Yandere Simulator can be considered a stealth, action game, in development by YandereDev. The game is currently being developed in Unity, and is slowly being updated on a month-to-month basis, with the amount of new content varying. The premise for the game is you play as schoolgirl, Ayano Aishi, who’s nicknamed Yandere-chan after the Japanese term “yandere”. Yandere refers to a girl (mostly) who is willing to harass, harm, or even kill due to their romantic attachment to their crush. This term takes its form in gameplay by having the player control Yandere-chan, who must eliminate any and all girls who might show an interest in “Senpai”.
By the end of development, the game is set to have 10 weeks, with each new week having a new rival for Yandere-chan to take care of. These rivals are closing in on Senpai, and the player will lose the game if this rival confesses their love to senpai. To take care of this little problem Yandere-chan is having, there are a number of ways to take care of these rivals, with one resorting to murder and the other tasking the player to play as Cupid, forcing the player to shack up the rival with another student.
If the player decides murder is the way to go, then they must clear up all the evidence that could pertain their attachment to the murder. As such, the player will need to clean up any blood, be it on the ground or in their clothes, dispose of the body, and even hide the murder weapon. If the player manages to do all of this successfully, without getting caught, then they will be able to progress onto the next week.
If the player gets seen murdering another student, then the police will be informed, and the player will have 5 in-game minutes before they arrive. Depending on a number of factors, like Yandere-chan’s sanity, evidence, and the crime-scene; if all of these are considered satisfactory, then the police will be unable to convict Yandere-chan.
Yandere Simulator is currently still in development, and the only version of the game is a playable demo. However, the creator has posted several potential features:
- Stealth Skill – Yandere Simulator has been compared to the Hitman series. The sneakier your kills are, the higher your score will be. Targets must be eliminated without either the teachers or your senpai catching you, so players must get creative when it comes to killing their opponents. Players whose kills are messy can be cleaned up before police or forensics get there, even if a fellow student has spotted you committing the crime.
- Reputation – As Yandere-chan, you’ll need to keep suspicion off of you if you are to carry out your mission successfully. Each kill will need to be planned carefully; sloppy kills can leave behind evidence, casting suspicion on the protagonist. Teachers, fellow students, and even your senpai can start to be overly cautious around you, making it harder to get a clean kill when you need one. Since you have a time limit of an in-game week to eliminate your target, having a good reputation so others will let their guard down is a must.
- Sanity Level/Kills – Yandere-chan has a sanity level that must be high when she’s around others. When a player kills someone in the game, their sanity level temporarily drops. This is visible to other characters, so you have to be careful when making your kills. The crazier you look, the more teachers and students will keep an eye on you. Your kill animations are also dependent on the type of kill you make. Clean kills don’t drop your sanity level as much, and your kill animations will be quick and efficient, giving others less time to catch you in the act. Likewise, sloppy or violent kills drag on and can attract anyone nearby.
- Weapons/Killing Methods – Yandere Simulator doesn’t have any definite weapons yet, but the creator has indicated that there will only be weapon types that can be found on school grounds. This could be anything from a stapler to a baseball bat, but the point is that there won’t be weapons that are unusual for a school to contain. Killing methods vary; the player is encouraged to be creative in the way they take down rivals. You can stage an accident, murder someone in secret, or (more disturbingly) you can use your reputation to have other students bully your rival into committing suicide.
Yandere-chan can decide on whether or not to go to class, where if she does will give her skills in 5 different areas. These areas are: Chemistry, Language, Biology, Physical Education, and Psychology.
Potential skills to be learned in their respective classes
- Biology – Tranquilise other students
- Language – Gives the ability to write suicide notes, allowing for the player to push certain NPC’s off the roof.
- Chemistry – Gives the ability to poison an NPC and kill them with it
- Physical Education – Will give the player the ability to run faster and carry a corpse within their arms
- Psychology – Boosts your reputation gain, lessen your reputation loss, and strengthen the effect of your gossip
There are a number of ways the player can lose the game, with one being convicted by the police; another is if senpai proceeds to witness Yandere-chan commit a murder or even when Yandere-chan’s sanity or reputation become too low. These, along with a few other factors are all elements of the game the player will need to keep an eye on to prevent a game over.
Whilst at the moment senpai may only be a male NPC, in time it’s set for the player to decide on what gender they would prefer to have their senpai. This, along with a number of other changes and additions are set to be included in the game upon release, with a number of extra content for players to enjoy.
The game is interesting, to say the least. The idea of Yandere-chan is taking from anime tropes of the same nature, and there are many anime where one of the protagonists is a lovesick sociopath, such as Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary). It’s not a revolutionary concept, but the idea of a game where you are a yandere is. With a multitude of run-of-the-mill horror games that have come out lately, it’s refreshing to see a concept that so captures the attention of the online world.