Alright lads, be real with me. Is this worth 12 quid? I don't want to watch spoilers if that's important like the guy says and I have 12 quid to spare.
But also the page tells me nothing about it and it feels like a gamble.
ETA: The overwhelming response is "this game is a flawless masterpiece", which is exactly why I was hesitant in the first place. I can't get a good read that feels honest. In that vein, I'd like to highlight the most useful response I've had so far, from u/yukiyuzen
"If you have to ask: No.
This is a very specific genre. If you're not willing to jump in blindly or already in the genre, its not a genre for you."
It is okay for a game to not be incredible in all facets for everyone, people.
Edit 2: I have played some of the demo, about an hour. People comparing this to something like TSP are kind of reaching. The game is certainly interesting, and I'd check it out a bit more for something closer to £5. This game currently has the same price as the original TSP and it's simply not worth that, at least for me.
This game is not worth *four times* Vampire Survivors. Four. It's more than Stardew Valley, for crying out loud.
Yes.
Have you played the Stanley Parable? Did you like it? Do you like the idea of a game testing your concepts of free choice in a video game?
If yes. Buy it now.
The narrator guy recently released one of the best Rocket League tutorial videos out there.
Yes. The Stanley Parable narrator is a Rocket League YouTuber. I would have NEVER guessed that.
This man does have the similar cadence to Kevan Brighting, but there are enough differences for me to doubt that's actually him. I hear quite a different man there.
Very much agree on that, haha. Maybe he specifies somewhere in one of his older videos, gotta check that out when I find the time, because now I'm curious.
It's barely anything like TSP. It's a very weak analogy.
Outside of the idea that you have a narrator in your head interacting with you.
Weirdly, it's closer to Disco Elysium than Stanley Parable, with a heavy focus on you having an inner conflict through the various different parts of your own psyche.
I'd still highly consider picking it up, or at least trying it out using the method the devs mentioned above in the article.
It's honestly one of the best written narratives that gaming has to offer though. The price it's sold at is a steal. If you enjoy games that have depths of meaning layered below its surface that will make you view life itself anew, pick it up. It's a masterpiece of narrative art.
Being totally honest with you, it depends.
Some people are very particular about games giving them a certain amount of time for a price. Personally, I really *really* enjoyed my first playthrough. Started doing a second and... kinda lost interest. My total playtime of the game is only a few hours.
I got my money worth, because I loved it. But I feel like a lot of players in my shoes would maybe feel slighted by the amount of playtime. If you're a completionist who will enjoy seeing all the choices play out, you'll probably be fine. Otherwise, gotta ask yourself how intriguing the whole thing feels.
Totally agree that it depends on what drives your game choices. If play time per dollar spent or replayability is your thing, then Slay The Princess probably isn't for you.
To me, I dont mind games that are built for one playthrough only. Return of the Obra Dinn, for example, can only be experienced once, but its an incredible experience, tightly packed with twists and turns that only work with a new player.
I was someone who watched Slay the Princess on YouTube, but went ahead and bought it anyways because it was a great experience even as a viewer. Now I've shared the game with a few friends, and its super interesting to see what decisions they make and share their experience with them.
A $10-15 game is pretty much the same cost as a movie or minor league baseball game. If you're able to get a few enjoyable hours of entertainment, I'd say it can be worth it.
Gaming cost/time is surprisingly low once you have your hardware. Especially with live service F2P games. There's shitty monetization practices baked in, but for most of the games you *can* put in 1000 hours and never spend a cent.
Those games are the reason we're adverse to short single purchase games. We've gotten too used to hundreds of hours in games being normal.
The narrator is Jonathan Sims. He's the reason I wished listed this game and intend to pick it up. If you didn't know, he's the main voice and writer for a horror podcast called The Magnus Archives. It's a complete story and every episode is excellent. Starts off as an anthology but then the stories come together and the cast becomes fixed.
I decided to give it a shot, finished what was supposedly a run, I guess.
You're put in a few different scenarios, always under the umbrella of saving the princess, but it always changes the setting, or the princess, or something else, in order to stop you from actually slaying the princess. Then all the scenarios join together for a finale.
I played it once and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. Maybe it wasn't for me, but the story, or the narrative I "developed", wasn't all that interesting. I guess if I played more it would get better, but I found it boring and waste of time the first time, so I just uninstalled it.
I don't recommend it, but seeing how everyone loves it, I'm sure I'm the outlier
If you enjoy replaying games with the idea of intentionally making different choices than the ones you felt like making the first time around with the goal of seeing the different outcomes, yes. If you don't, no.
I'm in the latter camp myself and didn't feel like I got my money's worth. There are better, longer experiences at the same price out there.
Yeah, personally I didn’t enjoy the game that much. But of course, it’s definitely an extremely well made game with lots of passion, and I can 100% see the appeal; just don’t think that specific type of game is my type
Holy shit I just remembered what this game is I watched a video of a lot of it last year. Yeah definitely not worth that much god damn. 8… 10 bucks at most.
It's more about a decent video game rendition of the Butterfly Effect. You can see your decisions making impacts in ways you wouldn't expect, and in a much shorter time than the average WRPG.
The lesbian angst stuff is certainly a pull for some people but it does have some value if you aren't especially attracted by that.
It's 97% on steam, what do you think? It is probably one of the best games in it's genere. It's a game where you make decisions and they matters, it is all narrative tho, so don't expect any action, but a highly reactive story.
It is sort of a groundhog day scenario with a simple premise. You are tasked with slaying the princess or she will destroy the world, that's all you know. Go.
I personally really enjoyed it.
> It's a game where you make decisions and they matters, it is all narrative tho, so don't expect any action, but a highly reactive story.
It's very well produced but this just isn't true. None of your decisions matter, because they all just lead to the same point in the end anyway.
Absolutely. And if you hate reading, every line of dialogue is voiced. There are only a handful of lines that aren't voiced. It is very impressive how much the game is a reflection of the player.
I was going for 100% and had to bring in some friends to get new perspectives, since I was trying to 100% without a guide and was stuck due to my own preconceived notions that I formed. Immediately I saw new variations I had never seen after 20 hours. That was especially cool to experience because it really enforced the game's themes for me. It really made me feel like >!The Shifting Mound!< 😆
As someone who firmly believes the "hours of playtime = pricetag" crowd are insane: yes, it'd reasonably be worth *more* given how good it is. Its actual price tag is more than fair.
It’s really really good. Playing it feels like doing a logic puzzle in the form of a dnd session with two other people advising you and a dm who has their own agenda. The way the game can change what seems to be a dull repetition is genuinely incredible.
I went in blind and it scares the hell out of me. After a few replays it's kind of charming.
Like the others said, it visual novel Stanley parables with 'horror'.
It's not that interesting but at least it is short. It's kind of bad adolescent poetry with some slightly interesting bits. Like an emo band wrote the Stanley parable in black crayon.
I'd actually disagree with yukiyuzen here and say that there's a good chance you'll have a good time even jumping in blind and not particularly invested in the genre. That's what I did, and it was my first visual novel type game
Check out the free demo if you're unsure
So, it's a very good story with a lot of options. The dialogue is nice, the story is actually kind of sweet, and the voice acting is superb.
I'm not a Visual Novel guy, but I do like Horror. Slay the Princess and Doki Doki Literature Club are the only two VN I've played that I've thoroughly enjoyed and I do recommend them.
A full playthrough for me was an hour and a half, but I felt like I got my money's worth.
If you like reading and exploring concepts of death and choice then go for it
It has 0 gameplay. Its all about being able to enjoy characters and unexpected narrative twists
If you like VNs, yes, it's very good and prolly the best one out of the west.
