Dokimon Quest II is officially happening, and the story behind it is almost as wild as the game itself. Yanako RPGs has unveiled the sequel to the immensely popular monster-taming RPG Dokimon Quest, alongside a brand-new spin-off, Dokimon: The Living Soil, with both games heading to Kickstarter later this year. The double Kickstarter pre-launch page is open now, and both games are wishlisted on Steam. The catch? The developer is leaving Japan to make them, relocating its studio from Tokyo to Seoul after nearly two years of fighting to keep its business in Japan.
It is a remarkable double announcement: a sequel to one of the biggest indie surprises of 2025, a cozy farming spin-off in a completely different genre, and a studio move that says a lot about how hard it can be to run a small games company in Japan. If you claimed Dokimon Quest during its record-breaking giveaway last year, this is the news you have been waiting for.
Dokimon Quest II: Back to Edo Period Japan in 1855
The original Dokimon Quest exploded after its release on Steam in June 2025. The monster-taming RPG was claimed nearly 2.5 million times during a 48-hour giveaway in June 2025, when the game was free for two days, and it has since sold more than 100,000 copies. The game features more than 140 original Dokimon across the Xelos region, and it is out now on Steam, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. For a small indie team, those numbers are extraordinary, and they explain why a sequel was inevitable.
Dokimon Quest II takes the series somewhere unexpected: back in time. Players will travel to Edo period Japan in 1855, nearly 200 years in the past, to explore the vast, detailed streets of Edo and finish what they started: Save Maiko! The battle system has been remade from scratch for the sequel, with a battle camera that can be turned off, result cards, and optional battle tips, alongside entirely new areas to explore, new enemies to defeat, and new Dokimon to collect. For fans who spent dozens of hours catching and training Dokimon in the original, a whole new era to explore and a whole new set of creatures to collect is the hook that matters most.
The sequel will be crowdfunded alongside its spin-off sibling, with both games coming to Kickstarter later this year. That double Kickstarter is a bold move, and it suggests the team has big plans for the Dokimon universe that go well beyond a single sequel.
Dokimon: The Living Soil Is a Cozy Farming Spin-Off
The second game in the announcement is a complete change of pace. Dokimon: The Living Soil is a cozy slice-of-life farming game, planned for Steam Early Access, in which players retire from Dokimon Ranger duty and move to a small town in the Haruna region of Gunma, where they can build a quieter life with their Dokimon crew.
It is a fascinating pivot for a team known for monster-taming RPGs. In The Living Soil, players grow crops where the secret is in the soil itself, dive into caves for treasure, and learn real-world farming and soil know-how along the way. It shows how much confidence Yanako RPGs has in the world it has built. The Dokimon universe is not just about catching creatures and battling. It is a place, with farms and families and quiet corners, and The Living Soil is an invitation to slow down and live in it. For players who love cozy farming games, it could be one of the most interesting new entries in the genre, and for Dokimon fans, it is a chance to see a familiar world from a completely different angle.
Why Yanako RPGs Is Leaving Tokyo for Seoul
The most surprising part of the announcement has nothing to do with the games themselves. Yanako RPGs, the studio behind Dokimon Quest, has been based in Tokyo since October 2022, and it has now closed its Tokyo offices after nearly two years of fighting to keep its business in Japan. In a public post on October 1, head developer Yano explained the decision, saying: “Countless recent changes in the country and government have made it completely unpractical and unwelcome for our business.”
The move is strictly a matter of business and business operations, and the studio has stressed that no delays are expected and development continues. In Seoul, the studio hopes to shift back into putting all of its time and resources into game development, for the first time in the better part of nearly two years. Yano also made clear that the team still loves Japan and Korea alike, and the studio will keep supporting the Japanese language and going to events in Japan where it can.
Here is the twist that makes the story even more interesting: despite the move to Seoul, both new games are set in Japan. Dokimon Quest II takes place in 1855 Edo period Japan, and The Living Soil is set in Gunma, which means the studio will be building Japanese worlds from a new home in Korea. The studio is rebuilding in Seoul, and both of its next games are being made there. It is an unusual situation, and it gives both games a story that goes beyond what is on the screen.
Why Dokimon Quest II Is Such a Big Deal
Step back from the headlines, and Dokimon Quest II is a sequel with a lot riding on it. The first game was one of the great indie success stories of 2025: a monster-taming RPG that found an audience of millions through a giveaway, converted a huge chunk of them into paying players, and built a community that is still growing more than a year later. A sequel set in 1855 Edo period Japan, with a remade battle system and new Dokimon to collect, is exactly what that community has been asking for.
The monster-taming genre is in a fascinating place right now. The biggest games in the space are changing, with some long-running titles winding down and new challengers emerging, and a confident indie sequel with a proven audience has a real chance to stand out. If you want a sense of how much the genre is shifting, Pokémon UNITE Is Shutting Down: Servers Close in March 2027 After Nearly Six Years shows just how quickly the landscape can change.
The double Kickstarter later this year will be the moment to watch. If the community that claimed 2.5 million copies of the original shows up to back the sequel and the spin-off, Yanako RPGs could have one of the biggest crowdfunding campaigns of the year on its hands. And with the new Seoul studio opening, the team will be building both games from a fresh start, in a new country, with a new story to tell. The studio is also the team behind Yami Kids, a game about duelling after dark in the Shadow Duels, which is out now on Steam.
For now, the announcement does what it needs to do: it confirms the sequel, introduces the spin-off, and explains the move. Keep an eye on the Kickstarter when it goes live later this year, and if you have not played the original yet, now is a good time to see what 2.5 million players were so excited about. And if you are tracking the early-2027 RPG calendar, Atelier Karia Just Got a February 25, 2027 Release Date — and the New Trailer Dives Into Noctrem is another one to watch.
Source: Yanako RPGs via Games Press.
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