Part of the immensely popular Dragon Quest franchise, this entry to the Fushigi no Dungeon / Mysterious Dungeon series stars twelve-year old thief's son Yangus.

Like its predecessor Torneko no Daibōken / Torneko: The Last Hope, Shōnen Yangus is a direct spin-off of a Dragon Quest main series title, in this case Dragon Quest VIII. The events of Shōnen Yangus are set decades before the plot of Dragon Quest VIII and recurring characters are the titular hero Yangus, his girlfriend Red and monster trainer Morrie.

Shōnen Yangus is a so-called 'roguelike', an RPG featuring extensive explorations of dungeons randomly generated at the beginning of each game. Unlike roguelikes such as Diablo the game has turn-based combat and as such isn't an action-RPG. It includes the option to capture, train and breed monsters found in dungeons, similar to the DQ Monsters series, another Dragon Quest spin-off.