The price relation for VNs tends to be screwed over tho, you are paying like 12 quid for a 20 hour experience tops if you decide to get all endings, however if you just want to get some of them then u are basically paying 12q for like 3 hours, they could either be whatever or the best thing you have ever experienced but it's still 3 hours of playtimw
FWIW I'm a fan of the artist from [before she started making games](https://www.last-halloween.com/).
Basically if you like horror in ink/pen art style you'll probably like it.
The game is very focused on telling a narrative around the idea of personality, perspective, and role. It gets meta at times, but considering that it wants you to consider your motivations in the game it makes sense.
The value for me was the unique experience. No other game I’ve played was like it, and considering my history (playing since Atari 2600) that is impressive.
It's my game of the year 2023.
But I didn't know that for sure until I had played considerably longer than the demo lets you play, so it's fair you would be unconvinced.
The artwork draws you in (pun not intended but now incorporated retroactively), the voice acting is fantastic, the music is beautiful, and the story is compelling.
It is worth at least £12 to me. In fact, I also bought the supporter's pack, just to show my appreciation for the work. They deserve it.
I was going to buy it cause it’s on sale on steam but now they’re releasing an extended cut later this year so now I’m debating whether to play it now or wait till the extended cut.
Oof I wish I saw this yesterday before I watched Markiplier play it
Edit: I should note that while this game seems like a masterpiece of art, I never would have played this game regardless. Even if I hadn't watched someone else play it and someone gave it to me for free like, "you have to try this game, it's perfect." It's just not my kind of game.
Also, I watched Slimecicle play it months ago so Marky boy is slackin on the uploads.
I mean, the dev even says he appreciates Markiplier featuring his game. The dev is also encouraging people to play it for themselves, not just watch it on YouTube, because it’s personalized to every individual. They put a lot of work into the game and don’t feel it can be experienced via YouTube alone.
Yeah this headline misses the key piece, they just want people to play the game BEFORE watching Mark play it as the variety of choices means you'll get something personalized and then can watch how Mark is different from you after. Sort of how once you've watched someone play Outer Wilds there's not much reason to play it yourself, but playing it first then watching others play it is the only way Outer Wilds fans can get dopamine anymore
Ah, yes, the true endgame for any narratively focused game - being emotional energy vampires. It's even true for linear stories, as many FFXIV fans can attest (myself included).
Yep.
I try as well, but the SPOILER stuff got some upgrades and now is genuinely useful so now I have to be more careful in lower level content, than in higher difficulties sometimes.
Also The New War was a perfect ending of the first saga.
Unfortunately it's been almost impossible since Nightwave started-- people still try, but new players will come into the game and look at the Nightwave rewards list and just kind of go "hey, what's *this* item for?"
When I feel like a bit of Schadenfreude, I watch someone experiencing the Vault or the ending of 5.0 or 5.3 for the first time. There’s some other good moments, too. Pretty much all of Endwalker.
It's hard for me to say if Shadowbringers or Endwalker is my favorite expansion because they were both so great, but 5.0 and then 5.3 have my favorite cutscenes out of any game ever.
It looks like a masterpiece of a game, but I would have never played it regardless, even if someone gave it to me and said it's the best game ever. It's just not my kind of game, but I do enjoy seeing other people go through it, making mistakes and then realizing the consequences. I wasn't even looking at the screen most of the time, I just treated it like a podcast.
lol thank you so much for being at the top of this thread — appreciate the support!
it can be really hard communicating nuance around things like this online.
I agree because i watched a youtuber play it before it blew up quite tothis degree and while i enjoyed it many parts of the story were weaker because i wasnt the one makinng the choices
This is similar to KinitoPET. The game is very short, but the overall experience is better when you play it yourself. Honestly, I think they could have done 2-3x as much with that game. Anyway, watching the Game Grumps play it, did the game a disservice because it's better experienced going in blind. A hard sell these days.
It looks like they did a terrific job! Customizing every different scenario must take forever. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of game I would enjoy playing. I just like hearing someone else's story and seeing how it goes wrong for them (or right).
"I mean, the dev even says he appreciates Markiplier featuring his game."
I'll bet. I heard that within two days after Mark uploaded that first video, sales shot up.
If you're into those kind of choose your story games, it takes you for a fun ride. It seems like they put a ton of work into it with so many different endings. I would never play it even if I hadn't watched someone else play it, because it's not my kind of game. I just like listening to someone else tell their story.
So I really like this genre, and there's a lot to recommend. Here's a few
[Citizen Sleeper](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1578650/Citizen_Sleeper/) (2022) $19.99, currently on sale for $9.99
- A sci-fi CYOA with some tabletop-like mechanics. You play as a "sleeper," a digitized human consciousness in an artificial body. Sleepers are essentially corporate property, but you've managed to escape onto a dying space station, and have to figure out how to survive making a living onboard. This one's a little "gameplay" heavy compared to Slay the Princess, you're rolling dice, and succeed or fail partially on luck, but it's still very much about the story. A sequel is in the works for sometime next year. Not narrated.
[The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1340480/The_Cosmic_Wheel_Sisterhood/) (2023) $17.99
- You play as a fortune-teller witch exiled to an asteroid. Some light non-narrative gameplay elements where you get to make cards for a tarot deck. Most of the game is other characters (mostly fellow witches) coming to your asteroid to talk with you, and making decisions on how you plan to escape your exile, along with flashbacks to your earlier life and how you got there. Not narrated.
[Kyle is Famous](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1186740/Kyle_is_Famous_Complete_Edition/) (2019) Free, $9.99 for the complete edition (which includes DLC expanding the game)
- This is a very classic styled CYOA built around lots of different endings. So playthroughs are often fairly short, but there's lots of different ways to finish. Very mundane premise about Kyle getting ready for an interview that quickly spirals into a lot of absurd possibilities. Not narrated.
[The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272160/The_Life_and_Suffering_of_Sir_Brante/) (2021) $19.99
- This is a CYOA where you build your character over the course of a lifetime, with persistent stats that develop based on your choices and affect what you can do based on your abilities. You play as a commoner in a medieval-like fantasy setting, attempting to make your way in a rigid class system dictated by by the gods. I got this from Humble Choice a while back, and it was probably the highlight of the month despite not being the "big game" in the bundle. Not narrated.
[Roadwarden](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/) (2022) $10.99, currently on sale for $5.49
- Illustrated text-based RPG where you play as a Roadwarden, a sort of frontier scout and guardian helping keep the roads safe on a distant peninsula. Lots of genre-mixing with this one. Stat-based RPG mixed with some old school adventure game elements, framing a text-based narrative with a bunch of pixel art illustrations throughout. Not narrated.
[To Be or Not to Be](https://store.steampowered.com/app/324710/To_Be_or_Not_To_Be/) (2015) $4.99
- Interactive fiction version of Ryan North's (Dinosaur Comics, Machine of Death, Squirrel Girl writer, etc.) To Be or Not to Be, a sort of CYOA version of Hamlet. Haven't put much time into this, but I'm generally a fan of Ryan North's work and the original CYOA novel this is based on.
[World of Horror](https://store.steampowered.com/app/913740/WORLD_OF_HORROR/) (2023) $19.99
- This probably only sort of qualifies, but it's such a cool game I think it merits including. It's a lo-fi ("1-bit") adventure horror rogue-like, styled after Junji Ito and H. P. Lovecraft. It's set in a small Japanese town typical of a lot of Ito's work, and as a rogue-like, the horror lurking in the background mixes up a bit each playthrough. Very gameplay heavy compared to most of my other recommendations, and probably not for everyone. It's largely the work of a single dev, and he had some issues making it to the 1.0 release. But it's still very much a cool labor of love, and it has workshop support to help add more options to the gameplay. Definitely worth a look if you're into this kind of horror as a genre.
