Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) recently announced that they will be focusing on developing more in-house titles – and one of them will be Honogurashi no Niwa, set to release next summer. Although it inherits the visual style of NIS’s survival horror game series Yomawari, the upcoming game will be taking on a much more lighthearted approach as a cozy farming simulation game – or so the devs say.
In a recent interview with Famitsu, game designer Yuu Mizokami and development supervisor Mio Katsumata discussed their plans to make the new game “lighthearted and cozy” with no horror elements. However, the clues they’ve left throughout various promotional material suggest the upcoming farm simulator could be a bit more sinister than the devs are letting on.
Honogurashi no Niwa gained much online traction among Yomawari fans after its first trailer was released during the Nintendo Direct this July – and it’s easy to see why. While showcasing what seems to be a cozy, cute life simulation game, the trailer ends with the main character holding a flashlight in their hand in an empty dark road, with a creepy shadowy figure suddenly appearing behind them. This led many to believe that Honogurashi no Niwa is going to introduce some horror elements as well. The most recent promotional trailer further reinforces this theory, as it ends on an even creepier note (there’s even a low-key jumpscare).
However, the developers openly denied the game having any horror elements. “We added the flashlight scene in the Nintendo Direct teaser trailer because we thought Yomawari fans would enjoy it. But I don’t remember adding any horror elements other than that…,” Katsumata explained. The two developers admitted they were quite surprised by the online response of fans, especially the hype for the “horror aspects” of the game. “We get that some of our fans are expecting more horror elements, but we don’t really understand why that is,” Mizokami added. “In the first place, our plan for Honogurashi no Niwa was to make a lighthearted game, not a dark one.”
While we do want to say “trust the developers,” all the evidence laid out before us suggests that Honogurashi no Niwa could very likely be a Yomawari in disguise, presenting itself as a cute, relaxing farming simulator game only to be hiding something more sinister underneath. One thing to note is that in the Nintendo Direct trailer, the game had a tentative 15+ age warning, hinting that the story may contain some heavier themes. Furthermore, the recently announced limited edition box set available on NIS’s official online shop features some items that are ominously scribbled out with red paint in the preview image. Is Nippon Ichi Software trying to subtly hint at a big creepy plot-twist somewhere throughout the game’s story? There’s still around a year until we find out the truth, but with all the little creepy clues the developers are dropping, it seems like Honogurashi no Niwa might be a treat for Yomawari fans, and all other horror enjoyers alike.
Honogurashi no Niwa is set to release on July 30, 2026 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Please note that as of now, there hasn’t been any official announcement about English language support for the game, but with NIS America listed as the publisher, it could just be a matter of time.
