Ultimate Guide to YapYap

YapYap is the latest chaotic indie game made to be played with friends, screaming included. If you’ve played games like Lethal Company, Content Warning, or Repo, YapYap’s structure will feel familiar right away. You deploy into a hostile space, monsters hunt you down, and you’re racing against a quota and a timer: same pressure, different flavor.

The big difference here is magic. YapYap is fully wizard-brained. You’re casting spells with wands, yelling incantations into your mic, and causing as much destruction as possible before extracting. Furthermore, unlike Repo or Lethal Company, you’re not rewarded for saving items – you’re rewarded for destroying them.

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Core Objective and Quotas

When you load into the hub, the top-right corner of the screen shows your current night and your quota.

That number does not represent how much loot you’ve collected — it’s how much chaos you’ve caused.

Chaos points come from:

• Destroying objects.
• Burning furniture and props.
• Killing enemies.
• Generally being a menace.

Each run drops you into a castle map that’s semi-random. The layouts are built from fixed tiles, but the order changes enough that it’s very easy to get lost. Your goal is to move through the map, break as much stuff as possible, and extract before the timer runs out.

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The Timer and the Ghost

Every run has a visible timer in the top-left corner of the screen. When it hits zero, the game gives you a short countdown and then announces “The ghost approaches.“

At that point, the area floods with light blue and a ghost spawns. The ghost is unkillable and if it touches you, you instantly die.

There is no counter-play to the ghost. Extraction before the timer hits zero is mandatory.

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Dying and Extraction Penalties

If you die during a run, your chaos score still counts — but there’s a catch. For every player who fails to extract, your team takes a quota penalty at the end. If too many people die or get greedy, you can actually lose more progress than you gained.

This makes extraction important, especially in multiplayer. Sometimes leaving early is the smart play.

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How to Revive Your Teammates in Yapyap

If your squad gets wiped out or someone goes down, don’t overthink it. Their bodies automatically get teleported to a room with floating totems (check the screenshot below). Head there as soon as it’s safe.

Inside the room, you’ll see a revival incantation appear. Say it out loud into your microphone and keep chanting it while it’s on screen.

Messing up the words doesn’t matter, the spell won’t fail. Just keep repeating it until the text disappears and your teammates revive. That’s it. Simple and a little weird, but it works.

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Causing Chaos (The Easy Way)

You can earn chaos in a lot of ways — smashing objects with spells, throwing things, killing enemies — but one of the easiest and most overlooked methods is fire.

Anything flammable is basically free points.

Flammable Objects

• Boxes.
• Furniture.
• Books.
• Wooden props.

If it burns, it gives you chaos.

If you don’t have a torch, candelabras work too. They’re tall, awkward, and bounce off everything, but if they touch a flammable object, that object burns and you still get points. Not elegant, but effective.

Buying a Torch

In the hub shop, you can buy a torch early on. Once purchased:

1. Walk over to the campfire.
2. Hold it near the flame.
3. Light it.

Now you’ve got a permanent, easy chaos generator for future runs.

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The Shop and the Hub

The shop is located in the hub and lets you:

• Sell loot picked up during runs.
• Buy useful items like torches.
• Unlock stronger items later once you have more coins.

After you finish a mission, you’ll usually be carrying a bunch of random loot. That’s where the shop comes in.

To sell stuff, walk up to the shopkeeper and aim your cursor around their face. Hold E and the item will be sold automatically.

You’ll see your coin count go up in the top-right as it happens. It works the same way for everything, whether it’s powdered crystal, rose blood, or whatever else you’ve picked up.

Once you’ve got some money, you can start buying items. One of the first useful things to grab is the torch. After buying it, take it over to a fire and hold it near the flame to light it. That gives you a proper light source, which helps a lot in darker areas during future runs.

As you keep playing and stacking more coins, the shop unlocks stronger and more useful items. Early on, though, selling loot and grabbing basics like the torch is all you really need to know to get started.