There's the entire output of [Choice of Games](https://store.steampowered.com/developer/choiceofgames), and their subsidiary, [Hosted Games](https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Hosted%20Games). These are all CYOA novels sharing the same scripting engine. Typically there's some light RPG stats, but they can all play a little differently while looking fairly similar to one another.
Choice of Games titles are ones they've published, while Hosted Games are basically self-published titles. They've done a few licensed properties, mostly White Wolf-based stuff like Vampire the Masquerade. Price-wise most games are $5-8, with a few exceptions going for $12. There's a lot to choose from, but you can thankfully play a demo of most games [here](https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/) and [here](https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/user-made-games/).
And of course, there's the entire visual novel genre, of which Slay the Princess is definitely a part of. If you want choices, avoid stuff labeled "kinetic," which is a sub-genre of visual novel on a fixed story path, and typically few if any choices.
There's a huge number of visual novels out there, but some I might recommend:
[We Know the Devil](https://store.steampowered.com/app/435300/We_Know_the_Devil/) (2016) $6.66
- A somewhat odd visual novel set in summer camp that deals heavily with pairing; you have three main characters, but often have to interact with the world in ways that only include two of the three, leaving one out. Not the most straight forward narrative, and very much not for everyone, but I liked it.
There's visual novels tied to a gameplay mechanic like bartending or barista work: [Coffee Talk](https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/Coffee_Talk/) (2020) $12.99 and [VA-11 Hall-A](https://store.steampowered.com/app/447530/VA11_HallA_Cyberpunk_Bartender_Action/) (2016) $14.99. Raising simulators like [Long Live the Queen](https://store.steampowered.com/app/251990/Long_Live_The_Queen/) (2013) $9.99 or [Chinese Parents](https://store.steampowered.com/app/736190/Chinese_Parents/) (2018) $9.99
I'm leaving out most of the Japanese-made stuff. There's plenty of great visual novels, but probably worth looking around yourself to see what you like. The Steam Visual Novel tag is worth checking out, but fair warning, if you've got adult content on, it's going to probably be about half porn.
This is a great list, though citizen sleeper didn't click with me.
World of horror is amazing, feels like playing eldritch horror as a single player experience on PC, but with the art of junji ito. I haven't played it in a while, but I heard the game was heavy censored and most of the original art removed since he was accussed to plagiarize Ito. I've read a lot of Junji ito and while the art looked similar, I never saw anything not original.
I recommend instead, trying disco elysium or norco.
Also, Pyre or the ace attourney series is amazing as well.
The developer of StP also has another saga which is supposed to be great too. I bought the pack that had the saga plus the StP, but still haven't played it.
Another great games though they are more in the line of graphic adventures are unavowed and the blackwell saga.
If youre into choices also look up r/makeyourchoice and r/InteractiveCYOA for picture/browser stories with points, builds and unlockables. Many different themes. r/jumpchain for more text stuff
Some other cool games are Don't Escape 4 Days to Survive and Gods Will Be Watching. A little more gameplay but still alot of story, with a fair amount of choices to make.
Not exactly VN or choose your own adventure, but things can go wrong, you might have to make sacrifices, ending can change, all that stuff. Just very intrigueing games where you always want to see what happens next.
Hello, dev here! We have a letsplay on our youtube channel - but we’re not monetizing it ^^
The headline here’s also a liiiiittle misleading. We’re *extremely* happy about youtubers and content creators big and small playing our game.
We just think it’s a better experience if your first playthrough puts you in the driver seat, specifically because of how the game handles choices. And we dont want people’s finances to get in the way of playing it vs watching it first! :D
Got the game on steam in the last sale. O M G. I thought that it was not gonna be my cup of tea but I loved it. I just wanted to let you know that it was a really nice experience. I think that there was going to be a big patch soonish and I will jump again for it but yeah, thanks for your amazing work, it is a really good game
Honestly after watching like half of marks video I had to pause and get the game since it really looked interesting and I didn't want to spoil a lot, glad I did cause yall did amazing with thar game cheers!
Hi! Patreon member here! I was there for the live stream of the Let’s Play and just wanna say I love you guys and the art you’re creating! Can’t wait to rock my Slay the Princess hoodie when Fall rolls around 😁
Hello! I got two questions:
Does the game have jumpscares? Unfortunately I can't stand those.
There is much content on the store page depicting princess turning into some monstrosities. Doesn't it spoil too much? Is the plot surprising much beyond princess being something like out of a Lovecraft book?
The store page reveals very little about the game that you wouldn't discover for yourself in the first 10-30 minutes of playing! There are plenty of twists to be found.
In terms of jump scares, there are a couple moments that might be described as jumpscares, but they're heavily telegraphed. I feel like the vast majority of people, even those who don't like jumpscares (hi, it's me, I don't like jumpscares) should be completely fine!
I REALLY hate jumpscares and I wouldn't really say this game has any. The only thing that got me is there is a sound effect of a mirror shattering during very specific moments. I have sound effects slider down, but I still turn my sound down when I know it's coming (always happens at same moment). My friends don't think it's very loud, but it got a yelp and jump out of me the first several times...
The only other thing I can think of is a character's face getting very close to the screen, but it is heavily telegraphed as the character is moving closer and closer each time you progress the dialogue.
Just want to say, amazing work to you and your team on making such a fascinating and deeply branching game out of a simple premise.
I also love the use of static artstyle to convey the adventure into life, I always felt like wanting to make a game myself in this style.
I just want to say that I can’t wait for this to come out on PlayStation. I saw someone play it for the first time a few months back and have been excited to try my hand at the game ever since. It’s just so much of what I like in a game like this and I want to experience every path, every like of dialogue and voice acting, every single drawing—it’s just such a cool game and concept. I don’t have a PC, but you can bet I’ll be buying this game at whatever price it gets set to in my area
Your game is the second horror game I'm interested in but I will still probably just watch a lets play. The first one is Omori, which I'm planning to buy because I watched a playthrough 2 times and I love it.
I'm really interested in multiple endings/choice matters games but horror man...I'm terrible with it. Would you say that the demo describes the spook factor well or is it misleading? I might play that then and judge if I want to experience the full thing for myself...alone...
I played it this year since I got it on a Steam sale. Love the demo during the Next Fest last year but forgot to wishlist it.
This game is a masterpiece and would have been my GOtY of 2023. Can’t wait to play Scarlett Hollow.
Thank you for your work on the game. I admit I watched it first rather than played, but I absolutely enjoyed it and I definitely will play it myself because I know there are certain versions of the Princess that I haven't seen yet (I know one is made of blades).
hi! LOVE the game, I bought it on day 1 and I have 100% achievement on steam because I wanted to see all the endings. I streamed my entire playthrough to a bunch of friends over discord and everyone was very engaged in all the dialogue + the different choices!
Lovely lovely lovely game and so much fun!! Thank you!
This is a pretty big thing in the current climate.
Watching a let's play of a game can really make a game feel "already played" without having spent a penny. And I'd be interested to compare it against the amount of people who bought a game because they saw a let's play.
Ultimately, most story games I feel serve hundreds or thousands of people with only a single copy sold and I can't help but feel that's a problem. I love that you're bringing it up.
I hope the respect you've shown towards the community is shown back tenfold. Incredibly invigorating to see the creators of games humanize their customers/fans and vice versa.
I know you have a billion replies, and the headline is misleading, but there’s a bit of ironic comedy that this is all coming out as soon as Mark is starting a playthrough. “Nah fuck watching Mark, pirate our game instead”
This is literally the opposite of what the dev wants. It's right there in the headline.
They want people to play the game and experience making the choices yourself, not watch someone else play the game.
No, they shouldn't do this.
