You’re sitting on the couch. Your friend is right there. You both want to play Your Only Move Is Hustle, but there's a problem. The "Multiplayer" button in the menu immediately looks for an online lobby. It feels like the game is telling you to go to separate rooms and talk through Discord. It's annoying.
Honestly, yomi hustle local multiplayer isn't a "real" button you can just click. Ivy Sly, the developer, built this game from the ground up as a networked experience. Because it’s a simultaneous-turn-based fighter, the whole point is "Yomi"—reading your opponent's mind. If you can see their screen, the game breaks. Or does it?
The "Hotseat" Workaround That Actually Works
The most common way people play locally is basically a high-stakes version of "don't look at my controller." You open Singleplayer mode. In this mode, you actually control both characters.
It sounds dumb, but here is how you make it a real match:
- Player 1 takes the mouse. Player 2 looks at the wall.
- Player 1 selects their move, sets their DI (Directional Influence), and hits Lock In.
- CRITICAL STEP: Before handing over the mouse, Player 1 must click Wait or Hold. This hides the "ghost" prediction of what they’re about to do.
- Player 2 turns around, does their thing, and hits Lock In.
- You both watch the beautiful 2D violence unfold.
Is it janky? Yeah, kinda. Does it work? Totally. Some people in the community even play a "Health Advantage" variant where the player with more health has to lock in first, giving the losing player a slight "reaction" edge. It’s a house rule, but in a game about stickmen hitting each other at 1,000 miles per hour, it keeps things spicy.
Why There Isn't a "Proper" Local Mode
If you've played Street Fighter or Tekken, you expect a Versus mode. YOMI Hustle is different because of the Prediction System.
In a normal fighting game, you don't know a punch is coming until the animation starts. In Hustle, you see the future. If I'm playing Ninja and I see that my Dropkick is going to hit your Cowboy in 4 frames, I feel like a genius. But if you're sitting next to me and you see my screen, you also see that my Dropkick is going to hit you in 4 frames. You’ll just click "Block" or "V-Slicing."
The game becomes a stalemate of perfect counters if you both see the same screen. This is why a native yomi hustle local multiplayer menu doesn't exist. The "fog of war" is the only thing making the strategy work.
Using Steam Remote Play (The Secret Sauce)
If you have two laptops in the same house but only one copy of the game, stop. Don't buy a second copy yet. You can use Steam Remote Play Together.
Technically, this is designed for online play, but if you’re on the same Wi-Fi, the latency is basically zero. One person hosts, invites the other via the Steam Overlay (Shift+Tab), and the guest gets a window into the host's game.
Now, this still has the "screen peeking" issue if you're in the same room. But if you’re in different rooms or even just back-to-back, it’s the most stable way to play without messing with "Singleplayer" hotseat swapping.
The Modding Scene: MultiHustle
If you want to get weird, look at the Steam Workshop for a mod called MultiHustle. It was originally designed to allow more than two players in a match (which is absolute chaos, by the way), but it also helps streamline the way the game handles multiple inputs.
- Pro Tip: If you use mods, both players must have the exact same character files. If I have a "Goku" mod and you don't, the game will usually just crash or show a glitched-out sprite that can't move.
Better Ways to Hustle Locally
You've got a few actionable paths here. Don't just give up and play Pong.
If you're dead set on playing on one screen, buy a cheap wireless mouse. Passing a laptop back and forth is a recipe for a cracked screen. Having two mice plugged into one PC actually works fine in Singleplayer mode; you just have to agree on whose turn it is to click.
Try the "Blindfold" Rule. It sounds like a joke, but for a local tournament among friends, having the "inactive" player wear a physical sleeping mask or just closing their eyes makes the "Yomi" feel real. When that replay hits at the end of the match, and you see the full, un-interrupted fight, the payoff is worth the 15 minutes of awkwardness.
Practical Next Steps for Your First Local Session
Don't just jump in. Set some ground rules first.
- Decide if you’re using Vanilla characters only. Modded characters are fun but often wildly unbalanced for local play.
- Set a physical timer if your friend takes too long to "read" the frame data. Some people will stare at the DI wheel for ten minutes. Don't let them.
- Use the Replay function. The best part of YOMI Hustle isn't the winning; it's the cool MP4 you get to export afterward.
Go into the Singleplayer menu, pick your favorite stage (the Rooftop is a classic for a reason), and start passing the mouse. It’s the closest thing to a "mental" chess match you’ll ever play on a sofa.
