10+ Things to Do at Night and How to Defeat Yokai in Village in the Shade

Nighttime in Village in the Shade is much more than a period when you should return home and go to sleep. Once the sun goes down, the village becomes filled with mysterious creatures, hidden collectibles, special events, and dangerous Yokai. Some of these encounters can reward you with rare furniture, useful items, Magatamas, and other collectibles that are difficult to obtain during the day.

However, not every nighttime creature is hostile. Some will guide you toward hidden treasures, while others require you to complete certain tasks before disappearing. Here are 16 nighttime activities and Yokai encounters you should know about to make your exploration easier.

1. Give Cheese to the Ghost Rat

One of the first creatures you may encounter at night is a small blue ghost rat. It usually runs away when you approach, so chasing it without preparation will not get you very far. Instead, you need to bring cheese, which is the food this creature is looking for.

You can produce cheese by putting goat milk into a Milk Processor. Carry at least one piece whenever you explore the village at night, then give it to the ghost rat when you find one. The rat will guide you toward a hidden location where you can use your hoe to dig up an Old Coin.

• Find a ghost rat during nighttime exploration.
• Give it a piece of cheese made from goat milk.
• Follow the rat to the digging location.
• Use your hoe to collect the Old Coin.
• Take the coin to the well on the eastern side of the map.

The well accepts up to 30 Old Coins, and offering them may unlock a special reward. Also, remember that each rat location only provides its collectible once, so there is no reason to repeatedly search the same spot.

2. Search Different Locations for Hidden Collectibles

Ghost rats are not the only reason to explore different corners of the village. You can also discover other collectibles, including gears used to repair the music box and books needed to complete the library collection.

These objects are placed in specific locations and do not respawn after being collected. This means repeatedly following the same nighttime route can cause you to miss items hidden in other parts of the map. Make a habit of checking different paths, corners, and less familiar areas whenever you go outside.

A good approach is to explore one section of the village each night instead of trying to cover the same locations repeatedly. This makes it easier to discover remaining collectibles and gradually complete your collection.

3. Follow the Ghost Cow Behind Your House

After building your first barn and progressing through the following weeks, you may encounter a mysterious ghost cow. Unlike normal livestock, this animal does not provide milk, and interacting with it during the daytime will not give you anything useful.

The ghost cow usually appears at night behind your house, near the stairs. Make sure your barn door is open because this encounter is connected to your livestock building. When the cow appears, follow its direction and look for a spot where you can dig with your hoe.

Your first encounter will teach you the Livestock Whistle, an item that allows you to call your animals toward you. The ghost cow may return on later nights, providing more opportunities to find hidden objects such as bones and a cow skull.

4. Find the Moon Rabbit Before 5 AM

The Moon Rabbit is another nighttime encounter, although reaching it can be more difficult than finding the other creatures. Your objective is to reach the mountain peak before 5 AM, where you can witness a special scene involving a giant moon.

Once you reach the correct location, a cutscene will play and reward you with an item. The biggest challenge is getting there in time while avoiding the dangerous creatures roaming around the map.

You will also need Hunting Licenses to jump over certain fences blocking the route. It is worth purchasing these licenses when you have enough money because hunting areas contain other useful resources, including bamboo, and provide access to additional exploration locations.

5. Follow the Smiley Ghost

You may occasionally see a strange white creature with a smiling face wandering around the village. It is not immediately hostile, and its main purpose is to lead you toward a reward. Approach it carefully, then follow it as it moves along the road.

The creature will eventually stop near the end of its route and disappear, leaving an item behind for you to collect. The challenge is staying close enough to it while avoiding the other ghosts that may appear nearby.

If you move too far away, the friendly-looking creature can become aggressive. Try moving in circles when escaping nearby enemies instead of running straight away from your target. Carrying food is also useful because you may need to recover health during the chase.

6. Collect and Grow Dorotabo Seeds

Dorotabo is a creepy mud creature that occasionally emerges from the ground while you explore at night. When you find one, follow it until it plants a Dorotabo Seed. You can then decide whether to collect the seed or leave it where it was planted.

There are two ways to use these seeds, depending on what you want to obtain:

• Grow cursed crops: Use your hoe to dig up the seed and plant it on your farm. The resulting crop has a chance of becoming cursed, which can be useful for increasing your maximum health through a separate nighttime interaction.
• Get a decoration: Leave the seed in the ground and water it for several days. Once it has fully grown, return at night to collect it. You can then use the grown plant as a decoration for your house.

The second method is a good option if you want more decorative items for your home. Just remember that the fully grown plant cannot be harvested during the daytime, so you need to return after sunset.