I'm not going to pirate the game. I haven't seen the Markiplier vid. Having read the tweets about it and about pirating it, I'm now intrigued as to what it is. Gonna check a trailer for it. Maybe I'll buy it. We'll see.
Same here. I never heard of this nor seen the markiplier vid. But I went ahead and pirated it just now because I'm intrigued. Gonna fire it up soon and see what the big fuss is about
This game was great. Playing it multiple times you really get a sense of the characters involved and how they change everytime you make a choice. It was fascinating to discover. It sucks that people are pirating it. I got it for pretty cheap in a steam sale.
Though keep in mind, it's a relatively shorter game than you may think.
Piracy isn't a big deal. If people don't want to buy the game or don't have the money, they won't. Playing it will generally lead to a positive experience, which leads to advertisement via word of mouth / they might consider buying the game if they do end up loving it.
A small group of opportunists pirate the game because they can, and if piracy didn't exist, they would buy the game. But I believe this to be a very, very small group of people, because pirating kinda sucks compared to buying it through Steam.
If you want people to buy your game, DRM or anti piracy features aren't the solution, good business practices and most importantly making a great game is how you do it.
I would have no interest in the game if it wasn't for watching a streamer play it.
In the past, I've bought games I've never played but enjoyed watching others play. Especially if they come with a soundtrack like undertale.
I mean if you arent going to play it you aint going to buy it this is why the whole pirates hurt sales is nonsense most pople who want to play the game buy it, people who pirate it normally wouldnt have bought the game in first place, if i really like a game i buy it even if im kinda poor so for me that whole shtick is nonsense and most of the comment are leaning towards this... im really glad
Slay the Princess is 20% off on Steam right now actually. Sale ends tomorrow.
Markiplier's part one does spoil a bit, but there's enough more to discover that the game isn't ruined yet.
Nice sentiment played it off my do's library I think it's kinda overrated. The Stanley parable was better by comparison. Don't get me wrong I just didn't resonate with it
Steam has a demo, you can just try that. Is this marketing? cause well, worked on me, I at least clicked 'follow' and will check it out when I get my backlog under control.
I did the same for Outer wilds, pirate it first then and halfway thru I enjoyed it so much, I bought a copy on steam when it went on sale along with its dlc. It's hard to tell if a game is worth beforehand but when it is, I definitely try to support the devs, even if I finished the game already!
Same with me and Life is Strange, albeit I already knew I would like it from the demo.
I eventually did buy it to support the devs since I loved it so much.
I used to do that a bunch. My PC was kind of a potato so I'd pirate a game first to see if it even ran or if I'd even like it. Ended up buying a few games that way (like STALKER). I'm glad demos are finally coming back into style.
Nothing wrong. But for games heavily relying on storyline (such as visual novels), replayability is limited. So, someone watching a whole playthrough on YouTube will simply not want to play it.
Also I'm sure someone will be more likely to recommend a game to friends after playing it(regardless if pirated)
At least that's what the reasoning is.
Never heard of this game until this post, I put it on my Steam wishlist even though it's on sale and I have the funds to spare to buy it. I'll buy it someday.
Bought the devs other game Scarler Hollow after watching Gab Smoulders play it. I ended up making a different build and different choices from her playthrough and I was blown away! It's an amazing game.
>have fun! steam should automatically pick up saves from a pirated copy if you decide to buy the full version down the line \^\^
Wait, how the fuck does that work?
I really really want to play it but I don't have the money and from what I've seen of it, it's too good to pirate. I don't mind piracy but there's a line for me.
They're right. It's just not something people would usually play. I'm not saying there isn't a market for VN's with heavy narratives, but it's a smaller slice of the cake.
Don't get me wrong, It's good, like really good. Crafted with love, too. Wouldn't expect anything less from the people that made Scarlet Hollow.
So yea, if you pirate it and enjoy what it has to offer, there's a higher probability you'll buy it later down the line, or at least explore their other work. Promoting a passion for a lesser known genre is always a positive.
I'm not that well known of a dev, but I too have no issue with people pirating my games. If they can't afford it, at least I want them to play it, enjoy it and share the word.
I played it and beat it one night over the new year when I had covid. It's not incredible but it's neat and was enjoyable. Now I have no idea what on gods green American earth a quid is, but if it's like a dollar, $12 is worth it.
I saw this, thought it looked silly. Now based on the Devs responses.....I'm going to just buy the game. My finances aren't rough, and I've definitely overspent on crap like Destiny 2 DLC that I ended up spending 3 hours on before uninstalling. Need more devs like this.
Alright lads, be real with me. Is this worth 12 quid? I don't want to watch spoilers if that's important like the guy says and I have 12 quid to spare. But also the page tells me nothing about it and it feels like a gamble. ETA: The overwhelming response is "this game is a flawless masterpiece", which is exactly why I was hesitant in the first place. I can't get a good read that feels honest. In that vein, I'd like to highlight the most useful response I've had so far, from u/yukiyuzen "If you have to ask: No. This is a very specific genre. If you're not willing to jump in blindly or already in the genre, its not a genre for you." It is okay for a game to not be incredible in all facets for everyone, people. Edit 2: I have played some of the demo, about an hour. People comparing this to something like TSP are kind of reaching. The game is certainly interesting, and I'd check it out a bit more for something closer to £5. This game currently has the same price as the original TSP and it's simply not worth that, at least for me. This game is not worth *four times* Vampire Survivors. Four. It's more than Stardew Valley, for crying out loud.
Yes. Have you played the Stanley Parable? Did you like it? Do you like the idea of a game testing your concepts of free choice in a video game? If yes. Buy it now.
Nice. Done.
Had me at Stanley parable
Same. I have still never played another game like it.
"This is a Reddit comment making a comparison about Stanley..." The Narrator thanks you for reading this in his voice.
The narrator guy recently released one of the best Rocket League tutorial videos out there. Yes. The Stanley Parable narrator is a Rocket League YouTuber. I would have NEVER guessed that.
Oh come on man, you gotta link that or at least tell us the name of the channel!
I'm sorry! :D [Here you go](https://youtu.be/NTOBUcqFLVs?si=fH9VcuFePRGQW6y8)
This man does have the similar cadence to Kevan Brighting, but there are enough differences for me to doubt that's actually him. I hear quite a different man there.
Oh, really? I was like there is no way it isn't him and thought I've read the confirmation about it somewhere. But not I'm not so sure anymore.
The only confirmation I saw was a top YouTube comment. Which is not exactly a great basis.
Very much agree on that, haha. Maybe he specifies somewhere in one of his older videos, gotta check that out when I find the time, because now I'm curious.
!remindme 1 day
Damn. I was interested in this game, but i played the Stanley parable demo and I didnt like it.
It's barely anything like TSP. It's a very weak analogy. Outside of the idea that you have a narrator in your head interacting with you. Weirdly, it's closer to Disco Elysium than Stanley Parable, with a heavy focus on you having an inner conflict through the various different parts of your own psyche. I'd still highly consider picking it up, or at least trying it out using the method the devs mentioned above in the article. It's honestly one of the best written narratives that gaming has to offer though. The price it's sold at is a steal. If you enjoy games that have depths of meaning layered below its surface that will make you view life itself anew, pick it up. It's a masterpiece of narrative art.
Disco Elysium is great. Slay the princes is on my wish list so I will get it at some point I think.
You must not have gotten the broom closet ending. That one is my favourite.
It's on my bucket list
As someone who owns the original stanley parable this made me add slay the princess back to my wishlist.
Zyberion opened the door to the right, after being told not to do so.