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Extraction and Navigation

Extraction points are marked by a tower with purple flames and glowing symbols. Getting there isn’t always straightforward because:

• The game’s maps are maze-like.
• Teleporters can send you across the level.
• Vertical paths aren’t always obvious.

It’s easy to get turned around, especially if you’re new. From my experience, if you hit a dead-end room with nowhere obvious to go, look for a bridge. Most of the time, bridges lead you to another tower and get you back on track.

The biggest hint that you’re heading the right way is staircases. If you find a staircase going upward, follow it and see where it leads. If it doesn’t go anywhere useful, stop and scout the area before backtracking.

Eventually, you’ll spot a distinct structure, marked by a tower with purple flames that clearly stands out — that’s your sign that you’re close.

Once you see it, head that way, climb one more set of stairs, and you’ll reach the extraction point.

Interact with the orb there and make sure you’re standing inside the circle. If you’re not in it, the game will leave you behind. That’s all there is to extracting in Yapyap.

Once you reach the tower:

1. Climb to the top.
2. Interact with the orb.
3. Stand inside the circle.

Inside the extraction room, there’s also a crystal ball you can use to spectate teammates still in the level.

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Starting a Run (Easy to Miss)

That same orb mechanic is how you start runs from the hub. Walk up to the orb, activate it, and you’ll be deployed. It’s identical to extraction.

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Wands and Spellcasting Basics

Getting a Wand

When you first load into Yapyap, you won’t have a wand on you, which feels wrong for a game like this. Luckily, getting one is easy. Look around for a tree that literally says “Free Wands”.

One of the branches can be snapped off. Grab it and equip it by pressing E, and congrats, you’re officially a wizard now.

With the wand in your hand, right-click to bring up the spell wheel. From there, you can use whatever spells you’ve unlocked.

• Aero is a basic push spell that knocks allies and enemies back, useful for spacing or just causing chaos.
• Tempest sends out a cyclone that launches both you and enemies upward, which can be fun or very dangerous if you’re not ready for it.
• Updog is a self-only spell that lets you float briefly, making it perfect for reaching higher platforms or awkward spots you can’t normally climb.

Setting Up Your Microphone

Spellcasting in Yapyap is a little different from most games, and it can feel awkward at first. The main way spells work is through your microphone.

Before anything else, make sure your mic is actually set up. Hit Escape, go into Settings, then Audio, and select the microphone you’re using. You can choose whether your mic is always on or if you want push-to-talk.

We recommend push-to-talk so you’re not accidentally casting spells every time you breathe. Bind it to something simple, and you’re good.

Casting Spells With a Microphone

Once that’s done, all you have to do in-game is say the spell incantation out loud. The game listens for it, and if you say it clearly and loud enough, the spell triggers instantly. Voice clarity matters a lot here. Mumbling usually does nothing.

When it works, though, you can do some wild stuff like teleporting, pushing or pulling objects, cloning yourself, or messing with enemies’ heads.

Casting Spells Without a Microphone

If your mic is acting up or you just don’t feel like talking, there’s a backup option. Go back into Settings, head to Accessibility, and turn on Voice Spell Select.

This lets you use the spell wheel to cast spells without speaking at all. It’s way more reliable if your mic sucks or you’re playing late and don’t want to yell spells at your screen.

That’s really all there is to it. Break a branch, equip the wand, right-click, and start experimenting.

There are at least nine different wands currently in the game, possibly more. Each wand has its own spell list and playstyle.

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Dual Wielding and Hand Management

You have:

• A primary hand
• A secondary hand

On PC, press F to swap hands. Only the item in your main hand can be actively used.

This matters because:

• Torches must be in the main hand to burn.
• Wands must be in the main hand to cast spells.

However, you can dual-wield wands. With one in each hand, you effectively gain access to both spell lists by swapping hands. This gives you more flexibility without using up extra inventory slots.

You also have three inventory slots, visible in the bottom-right, which makes hand swapping even more useful.

So the question is, why grab multiple wands, especially when playing solo? The answer is simple: cooldowns are not shared between wands.