7. Rebuild the Headless Doll

At a certain point in the story, you will be able to find a headless doll in a pile of clutter behind the library. At first, it looks like an ordinary decoration, but placing it inside your house or somewhere on your farm will trigger a special nighttime event.

After placing the doll, it will disappear when you wake up at night. Your next objective is to visit the area in front of the general store, where the doll can be seen wandering along the street. Follow it until the event ends to collect its missing body, head, and the crafting recipe needed to put everything together.

Once you have the required materials, you can rebuild the doll and use it as a decorative item. If you lose track of it while following its route, you do not need to worry. The doll will return to its original location behind the library on the following night.

8. Complete the Red Cell Phone Event

Another strange nighttime event involves a red cell phone. After picking it up, you may notice that it starts ringing every 30 minutes or so during the night. Each time this happens, a mysterious woman will begin chasing you until you answer the call.

To complete the event, you need to answer the ringing phone inside a phone booth located beyond the bridge on the eastern side of the map. There is one important detail: the phone only starts ringing while you are inside the village, so waiting beside the phone booth will not trigger the event.

The best strategy is to stay near the bridge inside the village until the phone rings, then quickly run toward the phone booth. The blue stone lanterns mark the boundary between the village and the outside area, so use them to understand where nighttime creatures can follow you.

After completing this one-time event, you will receive a Broken Cell Phone. This item can be exchanged for plushies, making the encounter worth completing even if the woman chasing you is difficult to deal with.

Understanding Yokai Encounters in Village in the Shade

The main Yokai encounters work differently from the smaller nighttime activities. The game selects certain enemies to appear on particular nights, and each one has its own objective. Defeating them can reward you with items such as Magatamas, scarecrows, furniture, and outfits that are not available through ordinary activities.

Most of these encounters happen inside the village, within the area marked by the blue stone lanterns. If a Yokai becomes too dangerous or you need to escape, running beyond this boundary is generally the safest option.

9. Defeat Tenome by Destroying Five Purple Lanterns

Tenome is a large ghost with eyes on its hands. You can recognize the start of this encounter when a paper lantern with an eye appears near your house. During this event, your objective is to find and destroy five purple lanterns scattered around the village.

Use your pickaxe to break each purple lantern, but be careful not to get spotted by the paper lanterns. If they notice you, they will begin chasing you, forcing you to escape outside the village before they disappear.

Most of the purple lanterns are located around the outer edges of the village. Following a large circular route is a practical way to find them without wasting too much time. Once all five have been destroyed, a message will notify you that something has changed.

Head to the village plaza after receiving the message. You will find a large lantern waiting there, which you must destroy with your pickaxe to complete the Tenome encounter.

10. Defeat Daruma Without Moving at the Wrong Time

The Daruma event begins when you leave your house and see a red warning message on the screen. A large Daruma doll will follow you around the village, and the most important rule is to stop moving whenever the warning message appears.

If you continue walking while the warning is active, the Daruma can attack and damage you. Wait until the message disappears and the creature starts moving again before continuing your exploration.

During this event, several stones will appear throughout the village. Your goal is to find the one with a visible crack, which looks different from the other stones. Stand next to it and remain still, allowing the Daruma to approach without attacking you.

When the warning appears again, the cracked stone will transform into a black Daruma. Use your pickaxe to hit it and finish the encounter. The key to this event is patience, so avoid moving unnecessarily when the red warning appears.

11. Defeat Nozuchi by Cutting Grass

Once you have unlocked the sickle, you may encounter Nozuchi, a creature that resembles a giant worm or snake. When this Yokai appears, the village will become covered in grass, and you will need to use your sickle to search for it.

Start cutting the grass around the village while keeping an eye out for smaller creatures that may suddenly emerge. These smaller enemies cannot be defeated, so avoid getting too close and focus on clearing the grass.

Every piece of grass you cut has a random chance of revealing Nozuchi. When it appears, attack it with your sickle while maintaining a safe distance. The creature will eventually hide again, forcing you to repeat the process.

You should be able to defeat Nozuchi after it appears around three times, requiring approximately nine successful sickle hits in total. Since its appearances are random, keep cutting grass until the encounter is complete.

12. Complete the Sage-Hatted Monster Event

On rainy nights, you may encounter strange one-legged monsters wearing large hats. They drop from the sky as you explore the village, charge toward you, and eventually turn into small hats that can be picked up.

Your objective is to collect four hats and place them on the four statues located in front of the wooden bridge. The task itself is simple, but carrying a hat makes your character move much more slowly, which can become a problem if you wait too long.