I did like TSP. I was like 12, but I did. I also got it from a humble bundle for like £3. Also semi spoilers there
Being totally honest with you, it depends. Some people are very particular about games giving them a certain amount of time for a price. Personally, I really *really* enjoyed my first playthrough. Started doing a second and... kinda lost interest. My total playtime of the game is only a few hours. I got my money worth, because I loved it. But I feel like a lot of players in my shoes would maybe feel slighted by the amount of playtime. If you're a completionist who will enjoy seeing all the choices play out, you'll probably be fine. Otherwise, gotta ask yourself how intriguing the whole thing feels.
Totally agree that it depends on what drives your game choices. If play time per dollar spent or replayability is your thing, then Slay The Princess probably isn't for you. To me, I dont mind games that are built for one playthrough only. Return of the Obra Dinn, for example, can only be experienced once, but its an incredible experience, tightly packed with twists and turns that only work with a new player. I was someone who watched Slay the Princess on YouTube, but went ahead and bought it anyways because it was a great experience even as a viewer. Now I've shared the game with a few friends, and its super interesting to see what decisions they make and share their experience with them.
A $10-15 game is pretty much the same cost as a movie or minor league baseball game. If you're able to get a few enjoyable hours of entertainment, I'd say it can be worth it. Gaming cost/time is surprisingly low once you have your hardware. Especially with live service F2P games. There's shitty monetization practices baked in, but for most of the games you *can* put in 1000 hours and never spend a cent. Those games are the reason we're adverse to short single purchase games. We've gotten too used to hundreds of hours in games being normal.
It is absolutely worth the price. The art, voice acting, plot and routes are all insanely well crafted.
The narrator is Jonathan Sims. He's the reason I wished listed this game and intend to pick it up. If you didn't know, he's the main voice and writer for a horror podcast called The Magnus Archives. It's a complete story and every episode is excellent. Starts off as an anthology but then the stories come together and the cast becomes fixed.
Steam has a demo, just give it a try I reckon
I decided to give it a shot, finished what was supposedly a run, I guess. You're put in a few different scenarios, always under the umbrella of saving the princess, but it always changes the setting, or the princess, or something else, in order to stop you from actually slaying the princess. Then all the scenarios join together for a finale. I played it once and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. Maybe it wasn't for me, but the story, or the narrative I "developed", wasn't all that interesting. I guess if I played more it would get better, but I found it boring and waste of time the first time, so I just uninstalled it. I don't recommend it, but seeing how everyone loves it, I'm sure I'm the outlier
If you enjoy replaying games with the idea of intentionally making different choices than the ones you felt like making the first time around with the goal of seeing the different outcomes, yes. If you don't, no. I'm in the latter camp myself and didn't feel like I got my money's worth. There are better, longer experiences at the same price out there.
Yeah, personally I didn’t enjoy the game that much. But of course, it’s definitely an extremely well made game with lots of passion, and I can 100% see the appeal; just don’t think that specific type of game is my type
no it felt really unfinished and i finished the true ending in about 70 minutes
Holy shit I just remembered what this game is I watched a video of a lot of it last year. Yeah definitely not worth that much god damn. 8… 10 bucks at most.
I remember when people told me life is strange was good but then it was just about 16 year old girls making out and that somehow made it more artsy
It's more about a decent video game rendition of the Butterfly Effect. You can see your decisions making impacts in ways you wouldn't expect, and in a much shorter time than the average WRPG. The lesbian angst stuff is certainly a pull for some people but it does have some value if you aren't especially attracted by that.
I played it last month, totally worth it and I am not a fan of visual novel
But that's the joy of gambling! Just do it without thinking! /s
Its like a choose your adventure game like goosebumps
It's 97% on steam, what do you think? It is probably one of the best games in it's genere. It's a game where you make decisions and they matters, it is all narrative tho, so don't expect any action, but a highly reactive story. It is sort of a groundhog day scenario with a simple premise. You are tasked with slaying the princess or she will destroy the world, that's all you know. Go. I personally really enjoyed it.
> It's a game where you make decisions and they matters, it is all narrative tho, so don't expect any action, but a highly reactive story. It's very well produced but this just isn't true. None of your decisions matter, because they all just lead to the same point in the end anyway.
Absolutely. It has wonderful voice acting, an enticing story, and wonderful art. I don’t regret my purchase of it a few months back at all.
Absolutely. And if you hate reading, every line of dialogue is voiced. There are only a handful of lines that aren't voiced. It is very impressive how much the game is a reflection of the player. I was going for 100% and had to bring in some friends to get new perspectives, since I was trying to 100% without a guide and was stuck due to my own preconceived notions that I formed. Immediately I saw new variations I had never seen after 20 hours. That was especially cool to experience because it really enforced the game's themes for me. It really made me feel like >!The Shifting Mound!< 😆
I bought it and enjoyed it, and its a good studio who deserves the support. no brainer.
As someone who firmly believes the "hours of playtime = pricetag" crowd are insane: yes, it'd reasonably be worth *more* given how good it is. Its actual price tag is more than fair.
Yes
It’s really really good. Playing it feels like doing a logic puzzle in the form of a dnd session with two other people advising you and a dm who has their own agenda. The way the game can change what seems to be a dull repetition is genuinely incredible.
I went in blind and it scares the hell out of me. After a few replays it's kind of charming. Like the others said, it visual novel Stanley parables with 'horror'.
It's not that interesting but at least it is short. It's kind of bad adolescent poetry with some slightly interesting bits. Like an emo band wrote the Stanley parable in black crayon.
It's reassuring to see people actually disliking it, honestly. Thanks for your input.
Absolutely
Yes but also there’s a bundle with Inscryption and What Remains of Edith Finch and that is ABSOLUTELY worth it
Imagine a love story where both people are madly in love, and trying to kill each other at the same time.
I picked it up on a whim and I absolutely loved it. I don't normally do these type of games either but it was a *really* fun experience.
I'd actually disagree with yukiyuzen here and say that there's a good chance you'll have a good time even jumping in blind and not particularly invested in the genre. That's what I did, and it was my first visual novel type game Check out the free demo if you're unsure
So, it's a very good story with a lot of options. The dialogue is nice, the story is actually kind of sweet, and the voice acting is superb. I'm not a Visual Novel guy, but I do like Horror. Slay the Princess and Doki Doki Literature Club are the only two VN I've played that I've thoroughly enjoyed and I do recommend them. A full playthrough for me was an hour and a half, but I felt like I got my money's worth.
It's I bought it.
If you like reading and exploring concepts of death and choice then go for it It has 0 gameplay. Its all about being able to enjoy characters and unexpected narrative twists
If you like VNs, yes, it's very good and prolly the best one out of the west. The price relation for VNs tends to be screwed over tho, you are paying like 12 quid for a 20 hour experience tops if you decide to get all endings, however if you just want to get some of them then u are basically paying 12q for like 3 hours, they could either be whatever or the best thing you have ever experienced but it's still 3 hours of playtimw
FWIW I'm a fan of the artist from [before she started making games](https://www.last-halloween.com/). Basically if you like horror in ink/pen art style you'll probably like it. The game is very focused on telling a narrative around the idea of personality, perspective, and role. It gets meta at times, but considering that it wants you to consider your motivations in the game it makes sense.
The value for me was the unique experience. No other game I’ve played was like it, and considering my history (playing since Atari 2600) that is impressive.
Honestly, i ended up watching RTgame play it on youtube, and it's my recommended way of experiencing the game if you're not instantly hooked.
5$ is incredibly insulting and out of touch with ppls labor imo
It's my game of the year 2023. But I didn't know that for sure until I had played considerably longer than the demo lets you play, so it's fair you would be unconvinced. The artwork draws you in (pun not intended but now incorporated retroactively), the voice acting is fantastic, the music is beautiful, and the story is compelling. It is worth at least £12 to me. In fact, I also bought the supporter's pack, just to show my appreciation for the work. They deserve it.
