Steam page
Prologue
Chapter one, week one.
Chapter one, week two.
Chapter one, week three.
Chapter one, week four.
Yokai dancing in the moonlight - Yokai Landlord: Monster Mystery.
Released on 24th April 2025, Yokai Landlord: Monster Mystery is a social deduction style game, where you, as a new landlord, must uncover the Yokai who are living amongst your human tenants and evict them before the Yokai goes on a rampage.
Steam page
Prologue
Chapter one, week one.
Chapter one, week two.
Chapter one, week three.
Chapter one, week four.
Steam page
Prologue
Chapter one, week one.
Chapter one, week two.
Chapter one, week three.
Chapter one, week four.
Last edited by HydroSphere on Thu Jun 12, 2025 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Publisher and Developer, respectively.
Ayakashi Apartment. 
- Options.
Strange Interlude.
- The chapter select; there are a total of five chapters, plus prologue and epilogue.
Ayakashi Apartment. 
Half trusted rumours.
Me? Just a passing stranger who stopped by to give you a warning. You need to pay attention. Here's the deal, O foolish landlord.
Don't believe me? Well, I'd be more concerned if you swallowed a story like that without question.
Anyway, I've said what I came to say. What you do now is all up to you. It's all the same to me. If you keep ignoring my warning, though...
The building's the least of your worries. You and your residents are all in danger too. There won‘t be any time to debate whether Yokai exist or not when they're actually coming after you.
What's this...? You‘re looking a little pale, Landlord.
You bet. Don't put them on the same level as harmless ghosts and wandering spirits.
Gotta say, I didn't expect you to get on board this quickly. I know I'm the one who brought it up and all, but you should really be more careful about who you trust. In my case, though, I'm telling you the honest truth. There are Yokai in your apartments, and they are a danger to humans. ...No need to get so wound up. Even a dopey landlord like you can best these things if you know how. You are their landlord, after all. We can take our time going over the finer details later.- The Mysterious Man leaves.
Strange Interlude.
Strange Interlude- The icons on the right show how many Yokai and humans are present for that chapter; in this case, one Yokai and three humans.
A tough first job
Haha, no need to get so wound up. It's like I said, you absolutely have a way out of this. If you can't figure it out on your own, why not collect info from your residents? It's not such a weird thing for you to call on the people living in your building, right? Of course, some of those residents are really going to be Yokai in disguise. But if you're worried about that...
Hm? Why are you scribbling in that old book all of a sudden? Are you taking notes? Haha, you really are a dope, aren't you? Is this too much for you to remember without writing it down? While you're at it, how about you write down what your residents tell you, too? It could help you figure things out later. Anyway, let's get back on topic. Find the Yokai, who are unable to lie, hiding among your tenants. Should be a breeze, right? 
Yikes, doesn't take much to get you down, huh? C'mon, you want to protect your building, don't you? There's no need to rush things. The Yokai will pretend to be harmless at first.
A night with no moonlight is the darkest night of them all. Denizens of the darkness have their power amplified on nights like that. That's when the Yokai hiding in your building will go wild. I don't need to tell you how bad that would be for the humans living here, do I? Well, you'll never get anywhere standing here talking to me. I suggest you start getting to know your residents. Be sure to make a note of anything that seems like it could be important. Information will be your greatest weapon going forward.
Which ones are human, and which one is secretly a Yokai...? You'll have to ask around and gather intel to figure it out.
D-Did you need something from me today...?
What...? Yokai...?
Testimonies like that are going to be vital clues for proving who's really human. You'd better write it down so you don't forget.
I pointed this one out to you, but next time... Well, you'll just have to decide what's worth making a note of on your own. Even if you miss the chance to make a note of something, there's no need to worry.
Of course, right now, you've already found this conversation's most important point. You can just chill and listen to what this guy has to say. 
- Statements change colour once recorded.
Y-You have quite a sense of humor. H—Heheh...W-Well, if that's everything... P-Please excuse me...
- To go into a little more detail - If you try to note down every statement that "shakes", you'll run out of notebook room around week three. If you do run out of room, you can freely delete a statement and replace it with another one. In version 1.0.0, this could be a little more problematic as the memo icon didn't shake when reviewing past statements in the log. From 1.0.1 onwards this was changed. Semi-related, if you're playing with a mouse, you have to keep a eye on the memo icon to see if it shakes, but controllers vibrate, making it a little easier to track important statements.