A more efficient strategy is to run around the village at the beginning of the night to attract all four monsters. Do not collect their hats immediately. Instead, lead them toward the statues near the bridge so that all four hats are close to their destination.

Once the monsters have dropped their hats, collect and place them one by one. This method reduces unnecessary walking and gives you more time to finish the event before the night ends.

13. Defeat Fujin and Raijin During Summer Storms

Fujin and Raijin are two Yokai associated with wind and thunder. They only appear during storms in summer, making them some of the more difficult encounters to find. Since storms may happen only a few times during the entire summer, you should take advantage of every opportunity.

When the event starts, both gods will appear and create distractions while attacking you. However, fighting them directly is not your main objective. Instead, you need to search for small turtle-like creatures scattered throughout the village.

There are two types of turtles to find:

• Red turtles: Search the lower half of the village to find these creatures. Hitting enough of them with your pickaxe will defeat the red-colored god.
• Blue turtles: Look around the upper half of the village for these creatures. Destroying enough of them will defeat the other god.

Each defeated god provides its own reward. If you manage to defeat both Fujin and Raijin during the same storm, you will also receive an additional decorative statue.

Your progress carries over between nights, so you do not necessarily need to finish everything in one storm. However, storms are unpredictable, so completing both objectives during the same night is the better approach. If you want to retry an encounter, you can return to the title screen and use the option to load an earlier day or night.

14. Remove Soot Sprites With Your Flashlight

Soot Sprites are small, fuzzy creatures that can become dangerous if you ignore them. During their event, they gradually cover your screen while you remain inside the village. Once the screen becomes completely dark, you will begin taking damage.

Fortunately, dealing with them is relatively easy. Turn your flashlight on and off to clear the sprites from your screen, then search for the one with a noticeably different-looking eye.

Take out your bow and shoot the special sprite to defeat it. You do not need to attack every creature covering your screen, so focus on finding the one that looks different from the rest.

This event can be confusing if you do not know what causes the damage. If your screen starts filling with small black creatures, remember to use your flashlight instead of wasting time trying to escape.

15. Buy Red and Blue Candles During Special Nights

Some nights begin with a letter in your mailbox announcing a special candle sale. During these events, your regular flashlight will not work inside the village, so you need to purchase candles from the merchants who appear around the area.

There are two candle types available, and each one costs 500 yen. Both candles provide light, but they also reveal additional collectibles on the ground that are not normally visible during regular nights.

• Red Candle: Reveals red sparkles and attracts red masked ghosts.
• Blue Candle: Reveals blue sparkles and attracts blue masked ghosts.
• No Candle: Causes the darker masked ghosts to chase you instead.

The masked ghosts can be annoying, but you can control which ones follow you by changing your light source. If a red ghost starts chasing you, turn off the red candle or switch to the blue one. The same method works for the blue ghost.

For the best results, purchase both candles and place them next to each other in your hotbar. Switching between them regularly will help you avoid the masked ghosts while collecting the additional items scattered around the village.

16. Return the Baby to Its Father on Snowy Nights

The final encounter takes place during snowy winter nights. You will meet a mysterious woman who asks you to carry her baby to its father. Although the task sounds simple, the journey can become dangerous because several cone-shaped creatures roam around the village.

Your objective is to carry the baby to a grave and place it in front of the correct location. The grave can appear in different spots, so you may need to search around the village. One common location is near the Jizo statues.

While carrying the baby, avoid letting the cone-shaped creatures see you. They will chase you if you get too close, and getting hit will cause you to drop the baby. The mother will then return and become hostile, forcing you to restart the encounter.

If this happens, leave the village and come back. The event will reset, allowing you to receive the baby again and attempt the delivery another time. Move carefully and avoid unnecessary fights until you reach the grave.

Final Tips for Exploring at Night in Village in the Shade

Nighttime exploration in Village in the Shade offers plenty of activities beyond fighting Yokai. From collecting Old Coins and discovering hidden decorations to completing seasonal events, there are many reasons to explore the village after dark instead of spending every night inside your house.

Before leaving, prepare the right tools for the activities you want to complete. Bring cheese for ghost rats, a hoe for digging, a pickaxe for certain Yokai, a sickle for Nozuchi, and a bow for Soot Sprites. Keeping food in your inventory is also useful when you need to recover health during dangerous encounters.

Most importantly, pay attention to seasonal conditions and special messages because some events only happen during rain, storms, or winter. Learning how each creature behaves will make nighttime exploration much easier and help you collect rewards that would otherwise be easy to miss.