Mini-games have always been a cornerstone of the Yakuza experience, and in Yakuza Kiwami 3, Ryosuke Horii wanted to push that tradition further with some surprising twists, as revealed in a recent interview.

Yakuza Kiwami 3’s Sewing Mini-game and OutRun

The sewing mini-game, Horii revealed with a laugh, evolved into a racing-like mechanic inspired by the classic arcade game OutRun. It was also his “genius” idea to include that.

“The cloth is flowing towards you, and I look at that and say, wait, this is OutRun. It is sort of the opposite because the road is coming to you rather than you going toward the road. But yeah, I realized this is completely OutRun. It’s a racing game. So that’s how we ended up with that genius idea.”

Horii also added an interesting note about this mini-game, saying that “if you go way too off track, you injure your finger, and sometimes you can see drops of blood on there. So if you’re struggling with it, you might end up with a really bloody finger.”

Morning Glory Orphanage Side Content

Horii also discussed Yakuza Kiwami 3’s side content, particularly the Morning Glory orphanage, which was intended to deepen Kiryu’s relationships and the story’s emotional core.

“For Yakuza Kiwami 3, The Morning Glory, Kiryu’s relationship with the children comes up in the main story, so for that side content, we put a lot of volume into that because it will be depicting Kiryu’s relationship with the children, and it will be making the story with them more moving and touching.”

That said, Yakuza Kiwami 3’s mini-games, such as cooking and sewing, were selected for Morning Glory because they reflect real parental struggles, and team members with children, such as himself, helped shape those choices.

“I have a kid too… based on my experience, I picked up the chores that are really difficult for me as a dad. I struggle with cooking and sewing, so if I struggle with this, Kiryu would probably struggle with this too.”

Read the full interview HERE.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is set to launch on February 12, 2026, for PS4, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.