''Yandere Simulator'' is a stealth

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

video game currently in development by American game developer YandereDev. The game centers upon an obsessively lovesick schoolgirl named Ayano Aishi, nicknamed "

Yandere The following is a glossary of terms that are specific to anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes graphic novels, drawings and related artwork. ''Note: Japanese words that are used in general (e. ...

-chan", who has taken it upon herself to eliminate anyone she believes is monopolizing her senpai's attention.

Story and gameplay

The player controls Ayano Aishi (nicknamed Yandere-chan), an apathetic Japanese

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

girl who has developed a crush on Taro Yamada, a fellow student nicknamed " Senpai". Over the course of ten weeks, a different girl will fall in love with Taro, becoming a target for Ayano to eliminate. The player has the ability to kidnap, torture, poison, electrocute, matchmake, and drown rivals, befriend other schoolgirls, play small mini games, access a town the player can earn and spend money in, and more.

Demo

In 2020, the game's first official demo was released along with Ayano's first rival, Osana Najimi. The timeline for other rivals has not been announced.

1980s Mode

A prequel mode, named "1980s mode" was released in October 2021. This mode is a complete story mode that follows Ayano Aishi's mother, Ryoba Aishi, and follows the same storyline as the main story. The developer has stated that this mode was created to test the games various systems. 1980s Mode features VHS effects and a new complete

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

in order to differentiate it from the main story.

Development

''Yandere Simulator'' is developed by YandereDev, a freelance game developer identified as Alex and based in

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

. He first pitched the idea on

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...

in 2014, and after receiving positive feedback, decided to begin development. YandereDev regularly releases test builds of the game for debugging purposes. At first, suggestions and bug reports were accepted by email, but since 2016, he has asked for these emails to not be sent anymore, as they are "slowing down development". On March 1, 2017, YandereDev announced a partnership with

tinyBuild tinyBuild Inc. is an American publisher of indie games based in Bellevue, Washington. The company was established by Alex Nichiporchik and Tom Brien in 2011 to expand Brien's game ''No Time to Explain'' into a commercial release. Building from ...

that would help him polish, promote, and publish the game. On June 10, 2018, YandereDev announced that the partnership ended with the company in December 2017. , no official release date for the full game has been announced.

Controversies

Developer allegations

Throughout the development of Yandere Simulator, the developer, often referred to as Yandere Dev, has been subject to many allegations and controversies, with the most apparent one being fans' frustration over how long he has taken to develop the game.

Twitch Ban

In 2016, the game was added to a list of banned explicit games by the streaming service

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

. In a statement made to

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

, YandereDev blamed "self-righteous ideologies" for the ban.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://yanderesimulator.com/ Upcoming video games Bullying in fiction Crowdfunded video games High school-themed video games Indie video games Japan in non-Japanese culture Life simulation games Single-player video games Fiction about suicide Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in Japan Video games with alternate endings Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games Works about stalking Video game controversies