Agonising self-questioning
That's right - if a Yokai denied that Yokai exist, it would be a lie. And like I told you before, Yokai cannot lie. You only got one piece of info this time, but sometimes you won't see what's so important unless you have another statement to compare it to. Speaking of which, you might find your tenant directory useful, too.
For now, try to figure out if any of the info you've gathered feels off in any way.
You'll just have to keep getting more info until the contradictions start to become more obvious. There's still some residents you haven't spoken to yet, too. How about you go see what they have to say? If you want to get rid of the Yokai, you'll have to speak to other residents and gather evidence to guide you to the truth. Well hey, it's nothing so complex, really. You just gotta do the same thing with the other residents.- You may have noticed, there's room for three arguments (up to three standalone statements or six contradictory statements). A valid argument will have a score of up to three stars. To successfully evict the Yokai, you generally need a three star argument; the Yokai will usually be able to brush off arguments with a lower score, even if you have multiple lower scoring arguments. We'll also need to provide strong arguments to prove that the non-Yokai tenants are human. As Saburo already has a three star argument that proves he's human, we won't need to worry about adding any further statements for him.
- "Note button shaking statements" will be written in italics. Any coloured text will be written in bold.
A tough first job
You're on your own now. Question your residents, gather information, and find the contradictions.
Huh? Yokai? Here in this building? You hit your head or something?
Huh!? You made fun of me and now you think I'm a Yokai! Cut the crap! Leave me alone, okay? If you're gonna mess around, do it on your own!
I see. Yokai, you say...?
So, that person really is...?
What if I was? It's not really something I need to discuss with you. Well then, excuse me.
Did I get behind in the rent or something? Oh man, how could I let this happen?! I‘m fresh out of cash, too. I moved here for work, but I haven't been paid yet! You gotta believe me!
Oh, really? So I don't have to give you any money today?
Hm... Yokai, huh? Hiding among us, you say? That sounds pretty cool, to be honest! Who'd have thought I‘d move into a haunted apartment block? Miracles do happen! The place is so clean and modern, too... You'd never guess there were monsters living here!
If you need any help looking for them, I'm here for you! C'mon, please? What do you say?
Huh, do you think I'm a Yokai too? Well, I guess it's hard to tell who's a Yokai from your point of view. But if I were one, that'd be awesome! Using suspicious spells or tricking people would definitely be fun! Well, see you around! Let me know if you find any clues.
The things your tenants will have to say will change over time. Once you hear their testimony for the current week, you probably won't be able to hear it again. If you want to check over the content of your past conversations, you can use the Log even across the week, just be careful not to miss it and go over the week. Of course, if you think you have enough info already, you can go ahead and try to evict whoever you think the Yokai is.
Agonising self-questioning
You still have until the New Moon to figure it out. I won't stop you if you want to just start evicting whoever, but it might be better to take your time and get your facts straight first.- Now we've spoken to our tenants, let's go for another chat with the mystery man.
A tough first job
Of course. I know who's a Yokai and what kind of Yokai they are. Don't ask why. You'll understand when the time is right. Maybe you're wondering why I won't just come out and tell you what I know. I told you before, right? It's all the same to me whether you believe me or not. But if you're going to believe me and expose the Yokai, you need to do it yourself.- Current tenant profiles
- Nothing left to do this week.
The secret movement of the Yokai
- We'll see a scene like this at the end of most weeks. The landlord is not present at these scenes, so we can't log any statements, but these scenes can sometimes help provide the player with clues to the Yokai's identity.
Reminiscence of the past
A tough first job
Oh right, you've got another job you have to do during the week. Taking care of this building on top of that must be real hard work. From what I saw last week, you don't even know the names of all your residents, do you? 
I see... So when your dad passed away, the building became your responsibility instead. So, right after you became the landlord, a Yokai slipped in? Haha, what a stroke of bad luck!
