Doki Doki Literature
Club

Doki Doki Literature Club (2017) (DDLC) is a psychological horror game in the form of a high school dating simulator. You attend your school's literature club and try to win over the girls there. But with little warning, it takes a drastic turn that results in the characters killing themselves. The game plays with reality, by letting you alter its files and restart multiple times in ways that affect the narrative.

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You play a young boy who, on the first day back at school, decides to join his friend's book club. Once there, you try to win over the girls in attendance; Monika (the club's president), Natsuki, Yuri, and of course Sayori. Suddenly, however, about 90 minutes into the game, the characters start killing themselves and becoming more violent and aggressive, eventually leaving just Monika.

This character becomes aware that she is in a game and manipulates the code of the other characters so they became less likeable to you. Eventually, you confront Monika and make her undo the damage she has caused, before eventually reconciling with her.

You progress by selecting responses to the dialogue in each scene. These scenes are presented as realistic cartoons depicting events. There are also poetry writing sections, where you select words that you think your favourite club member will like.

Although the premise of a self-aware game is necessarily misleading and requires care for younger players, Doki Doki Literature Club offers a unique way to engage with issues about mental health, depression and suicidal thoughts for adults.

A new version, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, which features updated graphics and new stories, is set to release June 30^th, 2021.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Doki Doki Literature Club 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 12 months ago.