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Yao-Guai Hunter Game Cover

About Yao-Guai Hunter

Yao-Guai Hunter is a single player tactical role playing game with fantasy and anime themes. It was developed by MyACG Studio and was released on April 17, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Early AccessThe Game is  now V1.0. A Better Translation is now available! Thank you for your support! About the GameInkbrush & Blade — A Journey Through Mystic China When spirits roam and legends come alive, only a true cultivator can restore balance. As a lone Yao Hunter, wield blade and spell to cleanse a world where ancient demons awaken and forgotten myths take shape. Step into a h…

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Games Like Yao-Guai Hunter

Looking for games like Yao-Guai Hunter? Here are top tactical role playing recommendations with a fantasy and anime focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with SpellRogue, Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend or Indies' Lies.

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Reviews

90%Audience ScoreBased on 182 reviews
gameplay25 positive mentions
optimization3 negative mentions

  • Unique and diverse characters with distinct and engaging playstyles, each offering multiple build archetypes and strategic depth.
  • Beautiful and cohesive art style blending stylized and traditional Chinese themes with impressive animations, enhancing the game's atmosphere.
  • Innovative gameplay mechanics such as the energy system with carryover and partial regeneration, active abilities with cooldowns, and a rich variety of relics (elixirs) that complement the deckbuilding experience.
  • Energy system may feel restrictive or punishing to some players, especially the cost associated with reshuffling the deck and limited energy regeneration leading to frustrating situations.
  • Translation quality is uneven, with inconsistent terminology and occasional misinterpretations that can cause confusion but generally do not block gameplay.
  • Some technical issues include occasional slowdowns, glitches (e.g., shops or item usage), and UI problems on some platforms that detract from overall polish.
  • gameplay

    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    36% positive mentions, 58% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The gameplay of Yao-Guai Hunter is generally praised for its unique mechanics, diverse character playstyles, and smooth tactical depth, distinguishing itself from similar deckbuilders like Slay the Spire. Players appreciate its innovative mana system, strategic complexity, and varied character abilities, though some find it repetitive or simple at times. While translations and certain design choices receive criticism, the core gameplay loop is engaging, offering a fresh and rewarding experience within the roguelike deck-building genre.

    • “Yao-guai hunter stands on its own as a great addition to the roguelike deck-building game genre and a must-have for those who want more of this style of gameplay.”
    • “It's a fantastic little deckbuilder akin to Slay the Spire, this one has a beautiful art style that's a mix of stylized and traditional Chinese, and the characters' decks are far more interesting than those in most other similar games. I'm really enjoying the mechanics of the individual characters; they're far more unique, in-depth, and varied than any other Slay the Spire-esque games I've played.”
    • “All three characters have their own distinct and interesting gameplay options and unique mechanics, with unique upgrades chosen after each boss fight that make runs quite different.”
    • “The game is very easy to break compared to Slay the Spire, because the enemies are barely threatening, and the gameplay design is extremely simple.”
    • “I really don't know what to think of this one, gameplay is kinda meh, enemy design is decent, music is atrocious and uninspiring, and I got bored after 2 hours till I muted it.”
    • “Smoll content, repetitive gameplay.”
  • graphics

    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    68% positive mentions, 32% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game’s graphics receive widespread praise for their gorgeous, unique art style and charming Chinese-themed aesthetics, which greatly enhance its personality and immersion. Users highlight the detailed character designs, smooth animations, and beautiful visuals as standout features that contribute positively to the overall experience. While some find it derivative of similar titles, the art style consistently adds significant appeal.

    • “The artwork is absolutely stunning, and I enjoy all the character and enemy models.”
    • “Yao-guai hunter is a beautiful roguelike with unique gameplay mechanics, fresh character design, a lovely artstyle, and Chinese-driven theming that makes it really stand out from the pack.”
    • “Music & graphics: the music is really nice, a lot of flute and nice melodies, very immersive and the graphics/art is very beautiful.”
  • music

    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    74% positive mentions, 10% neutral mentions, 16% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for being immersive, charming, and fitting the game's atmosphere with its melodic flute and varied compositions. While some find it repetitive or occasionally slow in transitions, most appreciate it alongside the game's art and overall ambiance, highlighting it as a standout and integral part of the experience. A minority of users find the music uninspiring, but the consensus remains generally positive.

