What is Yume Nikki?

Yume Nikki is a 2004 adventure game. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events also occur throughout the game in the form of cutscenes and unique gameplay sequences. The game has received critical praise for its surreal visual style and emphasis on open-ended exploration; its non-linearity led some critics to describe it as a precursor to walking simulators.

Its pixel art visual style and horror elements inspired numerous fangames and influenced later indie games. In 2018, Yume Nikki was published on Steam by Playism. The game has received various manga and light novel adaptations, as well as a 3D reboot called Yume Nikki: Dream Diary

Gameplay by Jedo94 on Youtube

Gameplay

Yume Nikki is an exploration-based adventure game with no dialogue, combat, or plot. The game begins inside her apartment, which the player is initially unable to leave. The player can save their progress by sitting at Madotsuki's desk and writing in her dream diary. Sleeping in her bed causes Madotsuki to start dreaming.Her dream begins in a room closely resembling her apartment.

On leaving the room, Madotsuki enters an area commonly referred to as the Nexus, which contains 12 new doors. Each door leads to a different area in the dream world, each having a distinct environment and design. The player's objective is to explore these areas and collect 24 different effects, which change Madotsuki's appearance or equipment when used.

Effects can be collected by interacting with certain objects and non-player characters (NPCs). Other objects and NPCs can send Madotsuki to different areas, but there is no way to encounter a game over. Throughout the game, random events occur, which can be cutscenes or have interactive elements. The game's ending, unlocked after the player collects all 24 effects, shows Madotsuki jumping off of the balcony of her apartment.

Develpoment and realise

Yume Nikki was independently developed and published by Kikiyama, a pseudonymous Japanese developer about whom very little is known.They created the game using the RPG Maker 2003 engine. Kikiyama first shared a build of the game on June 26, 2004, on the Japanese textboard 2channel.

They continued to update the game until 2007, stopping at version 0.10. After its initial release, it received a fan-made English translation. From 2011 to 2018, Kikiyama's status was unknown as they were unresponsive to all contact. A popular theory proposed that they could have died, possibly in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. On January 10, 2018, Yume Nikki was released on Steam by publisher Playism, and Kadokawa Games, the developer of the RPG Maker software, confirmed that Kikiyama was still alive and involved with the project.