Design changes are in the works for the newly announced simulation management game Yokai Inn. The charming, pixelated, slice-of-life game was announced during E3 2021’s Wholesome Direct, and uses a colorful, pixelated art style to immerse gamers in the mystical world Yokai Inn takes place in. However, after a mix-up with another indie project in early development, it appears that Yokai Inn could receive a substantial change in its current art style.

Yokai Inn follows the story of a character who finds an abandoned inn. The inn, while empty during the day, springs to life with spiritual creatures once the sun sets. This Studio Ghibli-inspired adventure is fleshed out with mechanics like resource management, fishing, cooking, social interactions, and foraging around the inn. Currently, Yokai Inn is in the early stages of development, so it lacks a Steam Page or release date, but the game’s website and Twitter have been releasing regular updates about development progress, and it is currently speculated for release on both PC and Mobile devices, with hopes of a Nintendo Switch release as well.

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Like many popular farming and slice-of-life simulation games, including Stardew Valley and Littlewood, Yokai Inn possesses a detailed pixel art style. However, after confusion among fans, it was revealed the art style for Yokai Inn is very similar to another project called Frontier Story, a game being developed by Twitter user jmw327. Frontier Story lacks a development page on Steam, and doesn’t currently possess a website, making details on the project difficult to find. Currently, the only information available is the development updates posted on jmw327’s Twitter, which are repostings of originals taken down during 2020.

In a statement on Twitter, Yokai Inn’s developer ShibaPixels came out and admitted that admiration for Frontier Story had influenced many artistic choices for the game. ShibaPixels acknowledged that the art style for Yokai Inn was problematically close to Frontier Story, and apologized to jmw327 for the confusion the similarities had caused for fans of Frontier Story’s development. ShibaPixels also announced that Yokai Inn will receive changes to the current art design, with a goal to “make Yokai Inn even more visually distinct“.

Because Yokai Inn is in such an early stage of development, making big changes to the art style will likely help boost and solidify the game within the farming simulation genre instead of holding it back. Yokai Inn has already taken steps to break away from the tropes present in many slice-of-life and farming simulator games, while keeping the mechanics that appeal to so many fans of the genre. By cultivating and encouraging an art style just as unique as the storyline, Yokai Inn will hopefully be a refreshing new title for fans to look forward to.

Source: ShibaPixels, jmw327/Twitter

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Laura Gray
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Laura Gray is a writer, illustrator and gamer in cozy Boise Idaho. They have had a wild freelance career in being a nerd, spending time traveling as a professional cosplayer and becoming a published illustrator while working the night grind as an IT tech. Laura is currently a content writer for D&D campaigns and Screenrant while working on personal writing projects for publication. They are also busy welcoming their first child into their life, which has been the best adventure life has given yet.

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