FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONSTER TAMING RPG YAMI KIDS: PLAYABLE AT TOKYO GAME SHOW 2026
Yanako RPGs brings its Underworld monster tamer to the Indie Game Area at Makuhari Messe from September 17, five days before the game launches on Steam
Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/SH7NSOi2uow
TOKYO - September 7, 2026 - Independent game developer Yanako RPGs is pleased to announce that Yami Kids, its dark monster taming RPG, will be playable at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2026. The game can be played at booth 09-C23 in the Indie Game Area at Makuhari Messe across all five days of the show, from September 17 to September 21, and releases on Steam on September 22 at 10:00 PM JST (9:00 AM EST), the day after the show closes.
Where the studio's Dokimon Quest looked back fondly at the Game Boy Color, Yami Kids looks somewhere darker. Players summon Oni rather than collect creatures, and the signature Shadow Duel turns a loss into the story: lose a match after nightfall and you are pulled into the Underworld, where the deal you strike to get home follows you all the way to the ending. The game was funded on Kickstarter in five days.
Tokyo Game Show is the last opportunity to play Yami Kids before release, and the studio's whole lineup is on show alongside it. Dokimon Quest, the studio's retro monster taming RPG, is available now on Steam, and its sequel Dokimon Quest II has been announced.
Learn more: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3807690/Yami_Kids/
KEY FEATURES
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SUMMON 80+ Oni and build a team out of the spirits of the Underworld.
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DUEL after dark in Shadow Duels, where losing is not a game over - it drags you below, and the bargain you make to get back follows the story to its ending.
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PLAY as twins Yuki and Yuumi, born five minutes apart and pulled in different directions.
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EXPLORE the world above and the Underworld beneath it, each with its own rules.
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EXPERIENCE a deliberately darker take on monster taming, in the lineage of Shin Megami Tensei: DemiKids and Yu-Gi-Oh.
ABOUT YANAKO RPGS
Yanako RPGs is the studio of solo developer Yano, creator of MonMae, Dokimon Quest, and Notice Me, Leena-senpai. The studio continues to innovate with retro-styled RPGs and monster taming titles, including Yami Kids, releasing September 22, 2026, and the newly announced Dokimon Quest II.
Follow Yanako RPGs on Twitter / X (https://x.com/yano_gamedev) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/yanako_rpgs/)
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Developer Yano is available for interview.
Press kit: https://www.yanakorpgs.com/press
MEDIA CONTACT
yano, Yanako RPGs — yanakorpgs@gmail.com
TEL: +1 727 598 8685
(c) 2026 Yanako RPGs. All Rights Reserved.