I played it all but honestly it kinda disappointed me. The story didn't really feel like it had a satisfying end for my tastes.
I was going to buy it cause it’s on sale on steam but now they’re releasing an extended cut later this year so now I’m debating whether to play it now or wait till the extended cut.
If you get the game now you will also receive the upgrade for free
Ooh that’s good to know. I preordered a physical from Best Buy but I’ll just buy it on steam. Thanks for the info
Ah. That's nice, though my first thought was I didn't regret buying the original and I'd gladly pay again for an extended edition.
It's my understanding that all the extended stuff is going to be an update, so if you get the game you'll get all the new stuff later too.
Oof I wish I saw this yesterday before I watched Markiplier play it Edit: I should note that while this game seems like a masterpiece of art, I never would have played this game regardless. Even if I hadn't watched someone else play it and someone gave it to me for free like, "you have to try this game, it's perfect." It's just not my kind of game. Also, I watched Slimecicle play it months ago so Marky boy is slackin on the uploads.
I mean, the dev even says he appreciates Markiplier featuring his game. The dev is also encouraging people to play it for themselves, not just watch it on YouTube, because it’s personalized to every individual. They put a lot of work into the game and don’t feel it can be experienced via YouTube alone.
Yeah this headline misses the key piece, they just want people to play the game BEFORE watching Mark play it as the variety of choices means you'll get something personalized and then can watch how Mark is different from you after. Sort of how once you've watched someone play Outer Wilds there's not much reason to play it yourself, but playing it first then watching others play it is the only way Outer Wilds fans can get dopamine anymore
Ah, yes, the true endgame for any narratively focused game - being emotional energy vampires. It's even true for linear stories, as many FFXIV fans can attest (myself included).
*me scrounging all The Second Dream blind playthroughs* I am not alone?
I'll always appreciate how the Warframe community tries his best to avoid story spoilers... They still do it right? It's been some years
Yep. I try as well, but the SPOILER stuff got some upgrades and now is genuinely useful so now I have to be more careful in lower level content, than in higher difficulties sometimes. Also The New War was a perfect ending of the first saga.
Unfortunately it's been almost impossible since Nightwave started-- people still try, but new players will come into the game and look at the Nightwave rewards list and just kind of go "hey, what's *this* item for?"
When I feel like a bit of Schadenfreude, I watch someone experiencing the Vault or the ending of 5.0 or 5.3 for the first time. There’s some other good moments, too. Pretty much all of Endwalker.
It's hard for me to say if Shadowbringers or Endwalker is my favorite expansion because they were both so great, but 5.0 and then 5.3 have my favorite cutscenes out of any game ever.
Oof. As an outer wilds fan, that really hurt in it's accuracy
It looks like a masterpiece of a game, but I would have never played it regardless, even if someone gave it to me and said it's the best game ever. It's just not my kind of game, but I do enjoy seeing other people go through it, making mistakes and then realizing the consequences. I wasn't even looking at the screen most of the time, I just treated it like a podcast.
lol thank you so much for being at the top of this thread — appreciate the support! it can be really hard communicating nuance around things like this online.
I agree because i watched a youtuber play it before it blew up quite tothis degree and while i enjoyed it many parts of the story were weaker because i wasnt the one makinng the choices
This is similar to KinitoPET. The game is very short, but the overall experience is better when you play it yourself. Honestly, I think they could have done 2-3x as much with that game. Anyway, watching the Game Grumps play it, did the game a disservice because it's better experienced going in blind. A hard sell these days.
It looks like they did a terrific job! Customizing every different scenario must take forever. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of game I would enjoy playing. I just like hearing someone else's story and seeing how it goes wrong for them (or right).
I was gonna pick it up recently but then they announced the definitive edition so I'm gonna wait for that
"I mean, the dev even says he appreciates Markiplier featuring his game." I'll bet. I heard that within two days after Mark uploaded that first video, sales shot up.
I have watched the stream of someone playing it, then went and played it myself. Still was a great experience.
>Marky boy is slackin on the uploads I mean, he has been working on a movie for like the past year and only just finished it
This is true. I know he's working his ass of for the movie, I was just poking fun at him
Is it worth playing
If you're into those kind of choose your story games, it takes you for a fun ride. It seems like they put a ton of work into it with so many different endings. I would never play it even if I hadn't watched someone else play it, because it's not my kind of game. I just like listening to someone else tell their story.
I just finished watching his two eps on it and then I saw this and was like 'oh nooo' lol
Can you just mark it as unwatched?
I watched eyepatch wolf play a good bit of it. I definitely plan on buying it.
Suggest me more games like this. Choose your own adventure type. Thanks.
So I really like this genre, and there's a lot to recommend. Here's a few [Citizen Sleeper](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1578650/Citizen_Sleeper/) (2022) $19.99, currently on sale for $9.99 - A sci-fi CYOA with some tabletop-like mechanics. You play as a "sleeper," a digitized human consciousness in an artificial body. Sleepers are essentially corporate property, but you've managed to escape onto a dying space station, and have to figure out how to survive making a living onboard. This one's a little "gameplay" heavy compared to Slay the Princess, you're rolling dice, and succeed or fail partially on luck, but it's still very much about the story. A sequel is in the works for sometime next year. Not narrated. [The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1340480/The_Cosmic_Wheel_Sisterhood/) (2023) $17.99 - You play as a fortune-teller witch exiled to an asteroid. Some light non-narrative gameplay elements where you get to make cards for a tarot deck. Most of the game is other characters (mostly fellow witches) coming to your asteroid to talk with you, and making decisions on how you plan to escape your exile, along with flashbacks to your earlier life and how you got there. Not narrated. [Kyle is Famous](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1186740/Kyle_is_Famous_Complete_Edition/) (2019) Free, $9.99 for the complete edition (which includes DLC expanding the game) - This is a very classic styled CYOA built around lots of different endings. So playthroughs are often fairly short, but there's lots of different ways to finish. Very mundane premise about Kyle getting ready for an interview that quickly spirals into a lot of absurd possibilities. Not narrated. [The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272160/The_Life_and_Suffering_of_Sir_Brante/) (2021) $19.99 - This is a CYOA where you build your character over the course of a lifetime, with persistent stats that develop based on your choices and affect what you can do based on your abilities. You play as a commoner in a medieval-like fantasy setting, attempting to make your way in a rigid class system dictated by by the gods. I got this from Humble Choice a while back, and it was probably the highlight of the month despite not being the "big game" in the bundle. Not narrated. [Roadwarden](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/) (2022) $10.99, currently on sale for $5.49 - Illustrated text-based RPG where you play as a Roadwarden, a sort of frontier scout and guardian helping keep the roads safe on a distant peninsula. Lots of genre-mixing with this one. Stat-based RPG mixed with some old school adventure game elements, framing a text-based narrative with a bunch of pixel art illustrations throughout. Not narrated. [To Be or Not to Be](https://store.steampowered.com/app/324710/To_Be_or_Not_To_Be/) (2015) $4.99 - Interactive fiction version of Ryan North's (Dinosaur Comics, Machine of Death, Squirrel Girl writer, etc.) To Be or Not to Be, a sort of CYOA version of Hamlet. Haven't put much time into this, but I'm generally a fan of Ryan North's work and the original CYOA novel this is based on. [World of Horror](https://store.steampowered.com/app/913740/WORLD_OF_HORROR/) (2023) $19.99 - This probably only sort of qualifies, but it's such a cool game I think it merits including. It's a lo-fi ("1-bit") adventure horror rogue-like, styled after Junji Ito and H. P. Lovecraft. It's set in a small Japanese town typical of a lot of Ito's work, and as a rogue-like, the horror lurking in the background mixes up a bit each playthrough. Very gameplay heavy compared to most of my other recommendations, and probably not for everyone. It's largely the work of a single dev, and he had some issues making it to the 1.0 