The Apothecary Diaries Gets Its First Console Game — How The False Imperial Brother Actually Works

The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother is the franchise’s first console and PC game, announced by publisher KOEI TECMO and developer Gust, in cooperation with TOHO Games, during the September 9, 2026 Nintendo Direct. It launches in early 2027 on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

This isn’t the anime retold as a game. It’s a brand-new story conceptualized by Hyuganatsu, the original novel author, written specifically for this project rather than adapted from any existing novel, manga or anime arc.

The Quick Version

The story: Five Mysteries, Five Curses, and a masked impostor

Maomao — now working in the rear palace after her apprenticeship in the pleasure district — is drawn into two connected chains of incidents: the “Five Mysteries” disturbing the rear palace, and the “Five Curses” spreading fear through the capital. At the center of it is a masked figure who claims to be the “imperial younger brother,” a claim that Jinshi himself disputes. Maomao has to use her knowledge of medicine and eye for detail to work out who this person actually is before, in KOEI TECMO’s own framing, it “destroys the imperial court.”

KOEI TECMO hasn’t said where this story sits relative to the anime’s ongoing seasons or the novels, and hasn’t described it as canon to the main timeline one way or the other — it’s presented as a self-contained original story rather than a slotted-in chapter.

How the mystery-solving actually works

The game is built as a mystery-investigation adventure, not a visual novel or an action game. According to KOEI TECMO’s official description, players:

• Explore locations to gather evidence, examining objects and scenes for clues
• Interview witnesses and organize what they learn
• Craft medicine from ingredients gathered while exploring, tying directly into Maomao’s actual skill set
• Assemble findings into deductions, connecting clues in a notebook to work toward the truth

There’s also a credibility system: giving a wrong answer during deduction sequences reduces trust, and KOEI TECMO says repeated mistakes “may lead you into a dead end” — so wrong guesses have real consequences rather than just requiring a retry.

Platforms, release and languages

The game is confirmed for PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam), with a release window of early 2027 — no specific date has been announced. Its Steam listing confirms interface, full audio and subtitle support in Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, so this isn’t a Japanese-audio-only release for Western platforms.

TGS 2026 gameplay shows gathering, compounding and deduction in action

KOEI TECMO ran a stage and live demo for the game at Tokyo Game Show 2026 on September 20, and it’s the first time the gathering, medicine-crafting and deduction systems described above were actually shown running rather than just described.

The gathering demo had players controlling Maomao through a mountain environment, collecting medicinal ingredients. According to coverage of the live demo, materials clustered closely together can be gathered in one action, triggering a short cutscene of Maomao’s reaction. A separate compounding scene showed ingredients being combined and ground into medicine.

For deduction, the demo used the poisoned face-powder incident — the same case that opens the anime’s first episode — as its example. Coverage of the stage is specific on one point worth preserving accurately: KOEI TECMO describes this as the only case in the game that isn’t original; every other mystery Maomao investigates was written for this game specifically. In the deduction sequence itself, players review clues gathered during exploration and choose an answer from a set of options; getting it wrong costs the player’s credibility/life meter rather than simply prompting a retry, consistent with the “wrong answers have consequences” framing from the original announcement.

The demo also confirmed an original character created for the game: a traveling actor named Guanyu, described as playing a pivotal role in the story alongside familiar figures like Gaoshun. KOEI TECMO hasn’t published a full character roster or cast list for this or other new characters, so treat Guanyu’s exact role and any other unannounced original cast as unconfirmed until KOEI TECMO says more.

What’s still unknown

• Exact release date
• Pricing, editions and whether a physical release is planned
• How the story’s placement relates to the ongoing novel and anime timelines
• Full character roster and voice cast beyond Maomao, Jinshi and the newly revealed original character Guanyu

How this fits with everything else

The Apothecary Diaries is having a busy year across formats — Season 3 of the anime begins in October, a theatrical movie arrives in December, and a Prime Video live-action series is set for 2028. This game adds a sixth format to that list, and it’s the first one built as an original story specifically for its medium rather than adapting existing material. For the full picture of how every version of the franchise connects, see our complete Apothecary Diaries format guide.