Ao Oni

The player controls Hiroshi as he explores the locked mansion, gathering items and solving puzzles in order to escape.^[5][12] The Aooni will begin to chase the player at both random and at certain scripted moments throughout the game.^[13][14]

A teenage boy named Hiroshi, along with his classmates Takuro, Takeshi, and Mika, investigates a mansion on the outskirts of town that is rumored to house a monster. They discover the Aooni, described as a naked, blueberry-colored giant who pursues the group. One by one, each of Hiroshi's classmates dies in the mansion, becoming infected with a virus that transforms them into another Aooni.^[15] Hiroshi continues to explore the mansion, solving puzzles and evading the Aoonis as he seeks a way to escape.

Aooni was first developed in 2008 by Japanese indie developer noprops with RPG Maker XP.^[7][5][4] noprops had developed various puzzle games during and after Aooni's development such as Escape from the Haunted Room and White Room.^[1][16][17] Four versions of the game were released until the game's final release in 2011; these versions differ drastically in terms of plot, map layout and puzzles.^[4][1][18] A spider-like Oni was planned to be added as an enemy in the third released version, but was scrapped due to difficulty in giving it an natural-looking walk animation.^[19]

Ao Oni has received mixed-to-positive reviews. Chloi Rad of Indie Statik gave the game a positive review, praising the "solid puzzle design" and the Oni's scare factor, but she criticised the graphics and the story as simplistic, although she said the graphics "[didn't] add or remove anything from the game, really, and [were just] a mere functionality".^[12] Italian website Horrormoth gave the game a negative review, but said it would be "nice way to pass the time".^[20] Anastasia Wilds of Screen Rant included Aooni in her "Top 15 Best RPG Maker Horror Games" list, calling the titular demon "an extremely frightful enemy that is hard to forget and even tougher to beat".^[21] Christine Angelica Mendoza of Game Rant ranked the titular demon in second place in the list "8 Strangest Villains In Horror Games", saying "his bizarre appearance makes him a bit more laughable than scary!".^[15]

Aooni has been dubbed "probably the most famous horror game created with [RPG Maker]".^[4] The popularity of Aooni revolves around the effectiveness of its horror aspects despite its simplistic nature, with the background music cited as a key contributor to the game's chilling atmosphere used to incite fear.^[2] It gained a cult following online in Japan, gaining notoriety through websites such as Niconico and YouTube where Aooni-related videos had exceeded 50 million views by 2013.^[5] Aooni gained international popularity when western YouTubers such as PewDiePie and Markiplier posted playthroughs online.^[5][4][22] Aooni games have collectively culminated over 34 million downloads.^[23] Many fangames have also spawned in the wake of the game's popularity.^[1][21]

Aooni has been credited for both popularising and influencing horror games made with RPG Maker.^[24][25] Makoto Sanada (known online as Hoshikuzu KRNKRN), creator of Angels of Death and The Forest of Drizzling Rain [ja] was inspired to make freeware games after learning of Aooni and its success.^[26]

Adaptations

Main articles: Ao Oni (franchise) and Ao Oni (film)

Aooni has been adapted into a variety of media, including novels, two live-action films, anime and manga.^[21][27]