Hively, Cayla Martin,Dawn M. Bennett, and Michaela Laws reprising their roles, Bennett via archival audio.[48]
The game has received criticism over its content and themes, with the most common criticism centering upon the presence of sexuality and murder.[49] In their 2022 doctoral dissertation, Kristian A. Bjørkelo noted that some hearing about or playing the game found ittransgressive due to the themes of sexuality and murder, while others took more exception to an update that would allow players to kill cats as a way of avoiding police detection. They further noted thatYandere Simulator was an example of a game that conflicted with "the idea that play is harmless fun, something that can be considered for children, a notion that can be referred to as the idealization of play... or the fallacy of play".[49]: 11
Cecilia D'Anastasio, writing forKotaku, covered the debug version in a 2017 article; she commented that the game had received criticism for "glamorizing suicide, bullying and Bipolar Disorder—allegations that I strongly agree with, despite the game's merits as simulator for sociopathy."[19] D'Anastasio went on to interview Mahan in the same article, who stated that the game "pivots on the archetype of an obsessed, violent stalker, rather than female stereotypes."[19]
In January 2016,Yandere Simulator was added to the list of games that are disallowed for play over the streaming platformTwitch. Mahan was a vocal critic of the ban, claiming that Twitch never explained what prompted its addition to the list and that he would have been willing to "modify minor, innocuous things that were never meant to be the focus of the game, but I would not be willing to remove gameplay mechanics, remove core features, or change the focus of the game",[10] further criticizing the ban as a result of "self-righteous ideologies".[10]
pippi, stylised with a lowercase "p", is theosu! game modemascot that joined on 2008-07. She is also known as pippidon inosu!taiko and appeared inYandere Simulator as anNPC. The initial concept art was created by Sarumaru, the pippidon sprite was created by crystalsuicune, and the current art was designed by Daru.
Go All Out! patch 1.00.11 is live – Yandere-chan enters the battle!