Ha, was that last week's visit? If you call that timid approach 'questioning,' then you really are quite the softie, huh?- The option to ask each tenant whether they're a Yokai during week one was added in 1.0.2 in response to repeated feedback asking why the landlord couldn't just ask each tenant to confirm whether they're a human or Yokai.
Still, just because Yokai can't lie doesn't mean they'll tell you everything honestly. They're perfectly capable of dodging questions or twisting the truth just enough to avoid lying. Even if you figured out who the humans are, without solid evidence to force a confession, the real Yokai might never admit the truth. Thinking about it that way, focusing on gathering evidence might be the safer and smarter approach-even if it takes more time.
- Even when you've excluded a tenant as a Yokai (and have evidence to prove that they're human), you still want to visit that tenant every week, as the tenant may still provide important information about the other tenants.
I-I'm not shaking th-that much... Am 1...? O-Oh, that‘s weird... I-It must be because it's so cold... It's not because I‘m s-scared or anything... 
Wh-What? You mean around the building...? Not really... I usually keep my curtains closed, so... I, uh... I haven't seen any strange people around, either... Except, well, maybe...
H-Homura, from Room 201... He's always heading off somewhere late at night... B-But that's all, really... He's in the room above me, so I can hear it when he's moving around... I I don't know where he goes or anything... H-He‘s probably not a bad person, either... I just... I feel like I've seen him around somewhere before... Th—That's all I can tell you... I-I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help...
Well yeah, duh. You would be too, if you were in my shoes. My buddies and I stayed up all night last night. 'Course I‘m tired now. Seriously, I can barely stay awake... If you gotta bother me, at least do it some other time... *yawn*
You want to know if I've noticed anything strange in the last week, right? Well...
When I leave for work in the morning, he's always sitting on that same bench, staring at me. I've seen him trying to peek in through my windows sometimes, too... Maybe worry less about Yokai and more about shady guys like him? That's all I can tell you. I'd appreciate it if you put more effort into your real job.
Ever since our little talk last week, I've been going out before work to watch for anyone who might secretly be one of them.
Heheh... I've always had a thing for Yokai, cryptids, urban legends... Basically, if it's mysterious, I'm into it! Same goes for my job. Have your heard of Monthly Shiran? It's an occult magazine put out by Shiran Publishing. I've always been a big fan of it, and now I work there! Take a look at it sometime; you might see one of my articles. Whoops, we've gotten kind of off track, huh? Sorry about that! So, about those Yokai hiding among us... I've been keeping a real sharp lookout from my window. I'm taking this seriously! I keep notes about everyone's behavior.
I mean, it's spring! A time of warmth and new life! And he's always shivering like he's cold or something. I gotta imagine he's some kind of cold-sensitive Yokai that doesn't like being around people. Don't you think so?
Hey, I‘m not doing anything wrong. I'm just trying to help with this Yokai search.
But if you say so, I'll dial it back a little. I'll stop staring people directly in the face and peeking into their rooms, okay? Sorry for the trouble.
You know, if you fixate too much on trying to find untrue statements, you're going to have a hard time. It's true that Yokai never lie, but humans tend not to either, unless they're up to something. Instead of trying to catch people telling lies, you might be better off looking for statements that would count as lies if the speaker were a Yokai. The tenant in Room 101 claiming that Yokai don't exist is a good example to start with. Or if somebody claims that they're the only ones who know who the Yokai is, that would exclude the Yokai themselves, so it would also count as a lie. I guess the fact that they never lie doesn't give you much to go on, evidence-wise... You could always just use the process of elimination - prove that everyone else is human, and whoever you're left with must be the Yokai. Still, though... If you confront one of your tenants like that, they're sure to demand you show 'em proof that they're a Yokai. But hey, evidence isn't just gonna fall into your lap. You'll have to keep gathering information for now. Even statements that seem pretty meaningless now could end up being important pieces of evidence later.- Profiles
- Saburo, Homura and Kodama's profiles are the same as the previous week.
The secret movement of the Yokai
- The results of the poll in the previous update.
A tough first job
But just because you haven't seen the moon, doesn't mean your deadline's not getting closer. The night of the New Moon is just two weeks away, y'know?
