BODY: Japan's beloved game of "keidoro" — the schoolyard cops-and-robbers chase — is getting a ghostly sequel on Nintendo Switch. Developer Free Style announced on July 17 that Obakeidoro 2 will launch on Switch on August 6 at 10:00 p.m. JST, priced at 1,980 yen including tax.
For the uninitiated, Obakeidoro takes the traditional Japanese tag game "keidoro" (a portmanteau of keisatsu, police, and dorobō, thieves) and swaps the cops for lantern-wielding ghosts. Human players scramble to survive and free captured teammates while spooky pursuers hunt them down across atmospheric maps. The original became a word-of-mouth hit as a couch-multiplayer party staple.
The sequel expands the chaos to support up to eight players. And the launch won't arrive quietly: Free Style plans to roll out a large-scale update the very same day. Headlining the patch is a new "7-vs-1" mode, tilting the odds dramatically in favor of the lone ghost, along with an option to adjust movement speed — a knob that lets groups fine-tune matches for younger players or seasoned veterans alike.
The combination of a fresh platform launch and a meaty content drop on day one signals that Free Style is banking on Obakeidoro 2 building the same grassroots momentum that carried the first game.
The insider take
From Tokyo, the timing feels deliberate. Early August lands right in Japan's summer-vacation window and near the Obon season — a stretch culturally steeped in ghost stories and kimodameshi (tests of courage). A horror-flavored party game leaning into local-multiplayer nostalgia is perfectly positioned for kids and families with time on their hands, and the 1,980-yen price keeps it an easy impulse buy. Free Style has long thrived on that word-of-mouth, seasonal appeal rather than big marketing budgets.
Originally reported by AUTOMATON (Japanese).