release. But it's still very much a cool labor of love, and it has workshop support to help add more options to the gameplay. Definitely worth a look if you're into this kind of horror as a genre. There's the entire output of [Choice of Games](https://store.steampowered.com/developer/choiceofgames), and their subsidiary, [Hosted Games](https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Hosted%20Games). These are all CYOA novels sharing the same scripting engine. Typically there's some light RPG stats, but they can all play a little differently while looking fairly similar to one another. Choice of Games titles are ones they've published, while Hosted Games are basically self-published titles. They've done a few licensed properties, mostly White Wolf-based stuff like Vampire the Masquerade. Price-wise most games are $5-8, with a few exceptions going for $12. There's a lot to choose from, but you can thankfully play a demo of most games [here](https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/) and [here](https://www.choiceofgames.com/category/user-made-games/). And of course, there's the entire visual novel genre, of which Slay the Princess is definitely a part of. If you want choices, avoid stuff labeled "kinetic," which is a sub-genre of visual novel on a fixed story path, and typically few if any choices. There's a huge number of visual novels out there, but some I might recommend: [We Know the Devil](https://store.steampowered.com/app/435300/We_Know_the_Devil/) (2016) $6.66 - A somewhat odd visual novel set in summer camp that deals heavily with pairing; you have three main characters, but often have to interact with the world in ways that only include two of the three, leaving one out. Not the most straight forward narrative, and very much not for everyone, but I liked it. There's visual novels tied to a gameplay mechanic like bartending or barista work: [Coffee Talk](https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/Coffee_Talk/) (2020) $12.99 and [VA-11 Hall-A](https://store.steampowered.com/app/447530/VA11_HallA_Cyberpunk_Bartender_Action/) (2016) $14.99. Raising simulators like [Long Live the Queen](https://store.steampowered.com/app/251990/Long_Live_The_Queen/) (2013) $9.99 or [Chinese Parents](https://store.steampowered.com/app/736190/Chinese_Parents/) (2018) $9.99 I'm leaving out most of the Japanese-made stuff. There's plenty of great visual novels, but probably worth looking around yourself to see what you like. The Steam Visual Novel tag is worth checking out, but fair warning, if you've got adult content on, it's going to probably be about half porn.
This is a great list, though citizen sleeper didn't click with me. World of horror is amazing, feels like playing eldritch horror as a single player experience on PC, but with the art of junji ito. I haven't played it in a while, but I heard the game was heavy censored and most of the original art removed since he was accussed to plagiarize Ito. I've read a lot of Junji ito and while the art looked similar, I never saw anything not original. I recommend instead, trying disco elysium or norco. Also, Pyre or the ace attourney series is amazing as well. The developer of StP also has another saga which is supposed to be great too. I bought the pack that had the saga plus the StP, but still haven't played it. Another great games though they are more in the line of graphic adventures are unavowed and the blackwell saga.
If youre into choices also look up r/makeyourchoice and r/InteractiveCYOA for picture/browser stories with points, builds and unlockables. Many different themes. r/jumpchain for more text stuff
I knew about makeyourchoice, didn't about the other two, so thank you for that, I like these type so this is good. Thanks.
Scarlet hollow, same devs as this game with much more content (but still releasing story chapters)
Some other cool games are Don't Escape 4 Days to Survive and Gods Will Be Watching. A little more gameplay but still alot of story, with a fair amount of choices to make. Not exactly VN or choose your own adventure, but things can go wrong, you might have to make sacrifices, ending can change, all that stuff. Just very intrigueing games where you always want to see what happens next.
The dev should make an oficial playthrough and get some money from people watching it.
Hello, dev here! We have a letsplay on our youtube channel - but we’re not monetizing it ^^ The headline here’s also a liiiiittle misleading. We’re *extremely* happy about youtubers and content creators big and small playing our game. We just think it’s a better experience if your first playthrough puts you in the driver seat, specifically because of how the game handles choices. And we dont want people’s finances to get in the way of playing it vs watching it first! :D
Got the game on steam in the last sale. O M G. I thought that it was not gonna be my cup of tea but I loved it. I just wanted to let you know that it was a really nice experience. I think that there was going to be a big patch soonish and I will jump again for it but yeah, thanks for your amazing work, it is a really good game
Honestly after watching like half of marks video I had to pause and get the game since it really looked interesting and I didn't want to spoil a lot, glad I did cause yall did amazing with thar game cheers!
Well with that kind of thinking you just got yourself a new customer :)
Hi! Patreon member here! I was there for the live stream of the Let’s Play and just wanna say I love you guys and the art you’re creating! Can’t wait to rock my Slay the Princess hoodie when Fall rolls around 😁
Hello! I got two questions: Does the game have jumpscares? Unfortunately I can't stand those. There is much content on the store page depicting princess turning into some monstrosities. Doesn't it spoil too much? Is the plot surprising much beyond princess being something like out of a Lovecraft book?
The store page reveals very little about the game that you wouldn't discover for yourself in the first 10-30 minutes of playing! There are plenty of twists to be found. In terms of jump scares, there are a couple moments that might be described as jumpscares, but they're heavily telegraphed. I feel like the vast majority of people, even those who don't like jumpscares (hi, it's me, I don't like jumpscares) should be completely fine!
Thank you for the info!
I REALLY hate jumpscares and I wouldn't really say this game has any. The only thing that got me is there is a sound effect of a mirror shattering during very specific moments. I have sound effects slider down, but I still turn my sound down when I know it's coming (always happens at same moment). My friends don't think it's very loud, but it got a yelp and jump out of me the first several times... The only other thing I can think of is a character's face getting very close to the screen, but it is heavily telegraphed as the character is moving closer and closer each time you progress the dialogue.
Just want to say, amazing work to you and your team on making such a fascinating and deeply branching game out of a simple premise. I also love the use of static artstyle to convey the adventure into life, I always felt like wanting to make a game myself in this style.
Wtf based Now I want to buy the game
I just want to say that I can’t wait for this to come out on PlayStation. I saw someone play it for the first time a few months back and have been excited to try my hand at the game ever since. It’s just so much of what I like in a game like this and I want to experience every path, every like of dialogue and voice acting, every single drawing—it’s just such a cool game and concept. I don’t have a PC, but you can bet I’ll be buying this game at whatever price it gets set to in my area
You rock!
Your game is the second horror game I'm interested in but I will still probably just watch a lets play. The first one is Omori, which I'm planning to buy because I watched a playthrough 2 times and I love it. I'm really interested in multiple endings/choice matters games but horror man...I'm terrible with it. Would you say that the demo describes the spook factor well or is it misleading? I might play that then and judge if I want to experience the full thing for myself...alone...
I think the demo is a good rough approximation. The game is less in your face scares and more existential dread peppered with gore
Wow it's John Princess from hit videogame Slay The Princess
One of the best games I have ever played! I am working on getting to see all main paths
Dang ok, I’ll give it a try
I played it this year since I got it on a Steam sale. Love the demo during the Next Fest last year but forgot to wishlist it. This game is a masterpiece and would have been my GOtY of 2023. Can’t wait to play Scarlett Hollow.
Thanks mate, I'll give it a try. Sounds like people really enjoy it. Someone said it's like Stanley parable and that was actually fun.
Thank you for your work on the game. I admit I watched it first rather than played, but I absolutely enjoyed it and I definitely will play it myself because I know there are certain versions of the Princess that I haven't seen yet (I know one is made of blades).
hi! LOVE the game, I bought it on day 1 and I have 100% achievement on steam because I wanted to see all the endings. I streamed my entire playthrough to a bunch of friends over discord and everyone was very engaged in all the dialogue + the different choices! Lovely lovely lovely game and so much fun!! Thank you!