Oh? Haha, you're concerned about me when you and your building are in danger? I can't tell if you're really nice or just a dope. As you can see, I'm fine, even without an umbrella. That said, there's no point for me to stand out here. Maybe I'll take shelter here for a little while. As for you, you can't afford to sit around and be idle. If you've got time to chat, you should be using it to flush out the Yokai.
W-Wait, I remember... You wanted to know if I'd seen anything strange, right...? Last week... I mentioned Homura, right? W-Well, I remember where I've seen him before... He, uh...he goes to the same college as me... He's the captain of the basketball team, I think...
Y-Yes... I'm a sophomore at Ayakashi University, same as Homura... Well, not exactly the same... I could never run a sports team like he does... I mostly just sit at home playing games when I'm not studying... H-He always goes out early for morning practice, then has classes during the day, and goes out at night too... That must be tough... I don't think I could even stand one day of being that active...
W-Well, even before now, I've n-never been great at talking to other people or spending time outside... S-Sorry, I guess I wasn't much help... Oh, b- but...there was something I wanted to ask you. Y-You seem to be going around asking questions a lot lately, and... 
Eeeeeek! N-N-No way! Y-You c-can't be serious...! Wh-What about that other thing people have been talking about... Hitodama? A-Are you saying they're real too?! No, they can't be! They've been disproved, by science! They're just p-plasma, or luminescent swamp gas, or... or something... Oh, sorry... I got a little heated there... B-But, I meant what I said. Th-There's a scientific explanation for everything... Yokai c-can't possibly be real...
Aren't you all a little old for this stuff? Seriously, I feel like I'm living in a building full of idiots!
Duh, I'm still tired. You just woke me up! Urgh, I feel terrible... I can't go out and tear it up at night in all this rain... I'm stuck inside, and it really gets on my nerves!
And let's not forget about you! You know I sleep during the day, but you come around botherin' me every week! You messin' with me or something?! Urgh... I'm surrounded by idiots! Well, you can go thinkin' I'm a Yokai all you want... I'll be gone by next month, anyway. I can't stand livin' in a place like this much longer! Tch... Now I'm too pissed to sleep. Just get lost already, dumbass.
Hm... Now that you mention it, I haven't seen that Denba guy around so much lately. But that might just be because the rain means he can't go out so much. You should be careful, too.
Hm, I guess I never told you about this, hub? Sometimes at night, around midnight, I see a bright light outside my window. It hasn't happened so much since it started raining, so I've actually slept a lot better lately. You're not seriously thinking it's a Hitodama like the kids are talking about, are you? There's no way those things really exist. This whole thing's probably just an April Fools' prank that got out of hand. At your age, you really ought to know better. The kids are all talking about that rumor too, though... It is kind of strange. Anyway, I close my window and curtains to try to keep that light out, so I have no idea what's causing it. It's a pain sleeping with my window closed now the weather‘s gotten warmer. I hope I can keep it open next week. That's all I can tell you. It's no use asking me about Yokai or Hitodama or anything.
There's been less Hitodama sightings because of that, and I've been stuck staring out of my window.
Did I say I was going to stop? Sorry, I tend to forget any promises I make right after I make 'em. Anyway, I kinda made a promise I can't get out of... But don't worry, I made sure no one saw me this time, so it's all good! Now, are you ready for the info I've gathered this week? It'd be a shame for it to go to waste. First of all, there's Saburo. If you ask me, he's the most Yokai-like of them all! He spends all days hiding in the dark with his curtains closed up tight! Not only that, but whenever I see him go outside, he's always shivering. Why do you think that is? I've been keeping checks on other people too, though. Like Kodama from Room 203! She's pretty suspicious, too. She glared at me like crazy just 'cuz I looked at her, and she's seemed on edge all this week, too. Maybe she's afraid of someone figuring out she's a Yokai, and she's keeping her distance so she doesn't give herself away? Lastly, there's Homura, from Room 201. He's... Well, he's a real mystery. I don't think I've ever seen him go outside. It's not like I'm on the lookout 24/7, but it's still weird, right? Somehow, I just don't get what that guy's all about... Hm... The more I think about it, pretty much everyone here is pretty shady. Maybe I should give it a rest for today. Yeah, I'll take it easy for once! I've got no money, and it's raining out, so I guess I'll just space out and watch some videos about the occult.
