Doki Doki Literature Club!
Also known as DDLC · Doki Doki Literature Club (original)
Psychological, Horror · by Team Salvato · 2017
Join a cheerful high-school literature club, swap poems with its four members, and slowly realise this sweet little dating sim is not what it seems.
Who it's for: Players who want a short, free psychological horror story that plays with visual-novel conventions, and who can handle heavy themes.
The story (spoiler-free)
A childhood friend talks you into joining her school's small literature club. You write poems, pick words that appeal to the club member you like best, and settle into what looks like a light, cozy romance.
It is best played knowing as little as possible. What made it famous is how deliberately it bends the rules of its genre and how it treats the person playing it.
This is the original free 2017 release. The paid Plus edition from 2021 contains the same main story with added side stories, extras and official translations; this version is the free way in, in English only.
Where to play
Why play it
- +Free on Steam and itch.io
- +One of the best-known psychological horror visual novels
- +Short enough to finish in an evening or two
- +Plays with genre expectations in ways that still surprise
Keep in mind
- −English only; official translations exist only in the paid Plus edition
- −No side stories or extras; those are in Plus
- −Heavy themes around suicide and self-harm; read the warnings first
Content warnings
Show 4 content warnings
If you like Doki Doki Literature Club!
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
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