Here’s why that matters:

1. Cast a spell with Wand 1.
2. Press F to switch hands.
3. Cast again with Wand 2.
4. Switch again, cast with Wand 3.

Each wand has its own cooldown timer. That means you can chain the same spell multiple times in a row. Magic waves, tornadoes, flight — all of it stacks as long as you’re switching efficiently.

For example:

• Tornado: cast 1, 2, 3, 4 in quick succession.
• Fly spell: fly once, twice, three times, four times.

If you chain fly spells properly, you can launch yourself absurdly high. Sometimes you’ll even hit what feels like outer space. That’s technically a map bug, but falling back down won’t kill you, so it’s worth making use of. With practice, you can reach places that look completely unreachable at first glance.

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Puzzles and Special Events

Levels contain voice-activated puzzles and events:

• Pitch-based voice dials.
• Weight-based scale puzzles.
• Special pedestals that activate challenges.

One example requires using low pitch to rotate left and high pitch to rotate right, aligning an orb in the center for rewards like gold or extra wands.

Once activated, these events highlight the area and guide you through completion.

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Alchemy and Potions

After completing your first quota, you unlock the basement in the hub using a key. This leads to the alchemy lab.

Throughout runs, you’ll find ingredients like:

• Powdered crystal.
• Dragon bone.
• Golem parts.
• Other questionable substances.

Throw ingredients into a cauldron and use the recipe book nearby to brew potions. Effects include:

• Healing.
• Movement speed boosts.
• Cooldown reduction.
• Explosive or unexpected effects.

Experimentation is encouraged.

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Contracts and Bonus Chaos

You start each quota cycle with three contracts, visible by pressing G. Contracts give bonus chaos for specific actions like:

• Burning books.
• Transforming enemies.
• Yeeting monsters.
• Less polite activities.

Some contracts require specific wands. For example:

• The Grotesque Wand is needed for certain transformations.
• The Fire Wand helps with burn-based objectives.

You can also find extra contracts during runs as floating scrolls, letting you stack even more chaos.

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Easy Ways to Get Gold at the Start

Before even entering a run, you can collect a surprising amount of gold.

1. Plants Behind the Spawn

There’s a small forest area behind where you start. Look for plants there that you can pick up, then take them straight to the merchant and sell them. Easy 2 gold coins right away.

Some plants are harder to spot, but look for small glowing light dots — those usually mark interactable items.

2. Free Gold in the Cabin

Head inside the small wooden cabin behind spawn and look to the left staircase. There’s 11 gold coins sitting there, free to grab. This alone is enough to buy useful early items.

3. Gold-Spitting Toads

Still near spawn, keep an eye out for little toads. Walk up to them and wait. Some of them will literally spit out a gold coin. Different-colored frogs do this too. It’s slow, but it’s free money.

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The Spawn Cabin

That same wooden cabin has more going on than just free gold.

• There’s a magic orb in the middle — press A to sit on it and invite friends, similar to lobby machines in other co-op games.
• Items like the bed and the iron basin have additional uses that aren’t obvious at first. They’re clever, but better explained later once you’ve got the basics down.
• There’s also an area that’s clearly locked and not accessible yet.

On the second floor, you’ll find a place to study spell books. Opening one shows information about the wand you’re holding, including a rough breakdown of its spells. For example, it’ll explain how the Fly spell works.

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Musical Instruments

Step out onto the balcony and you’ll find three musical instruments. They’re fully playable.

To use them:

1. Hold one in your hand.
2. Right-click to play.
3. Tap for single notes.
4. Hold and scroll to change pitch and play continuously.

If you’ve played Outer Wilds, this will feel instantly familiar. The sound design is soft, personal, and weirdly intimate — not useful mechanically, but very on-brand for YapYap.

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Enemies and Survival Tips

There are a lot of enemies in Yapyap, and most can be killed if you’re clever. Counters vary by enemy and wand type.

