Yandere Simulator

The Japanese anime culture has its weird parts, but western fans have accepted them all over the years. Although you can think of them as rather disturbing in some cases, the creators describe them as purely entertaining, as well as a way for people to experience their fantasies without hurting anyone in the process. Naturally, it was bound for the video game market to pick up on the subject.

Yandere Simulator is rather difficult to put into words, but it’s certainly not as weird as other things that have come out of anime in the past. In essence, this is a sandbox game with stealth and action elements, in which you play the role of a schoolgirl with a crush on a special boy. Her crush is not to be taken lightly, on the other hand, because she is willing to do much more than just look at pictures of him all day and maybe call and hang up every once in awhile.

Murder is much more to the point, and the game uses Hitman-like gameplay mechanics to make that happen. You are free to walk around the map at all times, although the story is split into days and the clock is always running. It is possible to go to school and a few other places, where you can interact with other characters. In case you stumble onto a weapon, it is also possible to use it in order to hurt the said characters.

Just like in Hitman, it’s not very helpful to kill someone with a lot of witnesses around. It is also in bad taste to walk around drenched in the blood of your victims, so you might want to time your violent sprees with a bit of care. However, murder is not the only item on the menu. You can also collect items for the shrine dedicated to your crush, or choose between a wide variety of panties.

Naturally, it is worth noting that the game features some mature themes every now and again. Besides murder and gore, sexually inappropriate behavior and imagery might come into play as well. On the other hand, your primary goal is not to walk around looking at panties, so that entire side of the game can be avoided if you do not want to have anything to do with it.

Yandere Simulator is still a work in progress, so the game has the potential to get a lot better in time. Even so, the mechanics are quite polished even now, especially when it comes to the stealth aspects and the graphics, although the level design is a bit barren.