Planned Release Date: Aug 13, 2026

About This Game

The festival starts at midnight. Do not let the wrong spirits in.

You are the monban - the gatekeeper of a supernatural shrine festival. Yokai, ghosts, tricksters and cursed creatures are waiting at the gate, and it is your job to decide who may enter before sunrise.

Inspect each visitor’s ticket, mask, lantern, offering and curse marks. Compare what you find against the rules of the night, then choose your response: admit them, reject them, collect an offering or purify them first.

Make the right decisions to earn coins and build your combo. Make too many mistakes and the Haunt Meter will fill, cursing the entire festival.

The rules never stop changing

Every shift introduces new restrictions, suspicious traits and increasingly complicated visitors. Festival events can alter the rules without warning, while the tolling bell makes certain spirits more dangerous as the night progresses.

When you are unsure, ask the Shrine Cat for help - but choose your moment carefully. Its patience is limited.

Shape the fate of the gate

Meet recurring spirits throughout a 30-shift campaign and decide how the shrine should treat those who seek sanctuary. Your chapter decisions affect future nights and determine which of three endings awaits the festival.

Spend your earnings between shifts on upgrades that forgive mistakes, reveal important traits, extend inspection time and strengthen your supernatural tools.

Features

A 30-shift campaign spanning six escalating chapters

18 interlocking rules to learn and enforce

Fast, readable inspections built around observation and deduction

Procedurally varied yokai alongside recurring story visitors

Admit, reject, charge or purify each visitor

Ten special festival events that change the nightly rules

Nine shrine upgrades to purchase between shifts

Meaningful chapter decisions leading to three endings

Endless Shift mode for high-score chasing

Atmospheric Japanese-inspired pixel art and supernatural creatures

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Monban uses some AI-assisted tools during development.