Right now, I'm really into "Miishan's Late-Night Walks"! I always make sure to tip her when she does a stream, but now I'm living on my own, my money goes a lot faster... I've only got, like ¥200,000 left in my wallet. At this rate, I won't be able to support her much longer... Maybe this is karma for me being so irresponsible before...
Worrying about others at a time like this? You're too kind. A little rain like this isn't enough to bother me. You should worry more about yourself. Your little notebook is soaking wet.
Hm... So it's a memento of the building's former landlord, your father... If he went to the trouble of leaving it to you, it must be pretty important. Take good care of it, now. It'd be a real waste to let it get ruined in this rain.- New profiles.
The secret movement of the Yokai 
A tough first job
Really now? I worry about you... You might just be too considerate for your own good. But whether you believe me or not, let me say this: this week is going to be your last chance to evict the Yokai living among your tenants. Whether this building will still be standing next week all depends on you now.
I, uh... I wasn't at my best last week... I'm s-sorry you had to see me like that... B-But I had a feeling you'd be coming by again, so I've mentally prepared myself... I, uh...I should be fine this time. A-After all, there's really no need to be afraid of Yokai...Ahaha... So, uh... You probably want to know about the other tenants, right? There is someone who I've been wondering about lately... You know Kodama Shimizu? I think she lives in Room 203... A-Anyway, I saw her taking out her garbage a while back, and she wasn't looking too good... I don't like to think about it, but the way she was mumbling to herself... It was almost like she was possessed. N-No, that's not possible...! She was probably just tired or something, right? Right...?! I'm not accusing her of being a Yokai or anything... A-And I haven't seen any of these Hitodama everyone's talking about either... I won't believe in anything I haven't seen... Y-You have to properly observe phenomena before you can draw any conclusions...
You're still talking about that stuff? You really oughta give it a rest. I have heard there were some fires in the neighborhood this week, though. You can believe in Hitodama if you want, but remember to look out for earthly fires too, okay?
I'm guessing this means you haven't found them yet?
That's what I think, anyway. There's...no such thing as Yokai. Of course there isn't. It's all made up... There have been a lot of fires around town lately, and kids getting burned, but that's got nothing to do with the supernatural.
D-Don't you think...? Oh, forget I said that. Sorry, I've been having trouble sleeping lately. It's not like I opened my window and saw something strange outside or anything... Now please, leave me alone... You're cutting into time I could be using to catch up on my sleep. If you really care about my feelings, the best thing you can do is stop forcing me into these social situations.
I actually saw the Hitodama people have been talking about! My first encounter with a real Yokai... I‘m so stoked!
Sorry, I didn't have time to take a pic or figure out what - or who - was causin' it. But it's all true! None of my buddies believed me, they just laughed when I fell over... I tried to chase after the thing, y'see. But I was unsteady on my feet, and tripped, and that didn't really help my case. By the time I got up, the light had vanished. So in the end, I didn't manage to get any proof. But I know what I saw. I'm more sure than ever that some kind of Yokai is stalking around here at night. It's a huge step forward! I‘ve never been very good at staying up late, though... Even watching my favorite streamer's videos doesn't stop me from falling asleep. So even if I do keep a lookout, I don't think I'll be seeing Yokai again anytime soon. What a bummer... I guess you'll have to take charge of the Yokai search from here! Do me proud and flush 'em out, Landlord!
Yokai are unable to tell lies. Or, to put it another way, anything they say becomes true. That means once they say something, they're bound by it - they can't do anything that would contradict their own words. Think carefully. Has any tenant done something that goes against what they said? Or, more interestingly-has anyone acted exactly in line with their words, and nothing else? Even if a statement seems harmless on its own, try comparing it with the rest of what you know. You might notice something you missed before. You don't have to worry about human honesty, either. So far as I can tell, each of your human tenants is telling at least one lie.- As we've reached the four week deadline, we have to evict one of the tenants.
Agonising self-questioning
- As the opening / tutorial case, this is fairly straightforward, but would anyone like to vote for who should be evicted, and which italic statements should be used to prove whether Homura, Kodama and Denba are human or Yokai? To recap, up to three arguments per tenant can be provided, and these can either be a single statement / profile note, or two statements / profile notes that contradict each other.