Important tips:

• Floating text on screen usually means say something out loud to counter it.
• Line-of-sight breaks are extremely important.
• Cabinets and lockers can break aggro temporarily.

Goblins

• Unarmed goblins are harmless.
• Armed goblins are dangerous thieves.
• If they hit you, they steal your main-hand item.
• If they escape, that item is gone forever.

Floating Eyeballs

• These lock onto you and channel damage.
• They knock you down when the channel finishes.
• They are countered by breaking line of sight.
• They despawn after a short time if avoided.

Some enemies can even temporarily transform you, like turning you into a chicken, which oddly enough removes enemy aggro.

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Wand locations and effects

This section covers every currently known wand in Yapyap, the spells tied to each one, and how to get them.

Wand of Winds

This is the first wand most players unlock.

You get Aero for popping small items and pushing weak enemies back. Tempest is the real star though—a full tornado that smashes rooms and can even toss you into the air if you time it right. Then there’s Updog, which just launches you upward and lets you float down. It doesn’t sound exciting, but it’s saved me from enemies and bad jumps more than once.

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Wand of Minor Arcanes

This wand is pure utility.

Teleportana and Ana Portele let you move up and down vertically, which is huge for weird map layouts. Grab Ana pulls objects toward you with force—great for smashing heavy stuff, but also great at knocking you flat if you’re careless. Lux Ana summons a little bat for light, which is boring until you’re stuck in a pitch-dark hallway with monsters nearby.

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Wand of Illusions

This wand is all about tricks and scouting.

Float Oculus lets you leave your body and look around safely, which is perfect before charging into a bad room. Poof Me and Poof You turn players into objects, which sounds dumb until you’re hiding from enemies or saving a teammate. Shrink Ana makes big enemies and furniture manageable, and Echo Me creates a fake version of you to distract monsters. It’s sneaky, and it works.

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Blessed Wand

This is the support wand.

Lux Vita summons a fairy that heals you over time, which is huge during long runs. Custodia shields teammates, and Merci pulls you toward a friend and heals them—one of the most clutch spells in the game. Corpus Anima straight-up brings something dead back to life. Simple, powerful, and always welcome.

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Astral Wand

This wand feels advanced, but once it clicks, it’s pretty solid.

Astral Eyes lets you see enemies, allies, and loot through walls, which completely changes how you move through a map. Blink and Swap are great for escapes and shortcuts. The real magic is Offer plus Trade—you can swap positions between people, objects, and enemies. It’s messy, but it can rescue teammates or throw monsters far away.

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Grotesque Wand

Needed for a lot of contracts.

Achoo creates a giant blob that slows enemies, buying precious time. Fish Yuk turns characters into fish, which is hilarious and surprisingly effective for removing threats. The various “Yuck” spells destroy small items and are mostly there for contracts and chaos, but at higher quotas, this wand becomes more important than it looks.

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Wand of Fire

This one’s more straightforward: burn stuff, move fast, don’t get cornered.

Ignis Boom sets mines that knock enemies back. Ignis Legs boosts your speed and leaves fire behind you, perfect for escapes. Ignis Tongue and Ignis Balls are messy, destructive, and great for lighting furniture on fire when you need damage fast.

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Wand of Telekinesis

If you like throwing things, this is your wand.

Tele Float and Float Nulla let you lift heavy objects and toss them around or off the map. Tele Blast sends everything flying in front of you, breaking items and pushing enemies away. Tele Lock freezes objects in place, which is surprisingly useful for controlling chaos.

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Wand of Destruction

One spell. That’s it.

Wham-Wham summons a massive hammer that smashes enemies and big furniture in front of you. The cooldown is short, so you end up using it constantly. It’s simple, loud, and very effective.

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YapYap is loud, messy, weird, and clearly designed to be played with friends yelling spell names into their microphones. There’s a lot more to discover — more wands, more enemies, more maps, more potion combos — and that’s intentional.

This guide covers everything you need to get started, survive your early runs, and understand what the game is actually asking you to do. From here, experimentation is half the fun.