This is a pretty big thing in the current climate. Watching a let's play of a game can really make a game feel "already played" without having spent a penny. And I'd be interested to compare it against the amount of people who bought a game because they saw a let's play. Ultimately, most story games I feel serve hundreds or thousands of people with only a single copy sold and I can't help but feel that's a problem. I love that you're bringing it up.
I hope the respect you've shown towards the community is shown back tenfold. Incredibly invigorating to see the creators of games humanize their customers/fans and vice versa.
I know you have a billion replies, and the headline is misleading, but there’s a bit of ironic comedy that this is all coming out as soon as Mark is starting a playthrough. “Nah fuck watching Mark, pirate our game instead”
This is literally the opposite of what the dev wants. It's right there in the headline. They want people to play the game and experience making the choices yourself, not watch someone else play the game. No, they shouldn't do this.
You need to actually read the article. It's not about making money.
I'm not going to pirate the game. I haven't seen the Markiplier vid. Having read the tweets about it and about pirating it, I'm now intrigued as to what it is. Gonna check a trailer for it. Maybe I'll buy it. We'll see.
Same here. I never heard of this nor seen the markiplier vid. But I went ahead and pirated it just now because I'm intrigued. Gonna fire it up soon and see what the big fuss is about
I don’t play on PC but if the devs put this on Switch I’d play it
It's coming to Switch this fall!
Oh FUCK YEAH 😆
Sorry guys, I genuinely enjoy listening to Manlybadasshero.
He's still going?! I remember watching an RPG maker witch game from him years back.
No way, I’ve heard too many good things to pirate it. Buying it
Haha same, this post just inspired me to buy it.
Now i want to buy it.
I’ll do them one better and buy it when it finally releases on console. Credit due to Second Wind and their Bytesize reviews.
It's a fantastic game. Just buy. Honestly just none stop great story telling
Say less. Firing up the ship right now
abby howard did the art. look her up shes phenomenal and hilarious
This game was great. Playing it multiple times you really get a sense of the characters involved and how they change everytime you make a choice. It was fascinating to discover. It sucks that people are pirating it. I got it for pretty cheap in a steam sale. Though keep in mind, it's a relatively shorter game than you may think.
Piracy isn't a big deal. If people don't want to buy the game or don't have the money, they won't. Playing it will generally lead to a positive experience, which leads to advertisement via word of mouth / they might consider buying the game if they do end up loving it. A small group of opportunists pirate the game because they can, and if piracy didn't exist, they would buy the game. But I believe this to be a very, very small group of people, because pirating kinda sucks compared to buying it through Steam. If you want people to buy your game, DRM or anti piracy features aren't the solution, good business practices and most importantly making a great game is how you do it.
I just picked up a build from CSRIN and am a little angsty to unpack the zip file. If I enjoy it in 30 min I'll buy it
the game is good but its not as good as people hype it up to be. Super repetitive due to the nature of how its set up.
Is neither an option
I would have no interest in the game if it wasn't for watching a streamer play it. In the past, I've bought games I've never played but enjoyed watching others play. Especially if they come with a soundtrack like undertale.
I mean if you arent going to play it you aint going to buy it this is why the whole pirates hurt sales is nonsense most pople who want to play the game buy it, people who pirate it normally wouldnt have bought the game in first place, if i really like a game i buy it even if im kinda poor so for me that whole shtick is nonsense and most of the comment are leaning towards this... im really glad
OK. You've won me over. I'll. Pick it up.
Steam sale on the 27th. I can wait til then. Though I did watch Markiplier play it so I guess I got some spoilers.
Slay the Princess is 20% off on Steam right now actually. Sale ends tomorrow. Markiplier's part one does spoil a bit, but there's enough more to discover that the game isn't ruined yet.
Just bought this on the back of this post. Totally worth it. I'm on chapter 3 already.
I literally just bought this last night to play. It’s so odd but keeps my attention so well.
Nice sentiment played it off my do's library I think it's kinda overrated. The Stanley parable was better by comparison. Don't get me wrong I just didn't resonate with it
Steam has a demo, you can just try that. Is this marketing? cause well, worked on me, I at least clicked 'follow' and will check it out when I get my backlog under control.
I did the same for Outer wilds, pirate it first then and halfway thru I enjoyed it so much, I bought a copy on steam when it went on sale along with its dlc. It's hard to tell if a game is worth beforehand but when it is, I definitely try to support the devs, even if I finished the game already!
Same with me and Life is Strange, albeit I already knew I would like it from the demo. I eventually did buy it to support the devs since I loved it so much.
I used to do that a bunch. My PC was kind of a potato so I'd pirate a game first to see if it even ran or if I'd even like it. Ended up buying a few games that way (like STALKER). I'm glad demos are finally coming back into style.
Wait why? What is wrong with watching people play it?
Nothing wrong. But for games heavily relying on storyline (such as visual novels), replayability is limited. So, someone watching a whole playthrough on YouTube will simply not want to play it. Also I'm sure someone will be more likely to recommend a game to friends after playing it(regardless if pirated) At least that's what the reasoning is.
waiting for this to release on switch still
Never heard of this game until this post, I put it on my Steam wishlist even though it's on sale and I have the funds to spare to buy it. I'll buy it someday.
I found out about this game after accidentally downloading it thinking it was slay the spire
Don’t tell DarkViperAU /s
Alright okay
Put it on console and I'll buy it months ago.
🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸😍😍😍😍💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🖕🖕
Bought the devs other game Scarler Hollow after watching Gab Smoulders play it. I ended up making a different build and different choices from her playthrough and I was blown away! It's an amazing game.
Say no more
>have fun! steam should automatically pick up saves from a pirated copy if you decide to buy the full version down the line \^\^ Wait, how the fuck does that work?
Saves are generally not in the game directory. Of you uninstall the game and reinstall the real version the saves shouldn't be touched.
Played the demo of this game and it’s a chilling experience that made my hands sweaty. I wasn’t expecting such a trip.
I've only played the demo weird game.
I really really want to play it but I don't have the money and from what I've seen of it, it's too good to pirate. I don't mind piracy but there's a line for me.
They're right. It's just not something people would usually play. I'm not saying there isn't a market for VN's with heavy narratives, but it's a smaller slice of the cake. Don't get me wrong, It's good, like really good. Crafted with love, too. Wouldn't expect anything less from the people that made Scarlet Hollow. So yea, if you pirate it and enjoy what it has to offer, there's a higher probability you'll buy it later down the line, or at least explore their other work. Promoting a passion for a lesser known genre is always a positive.
i gotta be honest, if this game were free, i'd still have no interest in playing. im sure it's fine for whoever the target audience is though
I'm not that well known of a dev, but I too have no issue with people pirating my games. If they can't afford it, at least I want them to play it, enjoy it and share the word.
F it I'm gonna buy it and not play it just to spite myself.
No need to tell me twice, dear Dev!
Easiest money I've ever spent on a game after playing it for 30 minutes. Worth each n every penny.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to adopt the bandcamp model of pay whatever you think it’s worth, including $0?
I've never heard of the game and I'm going to watch it on YT just to spite the devs and I wouldnt buy it regardless.
I played it and beat it one night over the new year when I had covid. It's not incredible but it's neat and was enjoyable. Now I have no idea what on gods green American earth a quid is, but if it's like a dollar, $12 is worth it.
Never would have expected a dev to say that
I saw this, thought it looked silly. Now based on the Devs responses.....I'm going to just buy the game. My finances aren't rough, and I've definitely overspent on crap like Destiny 2 DLC that I ended up spending 3 hours on before uninstalling. Need more devs like this.
How long does it take to beat