    • “The soundtrack is spectacular, featuring lovely character and card designs that enhance the experience.”
    • “Music and graphics: the music is really nice, with a lot of flute and beautiful melodies, creating a very immersive atmosphere.”
    • “The music, sound effects, and animations are all well done, complementing the art, atmosphere, and mythology effectively.”
    • “I really don't know what to think of this one; gameplay is kinda meh, enemy design is decent, but the music is atrocious, uninspiring, and I got bored after 2 hours until I muted it.”
    • “Just played a bit of this and it's really good for card game fans. My only small gripe is that the music is a bit repetitive.”
    • “Sometimes the music transitions between the end of a track and the start of a new one can be a bit slow, leaving some dead air for a moment.”
  • story

    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    30% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 30% negative mentions

    The story is noted to be relatively short and sometimes lacking in detail, with occasional bugs, but it effectively combines unique Chinese tropes and a captivating art style to create an atmospheric experience. While the main plot may be minimal, the narrative's blend of martial arts themes, character individuality, and mysterious world-building adds depth that appeals to fans of card games and adventure. Overall, the story offers a satisfying backdrop that enhances the game's challenging battles and unexpected encounters.

    • “Its captivating story, challenging battles, and unexpected encounters make it a satisfying game for any fan of card games or martial arts!”
    • “The unique things this brings to the table is the art and story, and it does those well enough I'm going to go ahead and recommend this game.”
    • “The game's captivating story, combined with its challenging battles and unexpected encounters, make for a satisfying gaming experience.”
    • “The rough part is mainly how short and not detailed the main story dialogue is, and some rare bugs.”
    • “A lot of it plays on Chinese story tropes though, so I am not sure how that translates to a global audience: like the cop character here, usually a heroic archetype in Chinese stories, is a drunk lazy fellow.”
    • “There is not much story to speak of, but the atmosphere and the song are top notch.”
  • humor

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by dark, cheeky tones that complement its unique art style and overall atmosphere, adding depth and personality. Players appreciate the witty text events and humorous character skill descriptions, which enhance the tactical gameplay experience.

    • “The artwork and humor add a lot to the game's personality.”
    • “The text events you'll get as choices in the game give you a peek into a world full of dark yet cheeky humor.”
    • “It has rich dark tones and it really ties in to the overall tone of living in a dark and humorous world.”
  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers solid replayability through various features like speedruns, daily challenges, custom modes, and community content, with future updates and higher difficulty levels expected to enhance it further. Overall, it provides an enjoyable and engaging experience that encourages repeated play.

    • “Replayability: they are building on it, but the base game is quite good and offers challenges with speedruns, daily challenges, custom mode, and Steam Workshop.”
    • “Not bad, quite fun and replayable.”
    • “Who knows, maybe the higher difficulty levels will add more to that replayability.”
  • optimization

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Optimization is criticized for performance issues and poor sound design that doesn't match the visual quality. Additionally, numerous translation problems are noted, affecting the overall experience.

    • “Performance issues are a major drawback, significantly impacting the overall experience.”
    • “The game has numerous translation issues that hinder immersion and understanding.”
    • “Sound design is very poor and does not match the quality of the visual design.”
  • character development

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The character development in the game is praised for its unique and visually appealing designs, diverse playstyles, and thematic depth. Skill mechanics are thoughtfully tied to character traits, enhancing immersion and replayability. Overall, it offers fresh and engaging character-driven gameplay with creative presentation.

    • “Yao-guai Hunter is a beautiful roguelike with unique gameplay mechanics, fresh character design, a lovely art style, and Chinese-driven theming that makes it really stand out from the pack.”
    • “They are giving a bunch of passive or active skills based on the character design, with some funny words written during the inner skill picking phase.”
    • “Nice ability animations, cool character design and playstyles.”
  • atmosphere

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The atmosphere is praised for its fun and friendly vibe, enhanced by well-executed art, unique characters, and challenging progression. Music, sound effects, and animations contribute significantly to an engaging and immersive experience, while the mythology adds depth despite the minimal story.

    • “Each character feels unique, climbing the ranks (here called auras) is appropriately challenging, the music, sfx and animations are all pretty well done, and I love how well executed the art, the atmosphere and the mythology are.”
    • “There is not much story to speak of, but the atmosphere and the song are top notch.”
    • “Fun gameplay, music, fun atmosphere, it's a super friendly card game, and I'm glad to have a chance to play it.”
  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's stability is compromised by glitches in the shop and item usage, as well as occasional slowdowns that cause input errors like unintended card selections.

    • “Sometimes the shop glitches and you can't buy anything, or items don't actually get used, or the slowdown causes the game to think you clicked twice and you end up using the wrong card.”
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Play Times

379h Median play time
258h Average play time
16-500h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Yao-Guai Hunter is a tactical role playing game with fantasy and anime themes. Common tags for Yao-Guai Hunter include turn-based, indie, roguelite, magic, deckbuilding and others.

Yao-Guai Hunter is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 258 hours playing Yao-Guai Hunter.

Yao-Guai Hunter was released on April 17, 2025.

Yao-Guai Hunter was developed by MyACG Studio.

Yao-Guai Hunter has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Yao-Guai Hunter for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Yao-Guai Hunter is a single player game.

Similar games include SpellRogue, Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend, Indies' Lies, Roguebook, Chrono Ark and others.