Hotels don't get very far without Guests to pay them money, and Yog-Sothoth's Yard is no exception. Every day the hotel is open you'll receive a random assortment of Guests, and given the game's monstrous qualities it's safe to assume that not everyone will be human.
This guide breaks down all of the available Guests in Yog-Sothoth's Yard. First, though, we need to discuss the quality of the Guests, and how you get different varities of Guest.
Guest Attributes
If you Enter a hotel room and click on one of your Guests you'll open a small window. This reveals a bit about that particular Guest. We'll break the window down piece-by-piece.
- At the top of the window is a fancy letter that indicates the Guest's Credit Rating. This gives you an idea of how much money the Guest has. The higher your hotel's Star Rating, the better the Guests you'll get. C is the worst Credit Rating a Guest can have, while UR is the best.
- Gold Coins indicates the amount of money the Guest is carrying. They may not spend all of their gold at your hotel, though having a Restaurant increases the chances.
- Clean After indicates how much of a mess the Guest will make during their stay, and how much it will detract from your hotel's Clean score. The more Guests you have, the bigger the mess you'll need to tidy up afterward.
- Souls indicates how many Souls the Guest has on them.
- Items shows the Guest's inventory. They may leave their items behind after departing the hotel.
Each Guest also has a hidden percentage chance of wanting to visit the Restaurant. Not everyone is interested in a meal. There are Oracles related to the Green God which improve the chances of receiving Guests who want to visit the Restaurant.
In order to claim all of a Guest's gold, Souls, and items, you'll need to use the Slaughter command. This will kill all of the Guests in the hotel. Slaughter can only be used at night, and it will incur a SAN, Evil, and Clean penalty. (Though the SAN and Clean penalties can be mitigated with the right Supreme Oracles / Extra-Items equipped.)
Strategy and SAN
There are many different types of Guests in Yog-Sothoth's Yard. There are three ways to (somewhat) control which Guests show up at the hotel:
- Raising your Hotel Star Rating
- Changing your Strategy
- Lowering your SAN
Changing your Strategy via the Operation menu is your first option, and will yield many different Guests early in the game. Play with the various settings to see who shows up. 'Higher Credit' offers the largest selection of Guests, though the chances of particular Guests showing up may be slim.
Once you reach the later stages of the game you'll have to lower your SAN to make the less human Guests appear. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when monsters will show up, though putting your SAN in the 30 to 50 range seems to work pretty well. Use The Prying Eye (AV 24, purple Alchemy item) to lower your SAN by 30 if you want to remain in that range.
Special Guests
In addition to the run-of-the-mill Guests, you'll occasionally get Special Guests appearing in the Yard. These folks have requests for you to fulfill, and the more important of them can even trigger short storylines with cut scenes. Special Guests will only ask for one thing, regardless of what it is, and you don't need to spend any AP to complete the request. Click on the red icon above the Special Guest's head to trigger their request.
Some of the more notable Special Guests include:
- Hoshino, who has a small quest line requiring some funding on your part
- Puyue Tao, who, along with several other Special Guests, will help you acquire Ancient Pheromone formulae
- Orange Ginger, who unlocks a series of Cookbooks
- Godly representatives who will give you Oracles
Certain Special Guests seem to disappear after a while - I stopped seeing Orange Ginger in the latter half of the game, for example - so try to get these little quests completed as early as you can. They're usually worth your attention, so long as you aren't trying to complete a Main Task prerequisite.
Although many Special Guests have the same appearance as normal Guests, encountering one does not count as having met that Guest type in your Splendor Solis.
Guest Types
There are 29 types of Guests total in Yog-Sothoth's Yard. The more rooms you have, the higher your ranking, and the more you mess around with your Strategy, the more likely you are to unlock them all. You can view the Guests you've unlocked in the Splendor Solis (top-left corner of the screen).
- Common Guests - Average human beings that come in four different varieties.
- Company Slave - Humans with no will. They don't carry much gold, but sometimes have Soul Fragments.
- Clean Master - Humans who value tidiness. Clean Masters will restore some Clean once they check out.
- Priest - Holy humans. These Guests often carry Holy Dew items that can restore SAN.
- Father - Even holier humans. These Guests also carry Holy Dew items. Requires the 'Strength Souls' Strategy.
- Plant Collector - Herbologists at heart. These Guests carry plant-like materials in their inventory.
- Zoologist - Animal lovers. These Guests carry materials made from animals in their inventory.
- Alchemist - Experts in alchemical practices. These Guests carry mineral-based materials in their inventory.
- Millionaire - Rich folks who carry a lot of coin. Requires the 'Richer' Strategy, and a high-ranking hotel.
- ??? - An enigma. These Guests will lower your Clean more than usual. Requires a low SAN score.
- Spirit (human) - A creature from the ephemeral realms. These Spirits carry lots of gold, and extra Souls. Requires the 'Richer' Strategy, and a high-ranking hotel.
- Spirit (sheep) - A wooly spirit. These Spirits don't carry any gold, but can be harvested for lots of Souls via Slaughter.
- Spirit (mushroom) - A forest dweller. These Spirits don't carry any gold, but are rich in Souls.
- Spirit (insect) - A busy bee. These Spirits don't carry any gold, but carry Souls and Soul-related items.
- Spirit (snail) - Slow and steady. These Spirits don't carry any gold, but have Soul-related items - and will restore some Clean as they leave. Requires the 'Higher Clean' Strategy.
- Sports Student - A robust human. These Guests have a preference for energy drinks. Requires the 'More Items' Strategy.
- Zombie - The walking dead. Not terribly lucrative.
- Death - A creature, similar to Tlipoca, with a connection to Death Tower. Brings Soul Fragments, and... not much else.
- Octopus Ghost - A tentacular lady from the deep. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Forest Follower - A horned fellow that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Phantom Moth - A shy creature that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Deep One - A bizarre fish that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Shoggoth - A tentacular monstrosity that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Deep Follower - An adherent to abyssal secrets that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Dark Pharoah Priest - An mummyrific creature that reduces your Clean score more than average. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.
- Child of the Green - A woodland tyke that reduces your Clean score more than average, but brings Stone and Wood along to compensate. Good for the Slaughter command. Requires a low SAN score.